{Craft-ish} Room Makeover

I just made my new favorite room of the house. Just off our living room is a porch-turned room that has played many parts in the eight years we've lived here. Most recently, it was a grand craft room, but it always became junky quickly. The furniture and the overwhelming amount of "crafts" weren't working. Things needed to change, and I love changing rooms! Since elementary school when I would put my furniture on washcloths and rearrange my room, I love finding the way a room works. This is the story of making a room that I love.

Besides needing a good purge, our furniture wasn't working. Our massive table was collecting everything, our shelves were peaking over the half wall, and our homemade desk had stains and the paint was coming off (and not in the cute way). It was a room full of eye sores. Here are some before pictures:

My first step was to pull everything out and purge. I had so many crafts that I hadn't worked on in a few years, so those things went in the trash. We found some friends to pass on the furniture that wasn't working. Then, I brought in a few cheap pieces that I picked up at Ikea (and got the kids help on assembling). 

Specifically, I bought a simple dresser from Ikea and a new desk system. Ikea has build-your-own desk systems that are extremely affordable. There are so many options. I bought legs for $3, table top for $6, and the drawers for around $50. 

Here are the after pictures:

My favorite is our new little desk. It's cleaner and more sleek than what we had before. I loved it so much that I wanted to keep the surface clean, but the girl in me couldn't help but put some cute little things on top. 

The dresser holds all our crafts. The kids were so excited about the bottom drawer, because it's dedicated just for them. Their tape, construction paper, paints, etc are all stored for them.  The top two drawers are just for me. Ribbons, glue gun, my paints, etc are all in there-a smaller version of my previous hoard of supplies.

There is one eye sore in the room, but it's necessary. I have our two strollers folded up against the chair, but that is really the only place that they can be. We use them often. I guess one eye sore is better than a whole room full of them?

Immediately after we finished the room, the kids were eager to do crafts. I set up their little table (we had one of these when I was a kid and I always loved it!) and they spent a lot of time in the room staying busy. 

I guess technically, this still serves as a craft room. I wouldn't call us a huge crafting family at the moment, but it is nice to have a organized space to keep our things. I'm on an all-things-house kick, so this room hit all the right triggers for me. Even if it means cutting shelves in half, I love figuring out how to make a room organized and work the best for us. This room is working well and it's refreshing to walk into this little corner of our house.