A peek into my creative space and more....

Well I promised you some photos of my creative space and again the days got away from me.  Life sometimes throws you curves that impact on your good intentions.  Some background on my space though.  In the planning of my space, I decided that I would repurpose the furniture that I had instead of purchasing more.  This meant finding out how to successfully paint laminated and pre-finished furniture. Thank goodness for the internet!  There are so many blogs where someone has tried to do what you want to do, already figuring out the pitfalls for you.  I learned that the best way to paint laminate was to use a good primer before you paint.  I also chose to let it cure for a bit before I put anything on or in it.  So my two unmatched bookcases and unmatched dressers were all painted white along with the grey counter top on the cabinet I inherited when Linda had her kitchen redone.  I'm very pleased with the results and love being able to put my hands on everything easily.  Well, that is except for my ruler that seems to have done a runner!  So here's a peek into my space......

This is how my space used to look.  See all the mismatched pieces of furniture and the grey counter top.  My workspace faced the window, so my back was toward our living room.

This is the same view into the room with the new look.  The counter top is now white and I changed the door hardware too.   Now the worktable comes out from the window, so when I'm working I can see into the living room.  It is also considerably longer as it's actually a door secured to the wall at one end and supported on the bookcase at the other end.  It's wide enough that my sewing machine sits on one side with the chair in place ready to go, along with space for another crafter on that side. 

 

This photo shows the left side with two bookcases at either end painted white, along with the two dressers.  One was cream and one a dark wood with legs which I removed.  This made it shorter so I bought some dollar store plastic bowls, added the same hardware as on the opposite cupboards and  sat them on top of the shorter dresser.  Randy helped me cut the new counter top for this side as I couldn't cut it with my scroll saw.  I cut a shelf for the top of the bookcases to display some of my "stuff" as I work on it.  It also helped to bring all the pieces together as one unit.  

Here's the right side of the room.  See all the scraps of cardstock organised in dollar store baskets with colour samples hanging on the front for easy viewing.  My Cameo sits in the corner of the counter ready to use, the Cuttlebug is in the cupboard behind my chair.  Punches are to the side of the chair in the plastic bin and patterned paper is in the stack beside my chair.  I can reach just about anything I need without moving much from the chair...LOL.  You can see two more work areas in the background.  One is a rolling table that can pull out and the tall stool in the other photo can be pulled up to the space at the counter.  The pendant lights that you can just see hanging over the desk area, provide some lovely direct lighting.

This is the bookcase that supports the table and holds most of my painting books along with a myriad of other things.

I hope you've enjoyed a look into my space and maybe I've inspired you to craft a space in your home for the crafting that brings you pleasure.

Last but not least I have a quick link here to an interview that my nephew Brian did just recently as the Canadian Olympic campaign was launched.  The campaign is called Give Your Everything.   He is once again going to the Olympics and who knows may again bring home another gold medal for Canada.  Good luck Brian and all our hardworking athletes. 

Well I hope this post wasn't too long and inspired you either as a crafter or as a supporter of the Canadian athletes.

Happy Crafting

Lilian