Craft Area Revamping Part III

I'm feeling pretty excited about coming close to the end of redoing this area, but sad at the same time because it's a small space and only some of the ideas I've had I've been able to incorporate. Regardless, I'm very happy with how everything has turned out so far and I look forward to the day when the table is clear (not likely) and everything is perfectly organized (really not likely). 

I still have some organizing to do, and finish selling the items I'm not keeping, but I am keeping the faith that sometime in the near future I will have the organization I dream of. :)

ALL the stuff taken out of the cubes and "carefully" placed on the dining room table. Well, a lot of it is on the dining room table, and a lot of it is sitting haphazardly in the storage unit just out of the picture to the left. Some of the cubes were already gone at this point when I realized I should try to get a pic.

The new unit to replace the white cubes. Much smaller. I have debated on adding another, skinnier gray unit to this but can't decide. Would I like the extra space? Absolutely, but that would allow me to hoard again, lol. 

I did some more work on this area after this pic was taken, SOME of the stuff on the top has been put away, more of those white boxes were added for embellishment storage and all of the red bins now have chalkboard Decor Elements cut with a Labels Framelit Die on the front, with a list of what's inside. The bottom 4 red bins are full of stamps, which after receiving my big order from the new catty I am quickly realizing that I may have to add another bin to accommodate everything.

It has really surprised me but I actually feel like there is more space in the room now. I would have assumed that changing from the white cubes to the dark shelving would have made the room feel smaller but I feel the exact opposite. 

That card you see on top kind of in the middle of the unit is the very first Mother's Day card my son picked out for me and bought all by his self. He was away on a fishing trip that weekend and bought it while he was away. It's a really great card, fitting for the two of us and I was touched that he obviously spent time picking it out. That probably maxed out his reading limit for the day, lol. It may not be handmade but it's by far the best card I've ever received. I may just leave it up there till next Mother's Day! I am always amazed at what a great kid I got stuck with and I am so grateful for my luck.

Lauren suggested storing the 12x12 DSP in one of the red bins, after playing around a bit and cutting a little off of the bottoms of the dividers, it worked out perfectly! The SU paper holders I was using did not fit into the storage unit spaces and I was never completely happy with them anyway, this was an excellent alternative. It also allowed me to go through the enormous box of non-SU 12x12 and store them in a separate red bin. It was awesome to get rid of the box I had sitting out for so long because I had no other place to store it! And it was also awesome to separate what I didn't plan to use, it was such a pain to go through all that paper to try to find something I wanted to use!

So, I feel all in all it's turned out pretty well. I do need to still add curtains, which I hate dealing with because I hate picking out curtains, and I've been considering purchasing punch storage units because the storage I'm using now has already been filled to the brim with the recent additions from the new catty. I just need to get around to ordering them and finding the time to paint them to match everything. They come in wood so hopefully it won't be too much work. If I never have to sand another thing again I will definitely NOT complain about it!

My next big plan for the room is the table. I can't decide if I just want to refinish it, or try something new. Either way, it will be a while so don't hold your breath! First, I have a coffee table project planned that has been in my mind for several weeks but I'm just getting around to purchasing the items I need to start it. Hopefully this weekend will bring some free time for that.

Craft Area Revamping Part II

So, after completing the chairs, I started focusing on the awful, not too useful bookshelves I had on the smaller wall. They looked like crap and were not giving me optimal storage space. I of course did not take a before pic, surprise, surprise. I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out the best storage options for the least amount of money. And of course, I found what I needed at Ikea. After making 3 trips, 3 days in a row, I decided on what I wanted, we took it home and I must've caught Mike in a good mood cause he helped me put it all together. And this was after he was done putting together Alec's new bed so I don't know, maybe he was sick or something. Either way, I took advantage of the help and we had everything together in no time at all. Turns out, we're a pretty good team. I'm good at reading directions and handing him the stuff he needs in the correct order and he's good at banging crap into place and making sure the screws are all nice and tight.

This is the 1st section of the new unit.....

Serendipitously they had one in a gloss gray finish! It perfectly matches the shade of the chairs and I finally get the gloss I wanted the chairs to have, lol. 

