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Craft Room Tours
Explore the craft rooms, studios & kitchens of crafters to see where they work and how they organise their supplies
We head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to tour Jordan's cozy craft area in her dorm.
"My favorite thing about the space is the blank wall above my desk on which I paste photos and other odds and ends that inspire me!"
Tell us about your space?
My craft area occupies a small corner of my dorm room. So not only is this space for crafting, but it's also where I sleep, study, and get ready in the morning! The total dimensions of my room are about 12ft x 12ft, so my craft space is just a small portion of that. I work on things for my blog here and do my schoolwork, as well as use it for crafting. I mostly do paper crafting and jewelry making in my craft space. Since my space is so small, I take big projects into my living room to work on (but I don't do this too often since I have to share it with my roommates).
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
Since my dorm room is where I spend a huge amount of my time, I really worked on decorating it to make it as inspiring and inviting as possible! I hung up string lights around the room and put a lamp on my desk so I don't have to use the fluorescent ceiling light. I use the wall above my desk as an inspiration wall and post pictures or stickers or magazine cut-outs that inspire me. My other walls have various decorations, like vintage hankies, a world map, and a dream catcher. My windowsill is lined with knick-knacks that make me happy to look at!
How do you keep organized?
Since I have such a small space, organization is very important! I keep all my craft supplies in drawers and boxes. I also have a small metal cart beside my desk that I keep crafting essentials in- like pencils and pens, scissors, glue, and various art tools.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
I think photo boxes are perfect for storing craft supplies because they look lovely stacked on display while keeping all your materials organized! Recycled glass jars are also great for storing craft materials. I have several around my room that I use to hold my washi tape, sequins, and paper scraps.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
My favorite possessions are the pieces of artwork that my younger sister created for me. She knows how much I love cats, so she gave me several drawings and a handmade kitty figurine that I adore! I don't have many of my own creations on display, but I did make a few decorations for my walls, like a dream catcher, a few drawings, and a some strands of paper garland.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I keep a sketchbook to write down or sketch any ideas I have for projects! If I come across inspiring ideas online, I bookmark them on pinterest.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Pinterest is always a great source of inspiration! Also, I love looking through Japanese craft books for new project ideas.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
My first wish would be to have a bigger craft space (ideally, a entirely separate room!). Second, to have all my materials perfectly organized so I never waste time searching for something that I can't find. Third, to always have lots of natural sunlight filtering in my room (perfect for crafting and photographing!).
My first wish would be to have a bigger craft space (ideally, a entirely separate room!). Second, to have all my materials perfectly organized so I never waste time searching for something that I can't find. Third, to always have lots of natural sunlight filtering in my room (perfect for crafting and photographing!).
We go behind the scenes at The Card Grotto to tour Michelle's motivating craft room.
"I love that my space is bright, tidy and organised. It keeps me motivated."
Tell us about your space?
I live just on the outskirts of London, England. My craft room, which also doubles up as my study/office, is located in a spare bedroom of my house. This is the room I spend most of my time in. If I am not creating with stamps and dies, I will be surfing the net for inspiration or doing work for my Master’s Degree. I do everything in my room. I make cards; I photograph them and upload them to my blog all from my desks. I also film my You Tube videos here as well.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
My room is not beautiful in the conventional sense, however for me beauty comes in so many forms. I love the beauty of being organised and this inspires me every day. I love seeing products in colour order too!
My room is not beautiful in the conventional sense, however for me beauty comes in so many forms. I love the beauty of being organised and this inspires me every day. I love seeing products in colour order too!
How do you keep organized?
My room is a fairly small room so I have to think about how I use it and what works for me with my creative process; what items do I need to get to within arm’s reach or what supplies I can have further away from me. I know that there are certain items that I like to keep on display so that I use them more often but I also do not like to keep too much on display as I feel that for me, it looks less tidy. As I use the room as a study as well, I need to keep it tidy so that I am inspired to work and study as well as craft.
I make sure that everything has its own place. If it doesn’t then the space will become messy. I like to label my supplies; although I know where all my supplies are, I think it adds to the neatness and feeling of being organised. I also like to try and tidy up after I create, or better still tidy up as I am going along. I like to look to the kitchen department for organising supplies. Kitchen drawer organisers are great for your craft supplies.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
In terms of my craft supplies, my favourite possession would be my Copic Markers. They have been one of my biggest investments in terms of cost but have been so worth it. I love using them and also I love the way they look on my desk too. I don’t have any of my creations in my room after making them but if I have received a card from fellow card makers, these are always displayed in my craft room for a few months before being put away for safe keeping.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I use Pinterest a lot for keeping track of card design ideas, colour combinations, sketch ideas etc. but I also have a notebook that I keep on my desk with ideas in too. When I have an idea I try my best to implement it into a card as soon as possible so I remember it!
