Ask Cindy: Scraproom Tour

As someone who crafts every single day, I hear the same two questions over and over. First: "How do find time to do so much crafting?" (Here's how I 'find' time.) The second question: "What do you use as your scrap space?"  

I have a dedicated scraproom. We have a 4 bedroom house: Steve and I share the master bedroom, Trevor has a bedroom, Steve has an office, and I have a scraproom. My computer/office area is on a desk in the hallway. It is far more important to me to have a private scrap area than a private office area. I know for a fact that I would not do as much crafting as I do if I didn't have dedicated space. I'm able to leave a work-in-progress where no one will disturb it. (Neither Steve nor Trevor enter my scraproom without permission... which makes it a handy place to store presents for them as well!)  

The last time I did a thorough scraproom cleaning, I took some pictures. Here's the view of my paper storage, one of two work surfaces, and one of two pegboards.

The dresser was my old childhood dresser, which I reinforced, stripped and painted white. I added the silver hardware. The drawers hold: punches, ink pads, acrylic stamps, cross-stitch supplies (which I haven't used in eons), extra adhesives, gift bags, gift wrap, tissue paper, ribbons, and bows.  

Across the top of the dresser, I have stackable paper trays (five high, four stacks across). The two stacks on the left hold cardstock, divided by color. The two stacks on the right hold loose sheets of patterned paper. Some are organized by color and others by manufacturer. The rest of my patterned paper is stored in 12x12 plastic envelopes, which I stack on a shelf.  

You can see my childhood desk under the pegboard. It is usually piled high with pages that need scanning, or supplies that need to be put away. I tuck gifts that need wrapping under the desk.   

Directly across from the dresser is my main work table and my main pegboard. Steve framed and installed my two pegboards. I love them! I can fit so many supplies on the pegboard, and it is great how easy it is to move things around as I get new stuff.  

I tape Design Team assignments to the bottom of the pegboard. (You can see three sketch assignments in this picture.)  

Perhaps the best part of my scraproom is the shelving that Steve built to fit behind the door. The shelves are 2.5 inches deep, which is perfect for storing rubber stamps, mists, embossing powders, inks, and border punches. The entire structure is 5 ft. tall by 25 inches wide. The heights of the shelves vary from 2.25 inches to 6 inches. I absolutely love it. What was once wasted space now is now a wonderful storage solution.

Stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow!