Workspace Wednesday | Barbara Picinich
Hi everyone, I’m excited to take you on a little tour of my work/craft space. My space hasn’t always looked like this and thankfully I have a handy husband who helped transform the space into something that was exactly what I needed it to be. The space is on the second floor of our home, and is open to the entryway below. This is great because I can still hear everything that is going on downstairs but I’m far enough away from the main living space that my mess is hidden, bonus!
The space isn’t super wide as you can see but it’s big enough to hold what I need and because it’s on the small side I can’t let it get too out of control and it keeps me from hording too much stuff. The best decision I ever made was ripping up the carpet and having my husband lay the tile. It’s so much easier to clean and my chair rolls around so much better.
The other great change was the bookshelf/counter space that he built for me. The storage is amazing and the large work surface on top is a total bonus. I tend to do all of my work on the computer seated but the assembly and other stuff happens standing up. I really like that I’m able to move around a lot when I’m working.
The storage on the shelves has been found mostly in the dollar spot at Target, the white wire mesh baskets are my favorite and they seem to come and go a few times throughout the year so keep and eye out for them. They fit perfectly on the depth of my shelves and they seem to be the right size to hold everything from washi tape, 6x6 pads and alphas. My Raskog cart sits right outside the space and I moved all of my 12x12 paper to the top shelf, I like having it at arm’s reach but it’s out of the main space so it’s not taking up a ton of space.
The top surface has plenty of space for my stash of embellishments, my Tonic paper trimmer, a few containers from Land of Nod to hold Project Life cards and the tools that I reach for all the time.
Since I’m right handed my most used items are to my right for easy reach. That spinning rack is such a space saver, I really love it because it holds a ton of stuff in a really small vertical area.
One of my favorite features of the shelf unit is the little pull out tray my husband built for my Cameo. It was important to me that it be ready to go at all times because I don’t preplan or precut anything so I knew that if it wasn’t ready to go at a moment’s notice I wouldn’t use it. We planned for it to go in this exact spot because it was right next to my computer which meant it could always be plugged in and ready to go. I just pull out the tray, turn it on, load my mat and cut.
I also love to listen to music while I work so that little blue tooth speaker combined with iTunes radio is a match made in heaven.
It’s nice that when I need to do my computer work or want to sit I also have plenty of room for that too. I tend to leave my projects here so the space on the counter is purely for assembly and detail work. My Project Life album sits here as I assemble it and add things to each pocket. There is also room here for my daughter to sit and work with me when she wants to.
At the beginning of the year I decided to really purge and eliminate a lot of clutter from my space. You may not see it here but wow, can this space get messy. Having my craft mess meant that any other clutter on the walls and on the shelves was really making me feel overwhelmed. I removed everything from the space and only put back what I really wanted or needed to have here. I especially focused on the shelves over my printer and added the white storage bins from IKEA to contain and hide things I really didn’t need to see. Keeping my desk space as clean and uncluttered works best for me and only the essentials came back. And yes I guess a collections of disco balls are an essential.
I also totally changed out the art I had hanging here and decided to use the bull dog clips hung on tiny nails so that I could change it up or add to it as I wanted to. Many of the things here are pieces from kits I have hoarded because I loved them, quotes I found on Pinterest that I turned into art myself, images that mean something to me or words that keep me going and inspired.
Thanks for taking my little tour, if you have any questions on anything you see please let me know.
@clippergirl thanks, I used tiny nails.
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oh. em. gee!!! I need that spinning rack & the supercaliswagalistic pic in my life!! <3 <3 <3
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@Babz510 Love your space! Thanks for sharing. I also like to have my 12x12 paper close at hand, but haven't found a good system that I like yet...until I saw the way you keep yours which is perfect! What are the black bins that you keep the paper in on the top shelf of your Raskog cart and where did you get them?
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Thank you for sharing your space! I too work in a very very narrow space and like you, it's right near the stairs/front halls (and front door) so I can keep an ear out! I appreciate the organizing ideas as I scrapbook and sew/quilt in my space often with multiple projects going on at the same time and on the same work surface!
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I love your space, and the location of it especially! It's so perfect!
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Love it! now I see that I can have a space like yours in the future!
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great space Babz! Love your wall of sentiments! :)
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@HeatherTarrant thank you! Sadly I don't think the black paper bins are being made anymore, but they were from American Crafts, if that helps. My quick online search was getting a lot of "no longer available" when I did find them. I have two of the black holders and two plastic Cropper Hopper paper holders in that one top section. I believe the Cropper Hopper holders are still around and can be found fairly easily. Hope that helps!
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@sugarashley the spinning rack is from Harbor Freight and its fantastic. There are quite a few people here that have them and there are several message board threads devoted to it. I also did a pretty detailed post on my blog about it if you head over there you'll find it. The Swagalistic print I made myself but I think I need to put it on my blog as a download since so many people love it!
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It's SO beautiful! Off to show my hubby my dream space!
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Wowowowow. Such a good space Babz. Lucky lady, and smart with all that organizing! You could give me a few lessons. ;)
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Very nice. Thanks for sharing. Where did you find your desk cabinetry and table top?
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@krudpott Thank you! The seated desk where I do my computer work was installed by our home builder and I believe it was all custom. It matches the rest of the cabinatry in our home.
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Lucky girl...you have a great scrap space and a handy husband!
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I loved your space to do art. Tks for sharing with us. Xoxo
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i love this space! i dream of having a scrap room someday but i think i'd get lonely. i think it's perfect that you have a defined scrap space but that it doesn't isolate you from the rest of the house. thank you so much for sharing!
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Love the supercali print! Are you going to make it available as a download? Would love to have this in my craft space!!
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Well done! It seems as though your personality shines through with the prints. They are great!
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Wow! That is sooo cool! Where did you get the hip hop lyrics and the "super cali" prints from??? They are awesome!
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