Half-baked: My Crafting Space

So, obviously this isn't really a cooking day.  But I do believe my little crafting corner qualifies as half-baked--really!  My craft room is really a corner of my bedroom--approx. 4'x6'.  Our master bedroom has 3 closets, and rather than use one for storage (that's what the garage is for, right?), I commandeered it for my craft closet.  We've lived in our house about 10 years now and I've had two other different crafting rooms--real rooms.

I started out in our little loft area.  On the original home blueprints, it was called the children's loft.  Probably acted as a play area.  It's pretty small, with a sloped cieling and maybe 10'x10'--you can't stand up all the way in any part of the space, but its great for sitting at a table or desk and working.  I think the previous owners to us completely ignored the space.  The ladder had been removed and the original 1960's linoleum was still on the floor and the dark wood railing was untouched.  The thick layer of dust simply said, "This space was useless to us."  Rhett installed one of those fold-down ladders and it became the perfect mommy escape place.  I bought wire shelving units to organize everything so I could see it all.  I set up a folding table to act as a work table and had everything just so.

Then, less than a year later, #3 decided to join our family.  Well, Rhett didn't like me climbing up and down all the time looking like, well, never mind.  He talked me into moving everything into our 3rd bedroom.  He took over the loft and now the only hope of removing him and his stuff from there is, well, about as likely as pigs flying.  To this day I regret listening to reason and making that move :)

The new room is pretty small and the other two kids were sharing the larger second bedroom.  At the time, I totally cleaned everything out.  I painted it a bright, cheery yellow with a soft white stippling (a la plastic bags).  I hung denim curtains overlayed with pretty eyelet fabric.  I set up my shelves to neatly store everything.  I felt inspired in my pretty space. I grew to love that space.

Then, as kids do, the oldest two grew out of sharing a room and #3 was ready to move from the living room into a bedroom.  So, the girls (oldest & youngest) were moved into the big bedroom and the boy (the MIDDLE child) moved into my small bedroom.  My craft shelves were carefully re-assembled in the 3rd closet in the master bedroom.  Whenever I wanted to work, I had to clear off the kitchen table and haul everything out.  This meant I did very little for a couple of years, because I believe in EATING at the kitchen table, so it was quite a pain to get something out, only to have to put it away for a meal or snack just when I was getting into the groove.

After a while, we tried putting a table up in the back portion of our living room, but I didn't like that either, because it always made the room look more messy than it actually was.  Eventually, we got a table from a yard sale that fit perfectly in the corner of our bedroom next to my craft closet.  Now my sewing machine and current projects have a home and I can close my bedroom door if it looks to much like the big bang.  It's a little cramped, but it works--until I have that dream home with six bedrooms, a library, an office, walk-in closets ... Back to reality.

I share this because I have made several adaptations in order to make this area work for me.  I'll share a few of these over time--but hopefully now you'll see why I take on some quirky projects.  Also--If I can make it work, anyone can.