Zoe's "Scrap-Happy Space"

Hello Scrappers!

I am thrilled to share with you, Zoe's scrap closet, which she fondly calls her "Scrap-Happy-Space".  She with the help of her husband's handy skills, created this scrappy space in a closet in their home and on a budget!  Her husband bought all the plywood and made the shelves and desk.  he used shelf brackets mounted to the wall, to hang the shelves.  Zoe bought all the cubbies at Micheals to complete her closet scrap happy space.

Another possibility is to use 3/4" MDF (4'x8' ft sheet around $25) instead of plywood.  MDF (medium density fiberboard) is a great product and you see it used on HGTV all the time for low cost projects.  It is a strong, durable material and I use it for all my building projects.

Another option would be to buy ready-made shelves (usually found found in the closet section at hardwood stores). Using these ready made shelves would not require the need for extra tools and painting.  This would be a bit higher in cost and you would not have the custom fit that Zoe's space has, but if you don't have the tools and a handy husband, this would certainly work.  All you need are a few basic tools, like a hammer, drill bit, wall anchors, and a drill.  I believe every woman should have some basic tools and know how to use them! 
Zoe's space is a perfect example of how you can have a great scrapbook space in a closet.  Most of us would prefer to have a whole room, but when space is limited, this would be a perfect solution!   One of the benefits to a scrap closet is when you are in the middle of a project and need to stop, you can simply close the doors!  Not only is this practical, but it is beautiful. 

As you can see, Zoe has a place for everything and she found some great buys on the storage containers and boxes.  She got the colorful boxes, she stores stickers and embellishments, at Ross for $6 each. The two large glass jars with ribbons in them were found at a garage sale for $1 each.  The cute, altered lunch box (on tops of the purple box) was from a dear friend.  How cute is that?  The row of clear plastic boxes below the lower shelf are baby food containers, where she stores her embordery thread.  Since she has a sweet 9-month old baby girl, that has to eat anyway, these were free!  You are one very creative lady, Zoe!

On the desktop, she keeps her Personal Cricut on the left side of her desk and her sewing machine on the right. Which leaves the middle area open for all her workspace. She has metal wall mounts attached to wall to hold up her shelves and used them to attach magnetic metal spice containers right to one of them! I love this idea. What would be a totally useless space and not so attractive, she has made an asset. Behind the sewing machine, Zoe has a magazine holders to hold all her small paper stacks, tools, and current photos she wants to scrap.

On her work space, Zoe keeps special momentos that inspire her, such as the red Z, a rock with the word "imagine" on it, and her very close to her heart photo of her and her dad.  How sweet is that?

Zoe has put cubbies on both sides of the shelf above her work area.  On the left side she has slots to hold her acrylic stamps in a binder and shelfs to hold embellishments and paints.  You can buy the small cubed shelves at Micheal's for about $30 each, but wait until you have a coupon for 40-50% off and you will have a real bargain!  Zoe has several of these cubbies and they are cute and works well for all her storage needs.  The cute, green boxes she found at Goodwill for $1 each.  As you can see, she has more of the magnetic spice containers on the wall.

To save on space she has created a binder where she stores her all her acrylic stamps, embossing folders and dies.  She actually got these plastic sheets she used to put her acrylic stamps on, and pocketed plastic binder sheets at her work place and repurposed them to fit her needs.  I wonder if you can get me some of these?!?  Just kidding! Well, maybe not.

 

On the right side she keeps all her 12x12 papers, paper pads, and finished layouts.  In the orange folder is where she keeps all her paper scraps.  I am truly amazed at her organization in her small space!
 
 
 
 
 
Even under her desk she has utilized the space well.  On the right, she has a rolling cart with drawers to keep miscellanous supplies such as bigger tools, cards, envelopes, beads, and brads, etc.   She uses this cart to wheel out to dining room when she has crops.  On the left she has these stackable cubes to store more of her supplies.  

In the top stackable cubes under her desk, she has a "thinking spot" where she keeps her layouts she is currently working on.  I like this concept and will have to create a "thinking spot" of my own!

Her ribbon drawer is her "eye candy" drawer.  She is converting her storage from spools to cards to have more room.  There is not much prettier thing to a scrapbooker than a nice colorful drawer of ribbon.





Ink and stamp storage in these drawers. She also has a scrap drawer where in one quick sweep she can put it all in one drawer after she is finished working on a layout.

What a beautiful space, Zoe and her husband, have created.  Thank you so much for sharing it with us.  I love it and know there is somone out there who will be so inspired that they will have to create their own "scrap-happy space" scrap closet.

Check out Zoe's blog

Until next time,
Happy Scrappin!