Holy moly, has this been in the works for a looong time! If you have followed the blog for any amount of time, you likely are aware that I am a girl with a lot of hobbies. In addition to cooking and baking, I have gotten very into knitting and sewing in recent years. For anyone who loves to knit, sew, or craft in general, you can probably relate with me that these hobbies come with a ridiculous amount of stuff. Knitting needles, yarn, fabric galore, paint, brushes, glitter…in other words, craft explosion! Prior to now, this vast amount of craft paraphenalia had been scattered in a completely disorganized way throughout many areas of my house. To say I am not a fan of clutter is a vast understatement, so this was making me absolutely nutty. Something had to be done. Almost exactly one year ago I started the process of designing a dedicated craft area to corral the vast quantities of stuff, have a place to do said crafting activities, and mostly not continue buying duplicate knitting needles simply because mine were scattered all over the house.
So, I started what turned out to be a very long process! As I have mentioned before, I am a very, very slow decorator, but for good reason. I like to take small steps while I decorate a space so I can watch it evolve and really think about my needs and how I want it to look. Initially I purchased the set of shelves pictured above, the table, the chair and the stools. Only the table came in quickly – everything else was backordered for many months! Once all of the furniture was in the space (summer at that point), I was able to approach the aesthetics of the space. I wanted to keep it simple and colorful, and I unintentionally ended up with a triangle theme but I like it.
I made the triangle bunting with random fabric and I love the pop of color it adds. Lighting in this corner of my room is problematic and the main overhead light in the room really doesn’t illuminate this area, especially at night which is when I usually have time to craft. After looking at what I’m fairly certain was 99% of available light fixtures on the internet, I was thrilled to find this task lamp on clearance. Since it is very bright and focused, the string lights were a nice way to add more of a general soft glow. Side note – the vent cover was way problematic for me aesthetically. Its placement was a big part of the reason I didn’t have actual lighting hardwired into the space, either sconces or pendants. Eventually I decided to spray paint it and I love the way it no longer feels like an eye sore but instead like a fun addition.
Finding a rug also took quite a long time because I wanted something that looked right and was also fair trade certified and nice and cozy. I’m so glad West Elm is expanding their fair trade offerings because they finally came through with a perfect option! The stools were a fun addition and also necessary as the kids love to sit with me when I am sewing.
I found this little cell phone holder at a favorite local shop and it is perfect because I love to listen to music and sometimes podcasts or audiobooks while I sew. I like that it doubles as a vase because the dried flowers provide yet another pop of color.
Wire baskets have been a great yarn storage solution for me. (This is an older photo – most of this has been turned into clothes by now!) Some people buy yarn whenever they see something that strikes their fancy but that doesn’t work for me at all. I purchase specific yarn in the needed quantity for the projects I have planned so I don’t have a huge need for extra yarn storage space. For those interested, Quince and Co. is my favorite yarn supplier and I use their yarn for the majority of my projects (though I do intense yarn research on Ravelry before I select a yarn for each project, so I use a decent variety.) I also adore Purl Soho but it is crazy expensive so I consider it a splurge. Madelinetosh also makes beautiful yarn, though many of them are more variegated than I prefer. I want to love Brooklyn Tweed but the few times I have used it, it tears constantly and ain’t nobody got time for that.
Organizing my knitting needles was probably the most daunting part of this project because they had previously been littered all over creation. After much research and thought, I designed this quilted holder for them and it has been absolutely perfect. I can always find what I need and my knitting needle purchases have gone way down since I have at least one of most everything I need at this point.
Other than baskets, trays have to be the perfect way to keep everything on the shelves contained and organized. Gotta love a good glitter collection!
This file folder basket was kind of a random purchase but has ended up being a perfect way to save any sewing patterns/templates that I have printed out. Super helpful for the times when I reuse the same template multiple times and I don’t have to reprint, piece together, cut out, etc.
Another random tray I found that has been a great way to contain all the little paraphenalia associated with sewing and knitting – various needles, sewing machine attachments, stitch markers, bias tape makers, measuring tape, etc.
More rainbow organization that makes my heart happy!
These spool holders come in many shapes and sizes but this was the version that fit best in my space. I made sure to have plenty of extra space there because you know I’ll just keep buying more thread!
Rainbow sharpies in a beautiful wooden holder?! Heaven.
This chalkboard sign was an impulse buy but I love it to help remind myself what projects I have on deck to keep me focused. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and over inspired!
I needed something to help organize those little random notions like ribbon, elastic and buttons and this tiered tray turned out to be just the thing!
That’s pretty much it! I hope this has been a bit of inspiration for any fellow crafters to get your stuff organized. It truly has made my artistic endeavors far more enjoyable now that I can find what I need and everything has its place!
Resources
- Shelves – West Elm
- Stools – Serena & Lilly
- Table (custom) – Urban Wood Goods
- Chair – Dot & Bo
- Lamp – Crate & Barrel
- Baskets – Mostly West Elm, a few Target
- Trays – blue and yellow from West Elm, gold from Target
- Tiered stand – West Elm (no longer available)
- Rug – West Elm
- Triangle decals – Etsy
- String lights – Target
- Sharpie holder – Etsy
- Pencils – Rifle Paper Co.
- Scissors – Target
- Chalkboard – Target
- Spool holders – Joann’s
