First of all, I have been lucky enough to have space in my home to create my craft room. One of the bedrooms was converted to my craft room/office.
This picture shows my main desk that I use for stamping and crafting. The desk was formerly in the office downstairs and had shelving above it. The entire piece was a dark chocolate brown originally popular in the 70's and was used as a desk long before computers. Since it was no longer functional in the office, I thought it would make a great desk for my craft room. It was painted white and new drawer/door handles added and it was ready to add all my crafting supplies.
Here are some of the things I have stored in the large drawers. The bottom doors just have one shelf but there is quite a lot of room. The center drawer holds ink pads and acrylic block where they are easy to access.
On top of my desk, there are several plastic drawers that hold essential tools that I use often. Some of the contents are: glue dots, dimensionals, tape, dies, small ink pads, tape runners... you get the picture. I added some patterned paper to the front to give them some color and so you can't see all the junk inside.
Inside one of the drawers, I keep a bunch of plastic bags that contain die shapes and labels that I cut out and didn't use. I sort them by shape, as you can see one contains circles, another ovals. Some of the more detailed shapes are all in one bag. I have so many dies, it was easier to put in one bag. When I am creating, I use these to see what size and shape would look good for my project even if it isn't the right color. I think you get what I mean.
Two of my drawers contain dies - I have a lot of Spellbinders Nestibilities as well as other misc. dies. A popular thing to use is magnetic sheets and strips to keep them together. I choose the strips because they were much cheaper than the sheets. It holds good enough for me and I can fit all my dies in these drawers. It is easy to flip through them to see what I have and just pull out what I need.
Every desk needs a good lamp. I use an OttLite which is supposed to give off natural light. This one works ok. I actually prefer the halogen light that I used to have until I couldn't find any light bulbs for it. Since my desk is front of the window, I seldom need the light during the day.
I keep a basket of the tapes and glues that I use often. Makes it easy to grab them when needed.
I also keep a smaller basket with scraps of white and cream cardstock to use for those smaller images that I want to stamp. Standing next to it is a stack of white cardstock that I buy at Sam's Club. This is my go-to white paper I use for most of my stamping. And since it is so reasonably priced, I don't feel guilty about using it! I just keep a little out at a time so it doesn't clutter up the desk too much.
Next to my paper I keep two magazine holders that hold cardstock that is already cut to the standard card sizes - 8.5 x 5.5, 11 x 4.25 and 5.5 x 4.25. I can then use this paper when I need a quick card or are looking for a color to match my project. And it is a good place to store the extra pieces that were cut from an 8.5 x 11 sheet.
Next is my cardstock. I have been using crates to store books and paper since my college days. It is a cheap way to keep the paper upright so it is easy to get to and I can see all the colors I have. I tried to keep them in order by color, but it is a little hard since I buy paper from lots of different places. The plastic file container to the right of the crate holds my 12x12 cardstock and patterned paper. I have to say that I really don't have that much of it. The drawers to the left of the crate holds some colored pencils and patterned paper that I don't want to be wrinkled or creased (it was expensive!) and some other odds and ends.
Underneath the paper there is a cabinet with drawers. This is the most popular cabinet from Ikea used by crafters. I have seen numerous craft rooms on Pinterest and the majority of them have one or more of these. I use it to store loose wood block stamps,some of the old Stampin' Up wood sets and peg stamps. It would be great to store embossing powder, embellishments, ink pads or even paper.
Above my desk hanging on the wall are my Stampin' Up ink pads. They are organized and easy to reach. I bought Media Stix CD rack and nailed them to the wall. You can buy them at Target or Amazon for about $11. Looks like I will be needing more soon!
Another shelf holds some of my embellishments - flowers, buttons, glitter shapes, ribbon/twine spools. I just cleaned out old food jars and use them for storing. Doesn't cost a thing! The top shelf holds craft books on all kinds of subjects.
Down below, I have a large plastic storage drawer that holds my scraps. It was such a mess that I decided that I needed to clean it up so I can find the colors I need faster. My solution was to sort the paper by color family and put them in plastic bags. No more digging in the drawer for a specific color when you only need a tiny scrap. Another great use for plastic bags!
Behind my work area I have a large table that I use for die cutting, paper cutting and scoring. The table also has another board that can make it even bigger. I use this when friends come over and we need more room to spread out. The table was a hand-me-down from my husband's grandmother. No cost there!
On the other side of the room is my computer desk. I work from home most of the time so I needed to have a large desk to hold computer, printer, silhouette as well as enough room to spread out my work papers. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a desk, so I went to Ikea and bought a kitchen countertop, a set of drawers and three legs (two on the ends and one for support in the middle). Total cost was around $200.
Above the desk is more shelving. Here is where I store most of my clear/cling stamps. I bought a bunch of different sized boxes at Ikea to hold various things - twine, loose ribbon, jems, beads etc. I also bought the cardboard magazine racks at Ikea - 5 for under $2.
For all those loose clear/cling stamp sets that I have, I bought these clear DVD cases on Amazon. I split the case of 100 with two other people and they were reasonable. I made some labels myself as you may be able to see in this picture - looks like I will be needing more cases!
Ok, this is the last stop on the tour. Way back when I start getting involved with crafts, I need a cabinet to keep my supplies. I recently cleaned this out and got rid of a lot of unused stuff and now it is way more functional. I store my punch boards, heat gun, paints, Christmas crafts, picture frames and other things that I don't use that often.
I hope you enjoyed the tour and can use some of the things that I mentioned work for me.
