Inspired by Carmel

I really didn't know what my first "house project" of 2012 was going to be.  Having just moved into this house in October, there are SO many things I want to do!  I was thinking of doing a wall treatment in the hallway, or maybe painting the guest bathroom vanity.  On the bottom of my to-do list was turn the guest room closets into a craft storage/work area for myself.  As it was, all my craft supplies were down in the basement on shelves (and some of it had exploded all over the floor over the past month!).  I would carry everything I needed upstairs to the dining room to work.  Then I carried it back down the stairs when I had to put away.  It was not ideal.

The yesterday, I saw Carmel's craft closet and the inspiration hit me and I got to work.  Here is Carmel's prettily organized closet....

And hey, what do you know, it is in her guest room, too, and I just noticed our guest rooms have very similar bedding!  Ha!

I committed one of the seven deadly blogging sins and did not take a before picture.  But imagine behind these doors that there are loads of knick knacks, photos, frames, basically anything I didn't have a place for.

It was a huge waste of space, and look at all that room!  I knew it could be the solution to my problem.  I should also say that this makeover was NO COST because everything I used I had on hand.  I brought up my IKEA desk, a dry sink that had not sold, and pretty much every art supply, and all the art supply containers I had on hand plus some extra vintage storage containers.

And After:

Here is the closet on the right....

As you can see, I created a bit of a gallery wall in there above the desk.  This is made up of things that inspire me and make me happy, and my most favorite color palette.

Below the desk sits all of my magazine files.

And to the left of the desk all of my drawer liners and wrapping paper are organized in trash can bins, and there is a crate filled with gift bags filed by category.

Above the desk, I have all of my IKEA boxes.  And yes, I can reach them all, so that is not an issue.  I have very long go-go-Gadget arms.

Now, if only that had been enough.... but it wasn't!  So the left closet also houses craft supplies.
Here it is with the drysink, all my fabric rolled on the top shelf, and baskets and a crate holding more floral/Christmas crafts.  And I still need to do something to the wall behind it but I am not sure what yet.

The top features buttons in a vintage jar, paint brushes in a coffee can, and a couple of little happies.  In the sink area I have all my paints and threads (in a tray).  And the paints are divided in an odd manner because I keep all my DecoArt products separate from the rest since I use them for The DIY Club.

In the bottom section, the top shelf houses stencils and fan decks.  The bottom shelf houses boxes of some smaller supplies and a vintage locker bin filled with Styrofoam pieces.

 To the left of the drysink is all of my silhouette supplies in a vintage metal basket.

 And to the right are my silhouette and my sewing machine.

I feel SO much better now that all of my crafts are organized!  I am ready to take on the WORLD!  or at least tackle a craft project. :)

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