Where do you look for inspiration?
As well as Pinterest, there are so many amazing designers out there. I love browsing blogs and websites to gain inspiration. It may just be a colour combination that I like or a design element that strikes me.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
1. For it to be bigger – I am sure most people say that but I would just like a bit more work/desk space and also more room to organise to my heart’s content!
2. To have a dedicated space for photographing my cards
3. To have a dedicated space for using my die cutting machine
We head behind the scenes at Dream Quilt Create to tour Cynthia's amazing craft room in Sacramento, California which her husband made as a Christmas present.
"My favorite thing about my space is the table. It is sturdy and rustic and I just love it!!!! It makes a beautiful background when I photograph my work for my blog."
Tell us about your space?
My craft room is in the Sacramento area, northern Califonia. I have lived here almost 3 years. My craft space is in a spare bedroom on the second floor of our house. It has a big picture window looking out on the street and another window on the side, allowing for a lot of natural light during the day. I have the room all to myself. The room is 10 feet by 10 feet, with no room to spread out on the floor. If I need to, I can use the hall floor. I use this space for a sewing room.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
My husband designed the space for me as a surprise and it was my Christmas gift. He bought all the furniture and a few decor pieces to make it extra cozy and cute. I can see some of my favorite fabric collections and my favorite things such as twine, washi tape, buttons, a sculpture my mother made, some family photos, etc.
How do you keep organized?
I have little bins and containers to keep me organized, and some red and some white Ikea boxes.
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
The Union Jack quilt behind my sewing table is one of my creations.
Where do you look for inspiration?
For inspiration, I have a blog roll on my blog and I follow some other blogs on Blogsy. I look to other quilters for inspiration, and some of my quilt books.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
My craft room is my dream craft space. Not only did my husband design it and surprise me with it at Christmas, but he bought me a dream machine Bernina 750 QE which has made my sewing experiences so much better :)
My craft room is my dream craft space. Not only did my husband design it and surprise me with it at Christmas, but he bought me a dream machine Bernina 750 QE which has made my sewing experiences so much better :)
We head to Auckland, New Zealand to explore Harri's adorable craft room in her bedroom.
"I love that it is very spacious but still a very big desk and workspace. I recently just bought a trestle table for a bigger desk space and I’m loving the space I have to spread out a project (or a few) as well as display my favourite things like my ever growing magazine collection and millions of pens and pencils."
Tell us about your space?
My craft room is in my house is a urban suburb of waterfront city Auckland - known as the City of Sails in New Zealand. I’ve lived here for about 2 years but i’ve lived in Auckland my whole life. My craft space is actually my bedroom in my family’s home. I don’t think that it doubles as anything because my bed is equally important for my crafty/blogging space because it’s sometimes the best place for inspiration…..dreaming!! It’s also lovely to curl up on with my laptop to plan out a new craft or blog post. This is my room, where I do everything! I do all my crafts in here unless it’s a building project or painting because my room is carpeted and we don’t want the carpet changing colour.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
I have a cosy colour theme of white and wooden and let my belongings give colour because i’m a stationery fanatic and it’s always very colourful.
How do you keep organized?
I guess it’s comes quite naturally but lots of boxes and pretty belongings make it easy. I guess the things that I buy are always suited to my theme and are quite tidy but I love looking at ‘stuff’ and i would die if I went minimalistic. I just love designs and colour and prettiness to much. I’m just a lover of pretty things.
Go have a look on my blog, it’s full of it but using nice storage boxes or covering shoe boxes makes so much of a difference. But using lots of pen cups, and pretty things to organise your supplies makes you proud to show them off to your room to give it personality
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
My favourite possession is probably either my DSLR camera or my pens and pencils collection. I have some of my creations on display like my instagram grid wall, sewing machine restyle and diy chalkboard cat.
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
My ideas and inspiration are kept in a big journal full of cut outs, prints, messy scrawl and colour but I also do lots of organising on my laptop and on pinterest. I have a list of ideas in my journal as well as in random places in my head and on notepads throughout my room
Where do you look for inspiration?
Well a go to place is always my pinterest but these ideas have always been used so usually my blog’s ideas just come from inspiration around my room and just from other books, magazines and sometimes someone else’s idea morphed into something of no similarity but to me they remind me of each other because they sparked the idea.
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
hmmmm….I would love to have more wardrobe storage for my stuff. I’ve got lots of space for clothes but I have limited space for stuff so I have to cut down on it and have it on display. Other than that it’s pretty much my dream space anyway.