THE CRAFT CLOSET {HAZEL HAMMAN}

Hallo to all of you. It’s Hazel from Sunny South Africa and here to share my Craft Closet with you. I’m not a curious person and normally I wouldn’t put something like this on my blog but part of being a contributor at Craft Storage Ideas is to share your space (and systems and ideas) so here we go!

First of all, it really can’t be called a studio as it is so small. I had to stand outside to take the pictures but it’s more than enough for me. We live in a big, open plan house and since both the boys left home, I have ample room but I love the idea of having everything contained to specific spaces and then I craft all over the place. You will see that most of my furniture is on wheels. When all the children and their friends are at home, I tend to hide in the craft closet but if my husband is working on his ipad or watching TV, I’ll use one of the tables we have nearby – even the deck outside if I feel like it. Let’s start the tour:

Who would mind the size of the room if this is the view over the park that greets you every time you walk into it?

This is a view of my scrap space. I have two of the same desks – they started out in life as changing tables for my (now) 25 year old son, then my husband used them in his home office and when he upgraded to a full scale office, I snitched them. That’s the only thing I did to my room – painted everything with leftover paint in pretty ice cream colors. On the ends of the desks I’ve got fabric bags – in them goes all my scissors, measuring tapes, rulers – you name it – I have it on hand.

And my sewing corner. I try not to move my sewing machines around so most of my sewing gets done here.

Above my sewing desk are all my sewing goodies. I use these plastic tubs all around my house – the pantry, bathroom, garage, office, etc. No, I don’t like plastic but I hate dusting and we don’t get nice wire baskets down here.

The little drawers on the bottom shelve houses all my different threads and to the right the punched out shapes that I use for packaging. It is much easier storing scraps like this and you are much more likely to use them if they are pre cut.

These two drawers came from my father’s desk. When they downsized the desk was shortened to fit into their spare bedroom as a dressing table and I snitched the drawers. I use them in craft exhibitions – just take them off the wall, use and afterwards they go back. Girlfriend #1 (the interior designer) didn’t want me to paint them but they just looked too drab and dingy so out came the paint brush. You can see – I left the fronts and the handles intact to humor her.

A while ago I shared with you a cutting table made out of storage cubbies. Well, this is my take on it. I used crates that we normally use in the winery. My husband secured them together with cable ties and added the wheels. I made jackets for my trolleys – in the pockets is magnetic sheets so that my nestable dies stick to the outside. I love this as I roll the trolleys around to where I am and everything is available at a glance.

My inspiration board. A painted garden trellis. This comes off the wall for craft fairs as well.

This is on the shelf when you enter my craft closet. The old sewing machine was a pressie from Girlfriend #1, the windmill was my son’s from days gone by and on the far end you can see the patterns that I’m currently using.

I do have an additional closet that is part of my living room furniture where I store my scrap supplies. In there is paper, hardware, stamps, dies – everything to keep my paper addiction satisfied. Nothing is labeled but I know exactly what I have (and I use it!)

Last of all – I also utilized the ceiling space. There is a condude running all the way around the room and I used trouser hangers to hang my items for craft fairs up there. Packed and ready for shipment and I can see what I’ve got at a glance.

You will notice that I don’t have a computer in my craft closet. My husband and I both work from home and we have a separate office (just off the open living space) where all the computers and printers are. Everything is on a wireless network which means that I can work on my laptop anywhere in the house and my photo’s print on the office printers. Works very well for me.
That’s it – it’s small but it’s all mine. I hope you have enjoyed your tour of my craft closet. I’ve never shared this on my blog but plan to do so while I have all these beautiful pictures. You are welcome to follow along as I reveal where everything goes and how I did it. I’ll link them all up to one post – just a click away and all will be revealed. Just click here.

Thanks for coming to Craft Storage Ideas today. Me and my fellow contributors love to have you over. If you want to know something, please let me know in the comments and I’ll gladly answer. Have a great day and please check back to see what’s interesting or new on the storage scene.