June 13, 2007

Craft Corner Completed!


Oh what a great day it was yesterday when I finally completed my craft corner. It ended when I finished covering my Fira chest. It took several coats of paint and lacquer and two attempts at covering with paper, but now I am so, so pleased. In fact, I am very excited about all of my color and paper choices lately. I began to modify the phrase "measure twice, cut once," to say, "think once, create twice," in that whatever my initial plan is, I execute it, something goes wrong or I decide to change it, (like with my bulletin board) and then I love it in the end.


The drawers before I put them into the base.


Close up of the pattern of the side.


The insides of the drawers, painted yellow and lacquered, were dusty, bumpy and rough and I thought that I wouldn't want to put my paper and supplies into the drawers that way. So I covered the bottoms with paper from a pack of 12x12 scrapbook paper that I got at Target for just $1 this past Sunday! I love Target's $1 bins - I also got a stamp pad, ribbon and two packs of small scraps (that match the larger pack of paper), all for $1 each.


Voila! Here is my new, clean space. I think the colors all go so perfectly together. The area really lights up the room and finally something is on the walls! I'm going to order two shelves to put above the TV to display my many cameras and knick knacks and I think that wall will finally be complete.


Speaking of walls, I finally began my mirror wall in the entryway. You see, when I was growing up, my grandmother still lived in her house in Belle Harbor, Queens, NY, that my dad and aunt grew up in. I loved it, so vintage, cozy, a few houses down from the beach. One of my favorite features was that the whole entry wall, going all the way up the staircase, was covered with mirrors collected from all over the world. When she sold the house, I was still young and didn't have any interest in most of the mirrors. But after I moved into my apartment, I had the perfect wall for mirrors and for my birthday, my grandmother gave me a few of the ones that were on her wall. I already had the two larger mirrors and one of the stained glass ones, but the rest are hers. There's a mirror on there from Greece and one from China, probably other places, too, but now I forget. I can't wait to see this wall grow.

That's what I've been up to lately. With each project, I get closer to feeling like I have a completed apartment that really feels like home.

13 comments:

  1. *gasp*

    Your craft corner is gorgeous! And I love the mirror idea, and I like how every piece has a story behind it.

    Very,very lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is FANTASTIC. You did such a great job carving out a crafty corner for yourself. I love the pattern paper on the inside of the drawers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's really creative! I love how everyone does something creative with the fira chests :) Fira means celebrate, btw, in our language :) And that craft table, I would really love to have :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi! I came over from Ikea Hacker about your craft corner, and I love your ideas! You have a really excellent eye for colour, pattern, and shape. Great read.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Over from Ikea Hacker as well...Love your space!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have been looking for a desk just like that - where did you get yours?

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's from Target, $99. Great desk, really easy to put together. Here's a link: http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1186248042/ref=sr_1_1/602-5023741-0884605?ie=UTF8&asin=B00063SVCU

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi alicia
    i came over from Ikea Hacker as well and I just love what you did out of all this!

    I have the same silver drawer and I was actually planning on changing its outfit. how exactly did you do it?
    what kind of paper did you use and does it stay like this if you just glue the paper on the drawer?
    thanks in advance :-)
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the comments, everyone.

    Chris-
    You can use any kind of paper you want! I used colorful scrapbook paper. If it's thin and not cardstock it will stick best. First I unscrewed the pulls. I cut the paper to the size of the drawers. Then I sprayed the backs of the paper (don't spray the drawers, it gets really messy!) with Elmer's spray glue and layed it down, smoothing it out with a wallpaper smoother thing I have. They do stay stuck, with some peeling depending on how much glue used. My dog ate off two of papers on the drawers and I've yet to reapply.

    Hope that helps.

    Also, my drawers are white, not silver, though noted that way on Ikeahacker. =)

    ReplyDelete
  10. lovely craft space! what sort of crafts do you do in your craft spot?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Alison-
    It seems that I created the space as a craft, and to house all my craft supplies, but I rarely DO crafts at it. Usually it's covered with magazines and picture frames that need to be hung and every few weeks I clean it off.
    Anyway when I do do crafts, its paper related things like cutting out magazines and attempting collage. But really it is just a space to house my obsession with crafty supplies, though it is hardly used. Sad!

    ReplyDelete
  12. beautiful craft space!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi, I absolutely love your craft room. Does the little white board covered in floral fabric have a magnetic layer behind it? I won't ask where you bought it from as I live in Australia!! Narelle

    ReplyDelete