Cathy's Craft Room -- Virtual Tour

2018 Update:  I just went back and read this description and looked at the photos of my craft room.  It's changed so much over the past several years -- things have moved here and there, and the storage area at the end of the room has become a hoarder's heaven!!!!  But since I'm now retired, it's the perfect place for me to hang out every day and work on my projects.  The huge table fills up quickly with everything I'm working on, but now that I'm offering classes again, it gets cleared off at least once a month to accommodate my guests.

Original 2012 tour:

It's here at long last -- the virtual tour of my new dream-come-true workshop!!!

Beginning with a wide walkway from the driveway to the back of the house, my workshop is its own little haven -- the only reason I would ever need to go into the rest of the house would be for an occasional visit to the powder room and . . . oh ya . . . a little sleep now and again . . . .

C'mon in and let's look around! (BTW -- if you want a closer look at any of this stuff, just click on the photo for a larger view.)

Here's the workshop area . . . with my beautiful new table from Ikea shown at its largest size (accommodates up to 14 people -- but 12 is better) and its smallest size (accommodates 8).




Just inside the room next to the windows is my punch storage area. I found these wonderful towel holders at Ikea (yes, a large part of my room budget went to our new Centennial Ikea about a month after it opened). They're perfect for holding the old style Stampin' Up! punches. The hanging baskets came in a set of two -- also from Ikea. The new style punches are stored in the cabinets below -- purchased from Home Depot (or maybe Lowe's), and then spray-painted black.


At the end of the room under the window to the left is my Big Shot work area. All of my large dies are stored in the baskets on each side of the table (Yes! You're right -- another Ikea purchase . . . I bought three of these tables which are just the right height for working standing up.) My smaller dies and embossing folders are stored in the drawers and on the shelves below.

Under the window to the right is my embossing/glitter station. No more glitter all over the table and the floor! All of the embossing powder, glitter and accessories are stored in the drawers.

All those baskets on the shelves underneath are card kits that I need to finish up (leftover from past classes and stamp camps). I need to get going on that real soon too 'cause my first craft show of the season is less than a month away!

Embossing Station Extras:

These wonderful heat tool stands came from my friend Ruthie whose husband Rick makes them to sell. I bought two of them unfinished, and then spray-painted them black and added aluminum flashing to protect the base.

These tile samples came from my friend Linda. They're not attached -- just placed on top to protect the surface from embossing "oopses."

Along the wall facing the backyard I have placed some small shelves I used to have in the living room -- this is where I'm storing out-of-season cards and card samples, as well as catalogs, card magazines, etc. I've also placed a narrow table under the windows. I can't put any more shelves in this area because the baseboard heater that runs along that wall is the only heat source for the room. I haven't decided yet if the table will become a permanent fixture because it narrows the room a little bit, but it sure comes in handy! I also have a coat rack just inside the door (you can see from the photo that I'm currently using it to hang lots of bags).

UPDATE:  This is the new view of this wall . . . I purchased eight 10-drawer rolling units last year to make better use of the space where the table was located.  Seems like the table was just gathering piles of junk and I had to clean it off all the time -- this way I can roll the carts out of the way -- or just remove the bottom drawers -- when I need to get a little heat out of the baseboard heater.  Unfortunately, the drawers were not on sale when I bought them -- but it's amazing how much these little drawers can hold!  Plus, opening and closing the drawers provides hours of amusement for my young grandson!!!!!

Moving back over to the inside wall, you'll find all my stamps, stampin' pads, and stampin' accessories.


For ribbon storage, I bought a length of plain old roof gutter from the hardware store and attached it to the wall. It's just the right size for the ribbon and keeps it up and out of the way, but still easily accessible.

The black squares above the shelves are magnetic cork boards I found at JoAnn and spray-painted black. I found the white Stampin' Up! logo in my Decor Elements stash and it fit perfectly into the corner of one of the squares.

We didn't replace the crappy old door on the back of the garage when we built the room, and I wanted it to just disappear into the background. So I painted it the same color as the walls and hung a big calendar on it. Then I made a wheeled platform for my old refrigerator from work and wheeled it in front of the door (just in case we ever do need to get through that door). That turned out to be the perfect spot for my Keurig one-cup coffee brewer (recently replaced by a Cuisinart coffee brewer -- don't ask)! The wire drawers under the coffee brewer hold the K-cups, and there's just enough room on each side of the fridge for my paper shredder and a narrow waste basket (and a broom and several yardsticks and whatever else just happens to end up there).

Ok . . . remember way back in late August when I built my two 25-cube shelving units? And that was the only thing in the room?! And I couldn't imagine EVER filling those 50 cubes? Well, guess what?! EVERY SINGLE CUBE is filled! And if I ever find time to organize, I may even be able to find stuff in there.


I think this will become my favorite part of the room. It was originally going to be strictly for storage, but I've put my old work table at that end of the room, and my printer, and another side table to hold all the beverage paraphernalia, paper cups, sweeteners, napkins, stuff like that. It's a great place to sit and enjoy looking at the rest of the room and work at my computer and look out the door.

Above the side table, I've hung a piece of mat board that has a large open O-ring attached at the bottom (made with my Zutter Binder). Hanging from the O-ring are several organdy bags. Just before I started the room addition, I started a policy whereby if a person is a regular (or a semi-regular) attendee at my classes, I give them a bag and a SNAIL Adhesive, and they make a nametag to identify it as theirs. Then whenever they run out of SNAIL I sell them a refill (or they bring their own). This has saved me some serious cash-o-la for classes. (By far the largest expense has always been the adhesives for class projects). I still provide the Stampin' Dimensionals and Mini Glue Dots and Tombow and other adhesives as part of the class fee.

Ok . . . that's it. Tour's over, off the bus!

As you can see, I've spent a lot of time making this exactly the room I wanted it to be . . . and it was totally worth it! Now all I need to do is figure out a way to manufacture more TIME to spend out here playing with paper!

If you're ever in the area, please give me a call and stop by for a real tour -- or maybe a class. In the meantime, I hope I've given you a few ideas for your own perfect stampin' spot.

Cathy ;D