I hope you had a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving and celebrated exactly the way you wanted to!
If you are looking for a little post-prandial distraction, might I ask you to join me in contemplating the execution of a Home Project, with potentially satisfying results? You don’t have to spend a dollar or move a single piece of furniture, you can simply sit back, sip your beverage of choice, pass judgment on my plans and life choices, and perhaps offer advice! Win win!
Carla has been asking, for months, for a “rilly big box full of all craft stuf.” That is a direct quote from her letter to Santa.
Carla is a crafter extraordinaire. She makes anything and everything, from miniature furniture to fishing rods and fish to tiny clay animals to elaborate seascape scenes to clothing for her stuffed animals and more. We have a lot of crafting supplies in our home already, and very little space to store it all, and my little craft enthusiast is constantly coming up with new ideas.
My husband and I decided that we wanted to help Santa fulfill Carla’s wish… but we needed a bigger plan than just a “rilly big box full of craft stuf.” The big box is part 2. Part 1 is carving out a crafting space.
Right now, crafting takes place on the kitchen table:
Or on the dining room floor:
Short of moving to a home with a dedicated crafting room, we have to make do with what we have. And what we currently have makes me twitchy and claustrophobic.
We do have a decent-size basement, and my husband and I discussed repurposing the space for crafting.
Right now, the basement has several purposes. The left third is for exercise and gaming and TV watching; we have a treadmill, a recumbent bike, a couch, and a TV over there. It’s pretty full.
The right two thirds has a dual toys/music function. As in, it holds a huge amount of Carla’s toys (Barbies galore, dinosaurs, building sets) but it is also where we keep the electric piano and my husband’s electric drum kit.
(Our dream house needs to have a dedicated music room, too, apparently.)
I hope you are enjoying our walls. The color scheme… grows on you.
My idea was to move/break down the piano and drum kit, since they are so rarely used. My husband agreed to moving the piano, but he wants to keep the drum kit. (Sigh. The drum kit takes up so much more room than the piano. But we take what we can get.)
And then we use the space freed up to create a crafting space for Carla.
While we already have the Expedit (which holds games and some puzzles and all the Make Your Own [XYZ]! kits that Carla has yet to put together, along with many that she HAS put together but have enough ingredients for more rounds) (I am going to go through and RUTHLESSLY TOSS some of the latter and RUTHLESSLY DONATE some of the former), a four-cube organizer that holds our DVDs and my husband’s video game collection, and a six-cube organizer for Carla’s LEGOs, we need dedicated craft storage and we need some sort of table.
Santa, in addition to the “rilly big box full of craft stuf” has assured us he will bring additional storage. I think he is planning on another six-cube shelf organizer and fabric bins.
Santa will not be bringing a table, although that’s a critical element of this plan. My husband and I have been on the hunt, but it’s difficult to find anything that doesn’t cost one million dollars. We decided we can wait to figure out the table solution until after Christmas. But that doesn’t mean I am not already thinking about a table.
When Carla crafts on the kitchen table, she takes up approximately half of the space.
Don’t get me wrong – given time, her crafting essentials eventually migrate to all four corners of the table and spill over the edges onto the floor, but she seems to be able to make do with just half. That’s 32” by 42”, so it would be IDEAL to find a table that is three feet by four feet. A table that folds, so we can slide it up against the wall. A table that has a smooth, untextured top for drawing. A table that is NOT one million dollars. (I would love love LOVE to spend less than $50, but that seems like a pipe dream. Maybe I should be aiming for under $100.)
Because I am a genius, I suggested that maybe all we needed was a giant board! Then we could help Carla move the not-yet-installed shelf and the current LEGO storage shelf into the middle of the basement, and put the board across the tops of both shelving units, and VOILA! instant table!
My husband doesn’t think that we will be able to find a board of the right size, and, even if we did, he is picturing something rough with jagged edges. So I need to think on/research this idea a bit more. I still think it is a genius solution, although that’s dependent on boards a) coming in the right size and b) also not costing one million dollars.
Because crafting is so important to Carla, and because it causes SUCH chaos in my home, I am pretty motivated to find a solution.
To help keep everything organized, we will also get a desktop carousel.
And I can think of dozens of uses for this craft keeper, which has 16 little plastic containers for pom-poms, stickers, glue sticks, beads, etc. etc. etc., so I think we’ll get one of these, too.
The only other thing I can think of to complete this craft space is perhaps some sort of plastic carpet mat. You know, to protect the carpet from all sort of crafting debris.
I’m sure there are other things we will find we need, once this craft space is realized. But for now I am focused on the minimum needed to make it functional, and also on keeping it under one million dollars.
P.S. My plans include getting rid of Carla’s dress-up closet, which is the purple structure that lives to the left of the Expedit. I can’t remember the last time she played dress up. (“Halloween” she told me when I asked her. And before that? “Last Halloween.” This proves my point.) She laments the loss of the mirror, but it’s a pretty crummy mirror and we can easily get a mirror and affix it to her bedroom door.
I really wish we could get rid of the drum kit.
I also think it’s time to get rid of the Giant Bear. I impulse-bought this bear at Costco many years ago, and it achieved the surprise and delight I’d imagined when I spotted it. But now it mainly lives on one of the couches in the basement, rendering the couch unusable by humans. Or it endures various forms of torture inflicted by Carla. It has sagged a bit in its old age, as though the stuffing has been crushed or redistributed, so it is now much less fluffy than it was when we first brought it home. I think it’s time to say goodbye.
