It is my great pleasure tonight to be blogging about something that I didn't think was really going to happen! It is almost 6 months since I packed up the contents of my craft room, in preparation for our house move. We have been in our new house for over 4 months, and just today my new craft room was finished! Oh, happy day!! (Sorry for the exclamation mark overload - I am more than a bit excited.)
I can't effectively convey just how frustrating it has been, to not be able to access all my craft supplies. For someone who is used to doing something creative every day (even if that is just going into my craft room, stroking some pretty paper, and leaving), these past several months have been really, really difficult. I haven't had my "sanity saver", or stress release, and as a result have been less than the happy Christine I could be. Many times I've despaired that things just weren't going to happen as I wished. However, my craft room dream has now become a reality, and I would love to share a bit of the process with you.
Are you ready for a photo-heavy post? You might want to grab a drink, and settle in!
Okay. So, we bought our house on the proviso that an unfinished area under the house would be finished off (insulated, plastered, tiled and painted, with windows created, and lots of power points and downlights installed), for me to use as a craft room. The excavation was a huge job ... lots of rock, clay and compacted soil had to be moved. Can you believe that I was a bit excited when the concrete slab went down, and it looked like this?
The next few photos will show the awesome progress that took place after this photo was taken. I chose the floor tiles and paint colours, and trusted in the vendor (who's a builder).
Here is what has become the entrance to my craft room ... the finished space is an L-shaped room.
After walking in, and turning to the right, this is what the room looked like when we first moved in (and I had unpacked a few supplies, in the hope that I'd still get to craft):
.... and from the far end of the room, looking back:
The first cabinet maker I engaged to fit out my craft room totally let me down (after almost 3 months of waiting). I was fortunate to be referred, by a couple of friends, to an awesome new cabinet maker, who totally understood my "need" for this be to done ASAP (his sister is also crafty). I could not be happier with the service I received from the guys responsible for fitting out my space - they brought to life exactly what I had envisaged.
After lugging all the boxes and furniture out of the space, I was ready to take delivery of the cabinetry, and some custom-made tables. The guys had to deliver everything one day, and come back the next to start work. This is when I really started to feel excited.
The transformers for our pool lights are located in my craft room; a priority was to have a cabinet made to conceal these ugly things! Here is the "footprint" for the cabinet:
.... and some boxes to show where some of the drawers will be (hey, any progress excited me at this stage, so please humour me!):
Installation of the majority of the cabinetry took only one day. I was thrilled to see it take shape, albeit with temporary benchtops, awaiting the Caesarstone benches that had to be made to measure.
You can't see the pool light transformers now!
I will be sorting out the Ikea cube unit, to look a bit nicer, in time. This is the view when you come into the entrance to my craft room.
... and this is how the room looked at the end of Day 1:
I hope you're still hanging in there, with me. Getting close to the end now! The Caesarstone benchtops were installed two days ago, and the cabinet makers returned today to install drawer dividers (most of my drawers are 1 metre wide, so I've chosen to use dividers in most of them, to get optimum use out of them), fix up the power points that had been moved from floor level, and to mount shelving units on the wall.
So, here's the finished cabinet of cupboards, that conceal the pool light transformers. This unit, at standing height, will be my Big Shot station:
Here is the grand reveal of the whole room:
... and a closer look at my punch storage unit, and stamp set shelving unit:
I am so thrilled with the end result, and cannot wait to put away all my craft supplies (which, unfortunately, are mostly still in about 40 moving boxes!). I am sure the room will look nowhere near as neat, once I have my "stuff" in there. I will, when I've found homes for everything, share an "after" pic or two!
Thanks for visiting today, and for hanging in there with me while I haven't been creating or posting much. Next week will be dedicated to getting my room set up - then, I can start crafting again in earnest. I look forward to a return to much more regular blogging.
