Tips for Setting Up a Craft Room
A craft room is ultimately a workspace, so you need to think about how you’re going to use it so you can determine how it should function. In most cases it comes down to storage, work zones, organization, and lighting.
Storage
Storage is one of the most important elements of any craft room. If your family is anything like mine you’ve got tons of arts and crafts supplies taking over the house. In order to keep it all in check I suggest a mix of open and closed storage. Open storage for the nice looking items and those you need regular, quick access to, and closed storage for some of the more unsightly and bulky items you don’t use as frequently. It’s also a good idea to have closed storage in case you want to lock anything away – like paints or other items you don’t want the kids to have access to without parental supervision.
Work Zones
In many cases a craft room doubles as a home office so it’s a good idea to divide it into zones. The craft room in my house doubles as a home office for my wife Sabrina, so we’ve separated areas accordingly. One side of the room is set up as an office with laptop, printer, filing cabinet and desk for her to work at, while the other side is dedicated to large-scale (and messier) projects like sewing, painting, and anything involving glitter (trust me, there’s a lot of glitter in my house…). An island in the centre of the room acts as a work surface for Sabrina and the kids. We included a Quartz counter because it’s durable and won’t stain from any paints or glue that will inevitably get spilled.
Organization
The nature of a craft room means you’ll likely have a lot of supplies– markers, paints, papers, ribbon, fabric – and all of that stuff needs a place to go. The best way to keep these small items organized is to divide them into their own baskets, boxes and jars, and label them accordingly. Set them up either by color, material or project type, and always put things back when you’re done. Giving every pen, glue stick and piece of paper a home means you can focus on what you’re doing without having to go searching for lost supplies.
Lighting
Lighting is really important in craft rooms from a safety perspective. You should always have a mix of ambient and task lighting, and make sure the task lighting is focused on areas where you’ll be using sharp objects like scissors and sewing machines, and anywhere you’ll be doing detail work so you don’t strain your eyes. In our craft room we have a mix of pot lights, chandeliers and table lamps.
Photos courtesy of HGTV.ca’s Moving the McGillivrays
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