{"id":101161,"date":"2019-10-22T18:51:43","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T22:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.bhgrelife.com\/bhgrelife\/?p=101161"},"modified":"2019-10-22T18:51:44","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T22:51:44","slug":"craft-room-decor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage.bhgrelife.com\/bhgrelife\/craft-room-decor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Create a Craft or Sewing Room"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Making\nand enjoying crafts requires space to spread out<\/a> and be creative and to quickly\nstore your masterpiece-in-progress whenever you\u2019re interrupted or called away.\nIn addition, you\u2019ll need even more space to store the materials and tools you\nuse in an organized and productive way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\ncan start small with a corner desk in a spare room, or double up so your home\noffice allows you to do personal work. Or you can find space in your basement,\naddition, or heated garage. Before you create a room of your own, think about\ncraft room decor at the start and you\u2019ll end up with a room that\u2019s not only\nfunctional, but one you want to spend time in..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting,\na good, big working surface, storage, and easy access to tools are four of the\nmost important aspects to creating room for your crafts. A devoted crafter\nneeds a large working table, a storage cabinet, an easily organized and\naccessible grab-\u2019n-go tool rack, and a sink or rough equivalent to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lighting<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

LED\npanels are cheap and quick to install. Go to a Home Depot or Lowe\u2019s to find\neasy-to-install, plug-in lighting panels that will illuminate even the darkest\nspace. 1000 lumens is more than enough light for the average-size room. A new\n1000 lumen LED panel should cost you less than $60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work Table<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most\nkitchen counters are 31 inches above the floor. Using that as a guideline, a\n31-inch surface  provides you with an\neasily accessible working platform that doesn\u2019t require stretching or stooping.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou don\u2019t have a folding table already, check online used shopping sites in\nyour area for cheap or free tables. If you want or need to make a solid table,\ngo to a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and purchase an old hollow core door\nas a table surface. In larger cities, you could try your local Ikea and purchase\na table or desk surface for less in the discount room, where the components of\nbroken furnishings are unpacked and sold cheaply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online\nshopping is useful not only for cheap, ready-made table surfaces, but also for\nfree, broken tables. If you find one with functioning legs, detach its broken\nsurface and reuse the legs for your hollow core door or Ikea desk surface. The\nadvantage of screw-in legs is that they\u2019re not bulky, so you can store other\nmaterial you will need for your crafts right there at hand. Anything from\nfabrics to colored or wrapping paper can fit, and larger tools like hair dryers\nor paints might also be accommodated, depending on their size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nthe table is assembled, attach rulers or measuring tapes to two adjoining sides\nof your surface to help you measure your crafts quickly and easily. You can\nalso use a yardstick to draw a square grid on the table surface with a pencil,\nthen make these marks permanent with an indelible marker or chalk paint. You\ncan attach magnetic strips to hold tools you will use for your crafts on the\nwall above the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage Cabinet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A\nlot of material goes into making crafts. You need to organize them or you\u2019ll\nget buried in an avalanche of paper, ribbons, and fabric. When it comes to\ngetting organized, you can store hangers for school-sized colored paper rolls\non the back of your craft room\u2019s door. It\u2019s a little extra space bonus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then,  find an old filing cabinet<\/a>, a kitchen hutch, or a library\ncard catalog in any one of your favorite thrift spots. Repaint your treasure so\nthat it\u2019s fresh (you could even color-code the partitions), then position it\nagainst an easily accessible wall and attach a light on a spring arm so you can\nroot around in the various cubbies looking for that gorgeous spool of thread or\nball of wool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively,\nfind an old desk with many drawers. Remove the desktop and replace it with a\nthick sheet of glass. Now you have a second working surface that enables you to\nlook into the storage drawers to locate things as they come to mind. On top of\nthe repurposed desk, you could put a modular bookcase to store more material\nand tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grab-and-Go Tool Rack<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do\nyou sew, knit, or do paper crafts? You will need special tools for each craft.\nOrganize your pencils and markers and your needles and scissors by color and\nsize, and deposit them in visible and easily accessible mason or pickle jars.\nIf you are short on jars, you may be able to find some at your local recycling\ncenter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nnot, you can chop equal lengths (five to seven inches) of PVC piping with a\nhacksaw blade and glue them together with plumber\u2019s adhesive. If you\u2019re storing\npaint brushes, stuff strips of corrugated board into the open necks of the PVC\ncontainers to separate different colored brushes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy crafting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"