Dream Craft Room Makeover

I am so excited to share the completed craft room makeover today! Hubby and I worked hard on it all summer long. And let me tell you – it feels gratifying! But first, let’s take a step back in time to February.

Isn’t that scary?! Now this one takes a lot for me to put out on the internet, but it is absolutely real life. Messy, messy even though that room is actually clean. I just had NO WHERE to put anything. I honestly did most of my crafting on the floor and I bet some of you know that experience well. The opposite wall (not pictured) is my husband’s desk and office space to do what he wants with. Ok, moving on to the craft room makeover finale! Are you ready for this??

And another angle:

Obviously, this craft room makeover was no weekend project as everything in this room was either DIY transformed or custom-built. In fact, the only item purchased as is was the office chair I think. The main drivers of my design is that I wanted an artist’s office with craft supplies on full display, not tucked away in cabinets and boxes. Because my supplies are quite colorful in themselves, I chose not to pick a specific color scheme and just use what I love. Funny how that worked out though and the room looks put together. Otherwise, I kept everything mostly neutral and light. There is no overhead light (yet) in this room so I took advantage of the window light to bounce and brighten the room.

So let’s start with all the wall organization units, shall we?! On the far corner, I made my son an art station with a gallery wall and a special space for his supplies. You can read more about how I did that on my children’s art gallery tutorial.

If you saw my Craft Room Inspiration post, you know that I really wanted a wall organizer for all of my craft supplies. I wanted to display my art supplies and utilize their rainbow of colors. Hubby and I designed and built this wall unit. It’s very simple and I love it! Here is the link to the tutorial and our plans which are easily modified.

I included several new and old pieces to suit my needs. The black multi-drawer organizer is one I swiped from the garage and wallpapered it. I also purchased 3 mail sorter bins and a mdf backer board. I spray painted them a vibrant coral color. I added the “Ludicrous ideas just need good plans” quote which is one I came up with at like 2am after reading 100’s of quotes by other people and finding nothing. For a DIYer, that quote “gets it”, lol.

Hubby and I built these boxes which serve several purposes. The counter tops are recycled from our old kitchen renovation (as in free, ya’ll!). Under that box is a huge hole that needed covered however. I added some storage caddies and hubby wired them up so that I could have outlets above the counter tops.

The last area is my computer area and pegboard. A pegboard was one of the first items I knew that I wanted for the room. I based it off of the one I found from a Beautiful Mess and added some Ikea storage bins to hold my adhesives, pens, pencils and a few items that are special to me. Like most pegboards, I can rearrange the items in case I need more room to grow. The full tutorial for making your own pegboard organizer is also posted here.

I don’t think any craft room makeover is complete without a Kallax from Ikea. I don’t know why, but I love them in all their boxy glory. I put my scrapbooks on the bottom shelf and the bins hold fabric, ribbon, punches, and vinyl supplies.

I made a vignette on the top with my jungle animal cabinet (that began life as a Burger King dessert display case). I was really into animals growing up, especially exotic ones. I can still remember painting that in high school and I can’t believe it has survived so long.

I already had the paper sorters and organized all of my cardstock and patterned scrapbook paper in them. Love the rainbow! However, the biggest DIY project was the cabinets. We found a contractor on Craigslist that did kitchen renovations and we purchased 13 oak cabinets for $325. Since I only needed four base cabinets, hubby got the rest to put in his garage workspace.

I’ve painted furniture before but these are extra special. With a 6 year old and his art supplies, I knew that white was really risky. I mean the kid is up at 7am every morning pretending to be the loudest ninja in history. Seriously, he is superb at explosion sound effects. So my cabinets need to be durable. Although I will detail in another post how we did these cabinets, I will say that we used a high quality, non-yellowing clear coat made for painted floors. I knew that a product meant for floors would give my cabinets their best chance against my little loveable tasmanian devil. Although the sheen is a tad more shiny than I originally wanted, they are super protected and won’t stain.

Where did my inspiration for this room come from? These articles show you how:

Click here for more inspirational craft room ideas!

Also, check out the menu bar at the top of the page (the menu symbol on mobile) for links to TONS of projects, printables, and DIY crafts.

Craft Room Makeover Price and Source List

• Cabinets – these were a craigslist find from a kitchen renovation. We purchased 13 cabinets for $325. I only used 4 so my cost was $100.
• Paint and Stain – $125 (and I have a whole lot left over still)
• Counter tops – FREE (recycled from our own kitchen renovation)
• Wall Organization Materials- $30 for poplar art display wood and accessories, $58 for pegboard and hanging brackets, outlet apparatus, and craft supply organizer (all custom built)
• Ikea – $130 – for expedit and pegboard organization supplies
• Wooden Crates – These are similar to mine
• Clipboards – $7
• Mail sorter and backboard – $36
• Drafting office chair – birthday gift but originally $283 (Total splurge but absolutely worth it!)

TOTAL- $591 not including the birthday chair

It’s such a dream now and I feel inspired and comfortable in my new room! I sit here typing up this post and looking around in awe. I can’t help but smile and, dare I say, beam with a little DIYer pride. What do you think? Do you have a dedicated space to craft and call your own?

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