If you were designing a crafting space, given what you now know about our available resources, is there anything I’ve missed or overlooked?
‘Board for a table’ idea – might it be worth looking at Ikea’s range of desk/table tops that you’re supposed to add legs to? (I know that they’re having supply issues…but so are everyone?…)
I did not know this existed! Thank you!
Yes, and also check the “As Is” section for returned items that are suuuuuper cheap! We have gotten many great playroom pieces there and who cares if they get destroyed!
My son also has an electric drum kit AND an acoustic drum kit, both in the basement. IT TAKES UP SPACE. I think it’s a great idea to make a dedicated craft space! Carla will love it! Can you look for a used table somewhere – kijiji or FB marketplace? It would solve the table issue within the budget.
The art of drumming is lovely, but… it requires SO MUCH room! You have TWO!
Yes to IKEA for tables. I have a couple of trestle tables for drawing that work well and are easy to manoeuvre, have had one for at least 25 years. You could also surely get a board cut to size in lots of DIY or kitchen supply places. Perhaps with a melamine surface, or plyboard can be lovely, with rounded corners ideally. Or varnish it yourself possibly? Have fun. ^_^
This is so helpful! I will look into all these options!
Ikea has a REALLY cool drafting table (you can angle it up and down) for $149. We don’t need one, but I thought it looked great for this sort of thing when I spotted it last week.
And I second the idea of IKEA’s tabletops. Also, we bought one of their countertops (which you can cut down to size) to go over a utility box in our basement which has essentially made it a giant crafting/work space. They were $60 each, I believe, and are just regular stock at the store. You could attach it to the wall with hinged brackets…
I have seen those drafting tables (for $1 million) and am delighted to hear that Ikea has one for a much better price! And I am LOVING this idea of the cut-to-size counter/table top!
Is there any chance you’ve been looking for an excuse to replace your kitchen table? It might be more fun and satisfying to spend the million dollars on a table YOU want, and then give her the old table. But this is a Long Shot Idea: that table still looks good. (I had the idea after cleaning off our dining room table yesterday for Thanksgiving and realizing that it has truly Seen Better Days. It’s dark pine, purchased USED more than twenty years ago, and like the bear it perhaps wishes for a peaceful retirement.)
Oh, this is a good idea too! I will give this some thought!
I love using old doors on file cabinets (or other shelves/storage) for desks – If you have a Habitat ReStore in your area you may be able to find one for cheap. Sometimes they also have odd lengths of countertops, which can also work well as a desktop
Oooooh this is such a creative option! I never would have thought of this!
I use an old sliding closet door that I covered with contact paper and typically set over two 2-drawer file cabinets. So, yes to checking Restore or keeping an eye out for renovation debris, curbside around town.
Good luck! She’s going to love it.
We have a sliding closet door that no longer works… now I am trying to figure out in my head if I can repurpose it for this project!
I learned that Home Depot will cut plywood to your size specifications. It would require some sanding/finishing perhaps but would be quite inexpensive. I’m so jealous of your basement…no basements in earthquake country. You might consider the half-size stackable bins for the cube organizer…I find that those deep fabric bins are great for hiding mess but not actually organizing it. Have fun, please show us the finished space!
Half size stackable bins sound like a great plan!
I don’t know what your budget for the table is, but I have a table that is designed for cutting fabric (for home seamstresses or quilters). It’s tall, about five feet by three and a half feet, and two leaves drop down.i think we got ours from Wayfair or Overstock and it was about $150. It might be a good solution, although that might seem pricey.
I am beginning to think $150 might be a reasonable price. I will look into a table like this one – it sounds perfect!
Facebook marketplace for a second hand table? You can get mdf boards/sheets at home Depot etc. They will also cut it to size. It’s pretty cheap.
Oh, I am so excited about this project! I was going to suggest FB Marketplace and consignment stores – but I see those ideas have already been tossed into the ring. My next suggestion would be Next Door – they have a place where you can search for items (for sale or free) that may work for you. Carla is going to be so excited to have a dedicated crafting area! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/norden-gateleg-table-white-10423886/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkZKNBhDiARIsAPsk0Wgq5kjY0_cIfRzJyuaeclzQdmTUuQz_1YBEbwoCFqa64796c9g23wYaAkpVEALw_wcB
I am not sure what your price point is, but I cannot say enough good things about this table. 3 small, but deep drawers front and back (great for things like scissors, pom poms, etc) that can be expanded so both sides are open or just one or folded up in a corner. I have used mine as a sewing table for many years and can attest to the fact that, when extended, the table is sturdy enough to hold a large sewing machine and projects as heavy as a king size quilt in the process of being created. Good luck! I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
That poor bear…
It would be hypocritical of me to give anyone organizing advice. There’s a reason most of the photos on my blog are either outside or closeups.
Omg, I love your piano, and your basement, and the bear torture trap, and your daughter. My daughter was also a crafter extraordinaire (she had an imaginary fairy that visited her bookcase headboard every night and spent hours trying to make a tiny treadmill that would actually turn). We never made a dedicated space for it, just lived with the kitchen looking like a maker space crossed with mardi gras, so you’re already way ahead of us. The only thing I can think of is one of those places that sells unused building supplies would maybe have a door that you could lay across the shelves? Then no jagged edges. But maybe too big. Anyway. Sorry to be completely unhelpful.
A tiny treadmill-making fairy?! That is the most wonderful thing I have ever heard