Sharing our Craft Spaces Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Frosted Designs "Sharing Our Craft Spaces" blog hop, where the design team members will share photos of their scrap spaces and some of their favorite organizational tips and tools.  If you've been following along the hop, you came here from Ashley's blog.   (A full blog hop lineup is at the end of this post.)
Before I share the pics of my room, I have to share a little story about how it came to be.  When we bought our house 20+ years ago, there was a room on the side of the house that had been a study, and it quickly became my sewing room.  With windows on three sides, it was a great place to do sewing and quilting because I could still keep an eye on my kids while they played outside.   As time passed, this became my sewing/quilting/scrapbooking/stamping room because we all know how one craft leads right into another, LOL!   I added a couple of Iris carts to hold supplies, so things were still organized, but not quite as neat as they had once been.

Then in the fall of 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the U.S., causing so much damage along Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.   Unexpectedly, the remnants of the hurricane created a huge windstorm that went through the midwest, hitting SW Ohio with straightline winds from 80 - 100 mph.  We had a huge 100 year old oak tree in our front yard that was completely uprooted, falling on the house and destroying our roof, part of the second floor, and completely smashing my craftroom.   It was a very scary experience, but luckily DH and I were in another part of the house and no one was hurt.  (And we counted ourselves very lucky, after seeing all the destruction from the actual hurricane!)   So here's what things looked like after the storm hit:

It took four months, lots of work and so many trips to Home Depot, Lowes and Ikea that I lost count, but we finally got everything repaired, rebuilt and back to normal - that was a happy day indeed!

Here's what my workroom looked like after the rebuild.  We bought a large Expedit unit from Ikea to hold all my scrapbooking supplies and baskets of quilting fabrics.  (originally, the room had built-in shelves on this wall.)  The worktable and cabinets above it were unfinished cabinets that DH bought from a local kitchen supply house.   He hung pegboard on the wall above the table so I could hand scissors, punches, and my ATG guns within reach.   The sewing cabinets were made from drawer units and tabletops purchased at Ikea. 

I had to take pictures while everything was nice and neat, because believe me, it doesn't usually look this way!  I tend to be a messy scrapper!

One item that I love for organizing small embellishments is usually found in the jewelry or bead section of craft stores, and that's the CraftMates organizer.  These binders hold rows of plastic compartments that snap closed and are great for storing small items like brads, charms, eyelets, buttons, etc.  They're a great item to pick up with your Michaels or Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon!

The next stop on our blog hop is Susie's blog.  And just in case you missed any stops along the way, here's the full blog hop lineup:

start here:   Frosted Designs

Ann http://annsnovemberrose.blogspot.com/

Teresa Jaye http://teresajaye.blogspot.com/

Anita  http://theflamingochronicals.blogspot.com/
Lynn http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.com/
Lori http://scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/
Sarah http://scrapsbysarah.blogspot.com/
Lydia http://kiwimumscraps.blogspot.com/
Sassy http://sassymoments.blogspot.com/
Ashley http://ashleyspaperdoll.blogspot.com/
Brenda http://www.brendasscrappyblog.blogspot.com/
Susie http://www.thedieshaveit.com/
Laurie http://www.laurielariviere.blogspot.com/
Lori M http://frugalscrapper.blogspot.com/
Carol http://carolpaperie.blogspot.com/
Channa http://crafts-pieces.blogspot.com/