Friday, June 15, 2012

Sharing our Craft Spaces Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Frosted Designs "Sharing Our Craft Spaces" blog hop, where the design team members will share photos of their scrap spaces and some of their favorite organizational tips and tools.  If you've been following along the hop, you came here from Ashley's blog.   (A full blog hop lineup is at the end of this post.)
Before I share the pics of my room, I have to share a little story about how it came to be.  When we bought our house 20+ years ago, there was a room on the side of the house that had been a study, and it quickly became my sewing room.  With windows on three sides, it was a great place to do sewing and quilting because I could still keep an eye on my kids while they played outside.   As time passed, this became my sewing/quilting/scrapbooking/stamping room because we all know how one craft leads right into another, LOL!   I added a couple of Iris carts to hold supplies, so things were still organized, but not quite as neat as they had once been.

Then in the fall of 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the U.S., causing so much damage along Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.   Unexpectedly, the remnants of the hurricane created a huge windstorm that went through the midwest, hitting SW Ohio with straightline winds from 80 - 100 mph.  We had a huge 100 year old oak tree in our front yard that was completely uprooted, falling on the house and destroying our roof, part of the second floor, and completely smashing my craftroom.   It was a very scary experience, but luckily DH and I were in another part of the house and no one was hurt.  (And we counted ourselves very lucky, after seeing all the destruction from the actual hurricane!)   So here's what things looked like after the storm hit:

It took four months, lots of work and so many trips to Home Depot, Lowes and Ikea that I lost count, but we finally got everything repaired, rebuilt and back to normal - that was a happy day indeed!

Here's what my workroom looked like after the rebuild.  We bought a large Expedit unit from Ikea to hold all my scrapbooking supplies and baskets of quilting fabrics.  (originally, the room had built-in shelves on this wall.)  The worktable and cabinets above it were unfinished cabinets that DH bought from a local kitchen supply house.   He hung pegboard on the wall above the table so I could hand scissors, punches, and my ATG guns within reach.   The sewing cabinets were made from drawer units and tabletops purchased at Ikea. 


I had to take pictures while everything was nice and neat, because believe me, it doesn't usually look this way!  I tend to be a messy scrapper!

One item that I love for organizing small embellishments is usually found in the jewelry or bead section of craft stores, and that's the CraftMates organizer.  These binders hold rows of plastic compartments that snap closed and are great for storing small items like brads, charms, eyelets, buttons, etc.  They're a great item to pick up with your Michaels or Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon!

The next stop on our blog hop is Susie's blog.  And just in case you missed any stops along the way, here's the full blog hop lineup:


start here:   Frosted Designs
Anita  http://theflamingochronicals.blogspot.com/
Lynn http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.com/
Lori http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
Sarah http://scrapsbysarah.blogspot.com/
Lydia http://kiwimumscraps.blogspot.com/
Sassy http://sassymoments.blogspot.com/
Ashley http://ashleyspaperdoll.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://www.brendasscrappyblog.blogspot.com/
Susie http://www.thedieshaveit.com/
Laurie http://www.laurielariviere.blogspot.com/
Lori M http://frugalscrapper.blogspot.com/
Carol http://carolpaperie.blogspot.com/
Channa http://crafts-pieces.blogspot.com/



46 comments:

Ann said...

Brenda, Thank God you weren't in that room when that tree came down! How scary! Your room is beautiful. I love how colorful your shelves are!

Sunshine HoneyBee said...

We had some storms come thru last wk and several branches fell off our Maple Tree that has been hit by lighting so many times. Glad we are both ok and indeed glad you were not in the room when the tree came crashing down. Like the bright colored baskets on the top shelf. Thanks for giveaway chance.
Melissa
"Sunshine HoneyBee"

Lynn said...

WOW..your space is amazing. I'm so glad you weren't crafting when that tree fell, what a scary thing to have happen. The renovated room...fabulous!

Laurie said...

what a fabulous room! love that large bookcase shelf, very cool storage!

Unknown said...

WoW thank goodness your family was hun harmed during that storm. How scarey! I love your Ikea shelves and hopefully I will own one someday soon. Thanks for sharing.

April said...

WOW what an amazing story! Thank God none of you got hurt!! I'm glad you were able to get everything back the way you wanted it to be. :)

Debbie Bakk said...

Sorry to hear about the disaster -but glad to hear everyone was alright. But know you have a new and organized room love the bright colorful askets and the kitchen cabinets are great for storage Happy Scrappin!

Unknown said...

So glad that tree only hurt your house!!! Love your scraproom! Those cubby shelves are awesome :)

Audra said...

Thx for sharing love the craft mate binders and so wish I had an idea love your space

Ashley Horton said...

What a scary experience Brenda, but what a blessing you guys were in another part of the house!! So glad you were able to get your room rebuilt and it looks gorgeous! Love your Ikea shelves and the pretty hardwood flower.

Unknown said...

Wow.. what a story you have.. that was a huge tree that came crashing down. I'm glad no one was hurt.

I love your row of shelves there. It is really fantastic! The pegboard is awesome too.. I was really thinking I needed some of that.. but I think I will wait until we get into a house. I love those Craft Mates!

Crafting Pieces of Me said...

Good Day Ms Brenda! I'm from Philippines and heard the news about Hurricane Ike that Hit the US. Thank God that no one get hurt from your family.

I really like your space it's so clean and organize i like the shelves and basket its so colorful.

God Bless!
Catt

Karen Bahit said...

God is good... That tree was HUGE!!!

I love love love your "New Scrapbook/Craft Room" Thank you for sharing me your haven...

Blessings.

Hoppily,
Karen

Nikki said...

Your New Scrap room looks amazing to bad you had to have a tree fall on your place to get a new one but it's really nice now :)

Unknown said...

What a story ! Glad you and DH were OK ! You have done a great job with rebuilding this awesome craft room. I also have a lot of IKEA furniture in my craft space and absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing the info about the Craft Mates ! Very useful !

Allisa said...

You have a great space, so sorry you went through so much to get it! That was a huge tree!

Unknown said...

So glad you are ok! Your new space looks amazing! Loving the bright colored baskets!

D- said...

So glad the two of you are safe. Your carft space looks wonderful. TFS
dmcardmaker at aol dot com

SandeeNC said...

I'm so glad that your story, truly had a happy ending, your new craft room is gorgeous, I think I'm jealous! lol waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

Unknown said...

So sorry for the tree accident Brenda. I'm so happy you got it all worked out and it looks amazing. I'm really digging the cube shelves with the lovely color on top from the baskets. So jealous of the cabinet space and drawers you have.Thanks for sharing!! Christina

loulou said...

Your craft space is lovely. The baskets on the top of the shelves look fantastic. Love R2 too, cheers Linda

JennyH said...

Love your space, all that natural light coming in makes the room so light and bright, unlike my little cave : )

Karon said...

Oh My goodness - good job you weren't in there crafting. But WOW I love the space you have now. I feel a trip to IKEA coming on, watch out hubby. Didn't realise the those shelves were just the right size for the iris cases:-)

TFS

http://karonskraftykorner.blogspot.ca/

Lori said...

oh wow, I remember Ike! we got all the rain form him. We were lucky here. Sorry that happened. But waht a wonderful space you have!

lori.bourg@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Love it!thanks for sharing
Sandra

Channa said...

Oh my, that must have been some experience but you turned it in to one lovely room. So organized, love it!

Cat said...

Ikea is great!! So many things to choose from that everyone can still have their own style whilst having the convenience of Ikea! Xx

Teresa Jaye said...

Brenda your space is beautiful! So sorry you had to loose the original (and a tree) to get it though! I love your workstation with the peg board - I use the Craft Mates for my small items too! Thanks for sharing your space!

Sarah said...

Wow! Thank God you and your hubby weren't in that room when that tree went down! I loooove your ikea shelf! It looks so pretty and organized!! You have a beautiful scrap room! Thanks for sharing it!

Emily H said...

Wow! That is quite the story! It looks lovely now! Thanks for sharing!

CarlyJo said...

I "like" every comment that reads anything like sorry to hear about the tree but happy to hear that no one was injured. WOW. Really a tree? That really is scary, I am honestly happy that things turned out this way in the end!

Ceal said...

wow so glad no one was hurt, love your new room :)

TheTulipCollector said...

Wow! That is a scary picture. Glad you and your family survived it. I love the bright colored baskets on the top of your shelves.

LindaV
TheTulipCollector

csewy-csescrap13 said...

Love your craft space and glad that no one was injured during the storm, sounds terrible! I really like your large Ikea shelving!

scrapbaby! said...

I'm glad that you were in a different part of the house when that tree came down!

Your new space is just beautiful! The colors are so inspiring and you can tell you put a lot of through into the cabinet heights. I like to stand when I create, too!

Becky B. said...

WOW!! That downed tree is MASSIVE...so glad that you and your hubby weren't hurt in the storm - how scary! You have a beautiful new craft space...love the beautiful cabinets that your hubby installed. :)

Kim said...

So glad you weren't hurt during the hurricane. Looks like your space is Great! Thanks for sharing :)
~Kim
http://crazyaboutscrapin.blogspot.com

Debbie said...

So sorry to hear about the tree and damage done to your scrappy area. Thankful though that no one was hurt. Love your organization wall with all of the storage units!

Antonia said...

Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.
kisses kisses

Antonia P. Italy

Unknown said...

my heart was jumping out of my chest reading your story.... then I got really happy when I saw your new space! So excited for you, after all that hard work, you really have a special room for many reasons :-)

Katherine said...

WOW Love your space and your happy baskets!

Roxy said...

I can't believe what happened to your space, that is so tragic!!! And incredible lucky no one was hurt! I love how you've done your new space, it is gorgeous - my favorite part is your shelf with the colorful baskets on top, really neat looking!

Barb Craft said...

Wow!!! I can't believe the tree in the office! The good news is, your new room is amazing!!! I love the colorful storage cubes!

Barb :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful creative space. Where did you get your bright colored baskets. I've been looking for something similar but haven't found anything.

PhotobearSam said...

Would love to know where you got the plastic cases you have in your top 2 levels of your Expedit? What are they called? Love your room.

Charlene said...

Hi Brenda - beautiful space and organizing. I am also wondering the same as Photobear Sam....where did you find the horizontal cases that occupy squares 3 and 4 on the top row?