Clipboard Wall

I've been using my craft room for nearly two years now, and have several ideas of ways I would still like to decorate it, but for whatever reason, deciding what to do with this large wall over my counter has always plagued me.  I've toyed with the idea of art, but I already have my two pieces over the ledge (to the right) that I like.  And I also entertained the idea of a bulletin board, but those tend to get messy, and since I manage to make enough of a mess while creating in my craft room, I really didn't need a bulletin board contributing to that!

I've had this picture from The Pleated Poppy pinned for some time...

Source: thepleatedpoppy.com via Jill on Pinterest

I love those little clipboards in the corner, and finally just decided to go for it and create my own clipboard wall.

I got to measuring the wall and knew that I wanted the clipboards to fill the entire space, so the best number turned out to be 8 clipboards, in two rows of 4.

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I purchased the clipboards at Office Max for $1.99 each!!  And I also purchased a set of white mug hooks that only cost a few dollars for way more hooks than I needed.

I used the smallest drill bit I had and drilled small pilot holes,
then I added the hooks and this project was complete!

I love that these clipboards allow me to change up my lists and decor as much as I like.  There are so many cool free printables available now, I'm sure I'll be switching it up on a regular basis.  Here it was when I first installed it.

And now it looks like this!

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I'm loving this so much, I'm already eyeing other places in our house I could add a clipboard or two...the kid's playroom might be next!

Craft Room Art

Okay, so my new craft room was built a full year ago, and would you believe I still haven't decorated the room? I blame it on being so busy using the room, that I haven't even had a chance to make it pretty yet. (No really, that's a good problem to have!)

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I have about a million ideas floating around in my mind of what I would like to do,
but here's a peek at two pieces that I've started with....

free printable found on the 30 Handmade Days blog
because it's hilarious...and could be true!
I had this printed at Office Max for a whopping .70

New York Retro-Styled Art Print by Laura Amiss on Etsy
in our pre-kids days, we traveled to NYC quite a few times. I love the city and look forward to when we can take quick trips there again. In the meantime, I'll look at the fabulous colors in this print and dream about being there.
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I'll keep you posted as I add more items and will be sure to post pictures when it's complete!

My Craft Room : One Year Ago

It was one year ago this week that construction began on my new craft room! I knew I would love my room before we started, but I had no idea just how much I would actually use it...I have certainly worked this room to it's capacity this year!
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Here's the post I wrote when it was completed last year....

So while I've already been busy using my new craft room, it occurred to me that I left all of you hanging on some final post-move in pictures, oops!

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Here it is!ahh, my little crafty haven!I took a big hit on square footage compared to what I had, but in this room everything has a specific place where it belongs which makes it work just fineone of my favorite pieces of furniture
read about how it came to be hereahh, organizational Heaven!
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there's a few elements still missing including a cork back splash above the counter top, plus some art I have planned for the walls, but it'll get there with time.

it's come a long way, wouldn't you say??

Some Close Ups

Here's a few close-ups from my new craft room...colorful baker's twine from Parcel & Papersewing supplies kept close to my machineyou can't ever be too organized. for real.I Am Sew Happy frame from Rebel.ReclaimedAnthropologie bowl - gift from Eric

favorite childhood pictures
recipe card of my Grandma's cranberry sauce recipe
ornament by k studio, gift from my mother-in-law
Beautiful Day print by Studio Mela
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And by the way...did anyone happen to notice that my blog and craft room coordinate? Would you suppose that was planned???

Ta da!

So while I've already been busy using my new craft room, it occurred to me that I left all of you hanging on some final post-move in pictures, oops!

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Here it is!ahh, my little crafty haven!I took a big hit on square footage compared to what I had, but in this room everything has a specific place where it belongs which makes it work just fineone of my favorite pieces of furniture
read about how it came to be hereahh, organizational Heaven!
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there's a few elements still missing including a cork back splash above the counter top, plus some art I have planned for the walls, but it'll get there with time.

it's come a long way, wouldn't you say??

Carpet + Ready to Move In!

The carpet is in, and the final wipe downs have been done,
this room is ready to go!I love how clean and bright it is. I actually had worried that the room may be too dark but quite the opposite is true. During the day I don't even anticipate needing to turn the lights on as the two windows let in so much natural light.
I still don't believe this built-in ironing board will make me love ironing, but it sure will make it more convenient
Our builder was willing to measure my storage containers prior to installing the closet shelves to ensure I can maximize my use of the space. (nice, huh?) This closet is much smaller than the one I was using, but with the right number of shelves it should be more efficient.I expressed earlier that I wasn't fully confident in my choice of counter tops. Thankfully that changed once the carpet was installed. I think the carpet provided just enough contrast to the counter tops so they no longer look so washed out.
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On the final day of work, I moved my Cricut, serger, and sewing machine into the room so the builder and I could determine the placement for the grommets in the counter top. And it's possible that I had to leave the room for fear of a nervous breakdown as he was drilling holes into my brand new counter tops, but no worries, they came out just fine. Being able to feed the cords through the top of the counter top will keep the room nice and clean (and I promise I worked on all those cords down below too!)
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Next up, the finished product!!

Happy Weekend!

something I've been working on....
and something I will be working on...see you next week, peeps!

Counter Tops

The counter tops are in!I have to admit, when I walked in the room and saw them, it wasn't love at first sight. I struggled with picking out which laminate to use, and never felt 100% about my final choice.
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Some of my criteria for the counter tops included that they could not at all resemble a kitchen or bathroom, and they had to be a light color. Anyone who has done sewing or other crafts knows how much dust is generated, and the last thing I wanted was to always look at a dusty counter top.The laminate I finally chose was Wilsonart HD Luna Frost. The pictures don't show it, but the counter tops have a shine to them and just a slight amount of texture. They're just a *little bit girly* and very clean looking.tomorrow brings carpet, closet shelving and then final clean up.
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Come Saturday, you know where you can find me....MOVING IN!

Paint!

This past weekend a whole crew of painters descended on our house, talk about craziness around here! The pictures definitely do not do it justice, but the color in my new craft room came out great I'm very happy with my decision to just play it safe and stick with a color that I already knew
(Benjamin Moore Arctic Gray)it's so cheery & brightWednesday brings counter tops and carpet will be in on Friday.
Eek, it's soooo close!

Bring On The Paint

The room is prepped, bring on the paint!my new built-in ironing board

newly lowered counter top base
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I wanted the room to be a soft gray blue, but for anyone who has attempted to pick out a soft gray blue that doesn't end up looking baby blue, lavender, or any other unwanted shade, you know how hard it is.
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I finally surrendered and will be using the same color that we have in our laundry room, Benjamin Moore Arctic Gray (#1577)I know that I love it in my laundry room, and considering my craft room is clear on the opposite end of our house, plus on a different floor, I'm not concerned with duplicating the color.
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According to our builder, the painting should be done by the end of this week, and then it's on to carpet and counter tops!

It's getting real....

My new craft room is really taking shape! This week brought base boards, trim and the base for my counter tops. It also brought our first snafu as the counter tops were originally installed at counter top height rather than table height. Since I plan to use the counter tops for my sewing machine and serger, I really needed them at table height. Nothing that unscrewing a ridiculous amount of screws and re-drilling them into my brand new walls didn't fix. (note to self : time to come up with an amazing back splash option to cover up that mistake!)and meanwhile, we've had two other projects in the works...one involving this blank wall in our living roomand one that Claire has finally caught on to,
"hey, this looks like a Claire-size house!"
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I'll fill you in on details of those two projects once they're done!