Craft Room Reveal; Before, During and After

Craft Room Reveal;  Before, During and After

contributed by Real Housewife in MN

This bad boy has been a labor of love. I've tried 3 different types of bedding, 2 light fixtures, 2 desks, and 300 various furniture arrangements in this room. Little did I know all I needed was a visit from my in-laws to get my butt in gear! (more on that later)

You may remember about a month ago, I promised I was working on this room.

This is the awesome blank slate that was my craft room. You can see the lovely folding table, and the sweet ironing board on the side. Doesn't this just inspire creativity?

For a few months, I did a few minor tweaks and had a pretty nice office space. The mister had taken over our main-floor office, and I convinced my CFO that I needed my own office space upstairs. He willingly gave up the extra bedroom and so began my trek to have a girlified space of my own. Here is the room as it was up until a few weeks ago:

(these pics were prior to the awesome new camera!)

And finally; after WEEKS of tweaking it...........I've got a space to call my own. Here she is.

(day bed/guest space)

(Desk/Sewing workspace)

Wall decor on right side of desk space (across from bed)

Hello Beautiful........

Bear with me; this may be a long one. For those who love details; read on!

Step1: The furniture

The first thing that fell into this room was that whopper of a day-bed you see. When hubs and I were furniture shopping for HIS office furniture, we found this bad boy in the clearance section of a local furniture store. I'd been SWOONING over the potential of a day-bed; especially because this chick loves nothing better than a good nap. I wanted a space where I could curl up with a good book, and nap the afternoon away if I so choose. (Note: I understand this is a completely shallow/ridiculous concept to some. Those who know me will laugh at the "napping" criteria because it sums me up :o) This day-bed was my favorite color (BLUE!) and from that point on I decided the entire room needed to work with this bed. LOFTY GOAL looking back.

Step 2: New paint job

I painted about six swatches on the wall before finding the exact right shade. It couldn't be too blue; as it would conflict with the bed. I also wanted it to be calming and serene if at all possible. I settled on Behr Premium's "Lime Light". It's odd because it looks like a soft blue, but it's actually a shade of green. It would be perfect in a bathroom as well; great subtle color. (rough picture, but I promise it's awesome!)

Step 3: New Bedding

I was stumped on bedding. I'd found lots of bedding with turquoise in it, but it SCREAMED tween girl/hannah montana to me. I wanted a more sophisticated look and that was a challenge. Enter: Target. Oh how it makes my heart happy. I had attempted 3 other sets before finally seeing the new set come out this month. The in-store signing actually showed this bedding in a room with darker turquoise walls. It made it so much easier to envision in my room; and I took the plunge. I was really worried about the blue on blue combo, but was pleasantly surprised to see it worked PERFECTLY! 

Add a great little rouched pillow and you've got a nice feminine touch. I dig it. (Note; do you see the 4 euro-shams in the back? Those are pillow-forms. They do not have covers. They may not ever. They are white. I want big white pillows; I don't have time to sew covers right now. Pretend you don't know that mkay?)

Step 4: Workspace

I LOVE the ikea expedit workspace. It provides ample storage, and a GREAT sturdy work area for sewing projects. I had contemplated doing a sewing table for awhile, but honestly couldn't beat the storage that this bad-boy offers. I love that I can tuck my sewing machine away when it's not in use; and the fact that I've now got drawers for all my random supplies. For a few months I'd tipped the bookspace on it's side, making a large L-shape. This worked great; until the obnoxious day-bed entered my life. Arranging the room was a NIGHTMARE with this setup. Father-in-law had the genius idea to turn it right-side up so the bookshelf was taller (note this is the way it's SUPPOSED to be; I just have to do things the hard way). Then I got one other 2x2 cube set and had the current set-up figured out. The seagrass baskets are also ikea; and they small FANTASTIC. (random I know, but nice feature) Now everything has a home and it's super easy to clean up!

Step 5: Let there be light!

Ikea = love. Perfect size, amazing price. Hubs said a chandelier would be obnoxious. He didn't know I would plot with my mother-in-law to purchase/install the chandelier in one night. He came upstairs and was overwhelmed by the estrogen that is now my room. He now loves it. Victory for the wifey.

Step 6: Polish it up

I printed 3 8x10s of my favorite recent shots in black and white. Simple frames purchased at Michael's with those lovely 40% off coupons. I can easily update these for a new fresh look. 

On the large wall opposite the bed, I overhauled my mom's old gold mirror (more on this in another post). A nice coat of white spray paint, some simple iron letters and I've got a nice little decorated area. 

One more look for fun...

What's next?

- Dress form for the corner next to the day bed. Possibly vintage, possibly iron/decorative. A functional one would be great because I'd actually use it!

- An old wooden chair for the work area. Right now I'm using a folding chair which works fine, but a nice cushioned one would be great.

- Sheers for the window near the desk

It's still a work in progress; but it's MUCH better than where we started! I'll share this guy with the usual parties on the left-hand side. What do you all think?