April 7, 2011

A Space For The Creative . . .

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Here at the Lee house we’re a creative bunch who loves to draw, sculpt, collage, glue and imagine.  Art supplies are high on my list of must haves for kiddos. And a spot to house all that creativity is also important to me. Thankfully, I have finally finished organizing the spot where my kids and I make all sorts of crap crafts.  

Welcome to the half of our basement we call the craft room.  I love my IKEA EXPIDIT bookshelves. Each “cube” holds several totes of craft supplies, books, baskets, magazine holders or large storage boxes.  And it’s purty, too.

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After we painted the basement the palest silver blue last summer, I knew it would be an ideal backdrop for our collection of vintage globes.

I’ve got open baskets for frequently used items like scrap paper and dragonfly stationary.

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Then I’ve got about thirty of these IKEA SAMLA bins to corral art supplies that need to be kept away from little hands.  Each bin is labeled because I’m an organizing nerd like that.  And because then my kids can’t tell me they didn’t know where to put something away since they can all read.

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Some shelves have random baskets for things like gift bags and stationary the whole family uses.  When it’s time to write thank you’s we can pull out these baskets, sit at the table and express our gratitude as a family. {reality: the kids fight while I tell them what to write.}

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The ‘fatal error’ items, like scissors and Sharpies are stored in white cups on the top shelf out of everyone’s reach.  They only come down with my permission. I also keep my vast stash of cut ribbon in biscuit jars on the top shelf.  It comes in handy for tying a quick gift in a glassine bag or tying Hannie B.’s hair in a ponytail.

Little Ollie is not allowed in the basement unless one of us is down there with him.  When he is down there I let him color with chunky crayons or play with the pop beads, but I also spend a lot of time redirecting him away from the craft supplies.  He will get to use more as time goes on and he gets older.  Hannie B. is a free spirit in the craft realm.  RedDog loves to make things too and occasionally {very occasionally now, dang teenhood} I can get Big C. down there to create.

It’s a happy place for me.  Hope you’ve enjoyed the tour.

13 comments:

brendag said...

You have inspired me! We have a craft area in our basement also. I have been wanting to get it more organized. I have a label maker (love it) but had not thought to get more bins and label them! Brilliant! Thanks for sharing so many of your wonderful, creative ideas!

NovelTeaMommy said...

Another reason for me to dream of a house :) A basement craft area. But then I would have to have time to craft. Hmm. I was introduced to IKEA for the first time a few weeks ago. Awesome to see these shelves in action!
BTW, I had to chuckle when I saw the picture with the tub of glitter; that would give my husband a heart attack to have in the house!

Apis Melliflora said...

Ooooooo. Aaaaaaah.

Those are the words that come to mind every time I see that craft heaven. What magazine did you say came to photograph your craft space? =)

Anonymous said...

I recently purchased a wide 4 drawer Sterilite cart. I thought oh this will have so much leftover space for all my future crafty purchases. Apparently the scope of my crafting tools was beyond my ken. I filled the cart. I have a smaller 3 drawer cart that is just for the kids art supplies. It's full too. Your basement storage solution is probably going to have to be my next step. *Sigh*

Aiketa said...

I wish one day I have enough money to buy a house big enough to have a crafts room. Yours is awesome.
I love your organization skills... I'm improving, but I am so far from your level... I guess I still have time to get better before I have my own house.

Jessie said...

When we end up finishing our basement, I would love to do an area like this!! I've been needing a better way to store all our crafts/stationary/misc. (Love the cubbies and cool globe collection.) I bet you are loving having this project finished and looking so great. A place for everything and everything in it's place!

The Queen Vee said...

Looks fabulous, a perfect spot for all the creative people living at your house, now if only you mother could be as organized. I'm just falling behind over here in Brambleton.

Kernal Ken said...

I have learned three new things from this post, its comments and the comment word verification process:

1. Ollie can read! Dragonfly says so in the post.

2. The scope of TK's crafting tools is beyond me.

3. The word verification process knows who you are! My task was to copy this word: istud. Thanks, Google.

MelancholySmile said...

Love those globes! Beautiful room.

Emily said...

Wow,love what you did! Great job creating crafting beauty. Your dad makes me laugh!

Bells said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bells said...

I have these ikea cubbies too, only in maple. They hold games, toys, puzzles, books and crafting supplies. We love them!

jd said...

I've seen it. I love it.

And btw, I think I need to make a special trip back to your neck of the woods... I need to go to that ribbon outlet!! The thought of it has been haunting me. :)

miss you--