Operation Crafty Room: Part One

Hello friends! Today we’re going to start an exciting new series here at One Artsy Mama! Before we continue, perhaps we should back this train up and explain where the inspiration for this particular series came from. Some of you may know my best friend, or at least heard of her. Her name is Amy, aka, One Artsy Mama. Now, we all know that Amy is amazing and awesome, and creates all kinds of fun projects that she loves to share. Alas, there is one slight problem in the One Artsy Mama world, and I’m about to show it to you. Why? Well friends, we play the honestly game here, and Amy is “honestly” embarrassed by this space, but it’s also the inspiration for our new series. Ready? Here it is……

Yes friends, that is One Artsy Mama herself, in her crafting space. I use the word “space” loosely, because, well, most of the space is covered in beautiful and glorious craft supplies. There is no ACTUAL space to do her work, and a lot of her time is spent dragging supplies up and down the stairs. What’s a poor gal to do (besides sit adorably in a tiny rocker and hang her head in shame)? Well, I can tell you what she did. She called me! See, Amy and I share a lot of similar crafty abilities, but we also each bring unique skills to the crafty table. I have a weird love for organizing spaces. Moving furniture, taking measurements, purging, making floor plans…I’m starting to drool just thinking about it. Yeah, I know. Weird. Anyhoo, our job is to take this space:

and make it into a space that can be used for not only creating, but also to take care of the business side of One Artsy Mama. So, now that we have the background story, let’s begin Part One, shall we?
{Amy says: Yes, yes I did hang my head in shame…in my tiny rocking chair. I can’t believe I’m showing you all what a giant mess this area has become. But as Erin kept reminding me {over and over like a persistent boot camp drill sergeant} “What is our motto? WHAT. IS. OUR. MOTTO?” It’s “Honestly,” so here it is, friends, in all its messy glory. Can you relate?}

So the first thing we did (and the first thing you should do when organizing a space) is TALK about the space. I asked Amy questions like, “what do you want use the space for?” (does she want to create AND have a place to organize her mail stuff AND cut vinyl), and “what kind of things do you need in your space? (a big table, a vinyl cutter, a sewing machine, a bulletin board, etc). After talking about what she wanted, {Amy says: I believe my specific answer was, “I want to make things. I want to make all the things.”} we decided that a great option was to switch LC’s play area to the crafty side of the room, so we could make a more inviting area on the other side of the basement for Amy to work in. In other words, move everything in this corner to the other side of the room (and all the craft stuff to this side).

Once we discussed this, it was time start taking measurements!

I am a very visual person, and therefore taking measurements of a space and creating a floor plan REALLY helps me out, plus the added bonus of not having to move furniture around and around and around. Not only is it important to take measurements of the room itself, but remember to take measurements of any furniture that will be used or moved in the process. These measurements will then help you to create a more realistic floor plan and really see what type of area you have to work with. Amy and I went through piece by piece, deciding what would move, what she’d get rid of, and what she might still need.  While she called out numbers, I took down a lot of notes!

{Amy says: Notice how she made me do all the hard work?}

With my trusty notebook in hand, I headed home and plugged in all my numbers into a working floor plan. I use the site planyourroom.com (I stumbled upon it awhile ago when doing my own home improvements, and I’ve grown to love it). I spent the afternoon arranging and rearranging and came up with a plan for Amy’s new crafty space.

The space on the left is her new crafty space, and part of Amy’s homework is to get some more storage for her multiplying craft supplies. The space on the right is LC’s new play area, but we haven’t fully decided on all the furniture placement.

Besides working on getting some more storage units, Amy’s other homework is to find out what’s in some unlabeled boxes (for sorting purposes), AND gather up empty boxes and bins to throw in all the craft supplies we need to clear off of the shelves in order to move the bookcases across the room.

{Amy says: Wait, what? Homework? Nobody said this involved homework! Come back here…}

I am so excited to start this journey with Amy and help her design a space that can foster creativity! Keep on the lookout for Part Two, as we start to move furniture and begin the tough sorting process.

We would love to hear some of your favorite craft room organization tips! Let us know in the comments below how you keep your crafty space organized and maybe also offer a few words of encouragement =)  {Amy: please! Yes! Encouragement!}