And the 2nd piece is quite versatile, you can stand it long-ways, tall-ways, put casters on it, all kinds of stuff. I chose to add it to the top of the large unit since that area is rather small.....

You can see in the background one of the new chairs and how well it matches the storage unit. 

There are so many options with this unit, which is called Expedit. You can purchase drawers, doors, baskets, bins, all kinds of stuff that fits perfectly into the square openings. For now, I chose to go with the red bins because that was the only choice they had that matched well with the fabric of the chairs. While the drawers they sell are too small for my needs, I'm considering buying some gloss gray doors, I have a lot of moving around to do with that area before I know exactly what additions I'll need for it. I did want more of the red bins but that was all they had in stock that day so I'll be going back soon to get a few more. 

And for the final addition for now, I used some of the leftover fabric from the chairs to make a french memo board. The frame was purchased at- you guessed it- Ikea, then sanded (ugh) and painted with some of the leftover chair paint. Batting was attached to the backboard of the frame then wrapped with the fabric. The satin ribbon is SU Old Olive and the 'buttons' are SU Basic Gray corduroy brads. I could not find upholstery pins that I liked so I had to substitute with the brads which I ended up being perfectly fine with.The ribbon doesn't look quite this shiny in person.

I still need to get curtains, which I dread, and I've got a few other ideas floating around that I'd like to add to the room when I get time but I'm very happy with the progress so far!

Craft Area Revamping Part I

I've been working (for a while) on redoing, adding and getting rid of some things in my craft area. It's been a longer process than I thought but I'm pretty happy with the results so far, I still have a long way to go!

First up, the chairs. I guess the chairs are what started the whole thing. I've been wanting to do something different, something more fun and something that matched, lol, but I am an awful interior decorator so it was easier to keep putting it off than try to actually start doing it. My friend Carolyn, who is extremely knowledgeable about really awesome places off the beaten path to find goodies, took me to a place where I found very affordable used dining room chairs.  

So, here is one of the chairs before I started doing anything to it. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to take pictures until I had already cleaned all 5 of the other chairs and this one was not even close to being the dirtiest one! It actually looks really clean but let me assure you, the chairs were gross. I had to scrub all 6 down with Brillo pads, wipe them all clean and let them dry before I could even begin the sanding. Sanding is not fun. Not even an electric hand sander, which my husband assured me I would like. Nope, sanding is not fun, electrically or not. The cushions to these chairs were an awful green plastic fake leather with not much padding.

After many, many, many hours sanding electrically, sanding by hand, sweating, feeling like I was going to cry, painting, painting again, painting again, and painting again, along with scrubbing the cushions and reupholstering them, this is the final result:

Not too shabby, eh? The fabric is outdoor fabric, in hopes that it will stay clean longer and will be easier to clean than indoor fabric, and of course it was doused with Scotch Guard before I even began. Several coats of that stuff. The chairs are painted a semi-gloss gray. I originally wanted a glossier gray so that they'd be easy to clean and wipe off but the kid at home depot said the semi-gloss would be fine and I believed him. I wish I had stuck to what I wanted because while I love the way it turned out, I was going for something with a little more gloss. The pattern of the fabric was chosen to bring color to the room and also to provide several colors with which to coordinate the rest of the decor for the room since as stated above and also very obvious, I'm far from an interior design whiz. 

I absolutely love the color gray and I'm really happy that I've been able to make it a main color in the room. There's nothing dreary about gray in my opinion and it matches pretty much everything. 

And of course, I wasn't the only one in my house in love with the new chairs........

After attaching the cushions, I would turn and set the chairs off to the side and I barely had time to turn my head away before Deucalion jumped up and staked his claim on my new, wonderful, CLEAN chairs. I hollered for him to get down but instead he turned his back to me and continued to sit in the chair, because if he can't see you, he thinks you can't see him. He knew I was behind him though cause his ears are half down, not sticking straight up like normal. They're called the 'trouble ears'. He ignored me for a minute before switching positions.....

I guess he started feeling a little safer and thought he'd show his face. Still staying on the chair of course. And then he appeared to be feeling extra bold and decided he needed to be more comfortable....

It's such a rough life, isn't it? 

You could almost believe it was he who put in all that hard work with the chairs, he looks exhausted!

There are a few more additions to the craft area, I'll post again later!