Check out Before Photos of Carolyn's Scrapbook Rooms

Hello Scrappers!

I went to see Carolyn on Wednesday and she is so excited about her new scrapbook space! We both had notes ready to go when I arrived and got right to work. We discussed several things, such as; how she scrapbooks, what her needs are, how she currently stores her items, and much more. We measured her new room and it is roughly 24 feet long x14 feet wide on one side, and on the other side the wall is about 30 feet long.

Carolyn was a very good sport to let me take photos of her room upstairs as is--before any of the furniture was moved out--and the fact that her closet rod had broken and all the clothes got piled onto the bed!  So thank you, Carolyn, for letting me do that!  You are such a dear, sweet lady.  Carolyn is lucky enough to have family who have promised to paint her room for her over the next couple of weeks.  She is wanting an apple green color on all the walls with white on all the ceiling.  We spent today trying to find her "perfect" apple green, so I guess we will wait and see what it really turns out to be!  LOL  That's for you, Carolyn hehe.

In Caroyln's current scrapbook room, there are several pieces that are working well for her, such as three small black bookshelves.  The bookshelves are approximately 31" H x 30" W x 11.5" D, and she got them at Wal-Mart for under $20 each.  We decided to work with these shelves and went to our local Wal-Mart and bought 4 more for $15 each (got to love the roll-backs at Wal-Mart)!  We plan to line these shelves up along the wall opposite the stairs and put a shelf over them all, and hopefully give them a built-in look.  We have not figured out exactly how to accomplish that, but that is out plan.  Any suggestions you might have or photos of how you may have accomplished this in your own space would be welcome.

Carolyn has several 3-drawer Sterite containers, and in these drawers she stores some of her supplies by theme, and some by designer series.  We are still contemplating where to put these and welcome any suggestions you have, since they also work very well for her scrapbooking needs.  In her current space, all she has to do is turn around to get her supplies, so with this much larger space upstairs, it will be an adjustment for her to have to move across the room to get her supplies.  She also has a small folding table she currently works on and has two more tables like it, which we were thinking we could use to create a crop area in the center of the room. 

To my surprise, she purchased a black kitchen island at Big Lots to use as her main work area for $229.  It has a butcher block top with a inlaid piece of granite off to one side.  On one of the long sides there is a section that can be flipped up to add more work space when needed.  We are thinking of placing the island in front of the window, out towards the middle of the room.

She has a computer desk that she would like to put up there, but we are not sure whether it can be disassembled and reassembled, or where it would fit.  Another interesting piece she has is a metal gray office cabinet that she keeps in her closet.   It has 30 drawers in it and this is where she keeps all her memorabilia that inspires her layouts. Each drawer has a tag slot to let her know what is in each drawer. (Not shown in photos).

She uses large plastic project boxes that come in multiple colors with handles, to store more of her supplies and projects she is currently working on. Her existing tiny room serves a lot of functions and I am amazed how well she has managed in that small space, especially considering how many supplies she has!  She does plan to purge before moving upstairs, so we will see what she has and what I can buy from her!  Let's hope she purges some good stuff!



Debbie's Space

 

It turns out that she is going to create a second workspace for her daughter, Debbie, in the space around the stairwell.  Debbie already has many nice white storage cubes, with drawers, paper shelves, that she got from Michaels.  We are going to put all the cubes stacked in the same place she now has her stuffed animals.  On the other half wall facing the stairwell, we will put her a nice L-shaped work area, using more cubes as a table base.  As you can see below, Debbie has a good amount of supplies herself, and it looks as if these pieces should fit quite nicely into this area.

I have to admit is is a bit overwhelming to help someone else figure out their scrapbook room and to make sure there is adequate storage for all her supplies!  We have a big challenge before us, but we are both very excited about the process and the end result!  We are both looking forward to your suggestions and ideas.  You can post a comment below or email any ideas, photos or drawings you have to shargod@gmail.com! 

Until the next time,

Happy Scrappin!