I am so happy to once again be a part of Where Bloggers Create, an annual blog hop run by Karen Valentine over at My Desert Cottage - where participants get to share their studios, storage and organisation ideas. Big room, small room, one room - detached studio - there are all kinds on the hop and you are guaranteed to find useful tips that you can apply to YOUR space from someone who is participating.   Now a quick warning, this post is rather photo intensive!

 

 

So without further ado .....

Welcome to my art studio, I've been arting / crafting for over 14 years now so have had time to acquire a bit of stuff!  Last year I did a huge re-do of my room, you can see more about that in the 'Kate's Studio or Storage and Organisation' sections of my blog.

 

Take the quick 10 min video tour of Kate's Art Space

Interested in how Kate's Desk is organised, then take a seat and have a look around!

 

Now for those who don't have time or who are unable to watch videos, here are a few photos of the best bits of my craft room.  Believe me - the photos make it look MUCH bigger than it really is lol!

I craft in a walkway between my main family area and my bedroom, the walkway has a nook on either side so I'm lucky enough to have 2 walls all to myself and I've also found a way to make use of the space behind the doors.  There is no natural light, so  it's a little dark - but heaps of desk lights help with that :O).  

This is the left side of the walkway.

 

 

I've used the back of each door to store my ribbons and then on the wall behind each door I store my spray mists and inks - mostly Starbursts and Flat Fabios from Lindy's Stamp Gang.

 

My desk is the main space I use and I 'try' to keep it clean and organised, which is so much easier now.  I only have the things I use most often on my desk and everything has a place.

 

On the right side.  I have all of my unmounted stamps stored in ring binders on plastic coated storage panels, all my mounted stamps are in the green drawers .  I store all my loose paper flowers in the green/purple/clear slide out Art Bin super satchels that are in the storage cubes from Art Bin.  My paper collection lives in 12 x 12 and A4 ring binders and all my little embellishments are in either the drawers or the purple craft mates embellishment organisers.

I have a wonderful collection of books for when I'm in need of inspiration:

 

My packaged flowers are all hanging on this little craft spinner, sorted by colour - this makes everything really easy to find.

Now a few things have changed since I created these clips (though all for the better), here are a few peeks!

I've added a two tier paint holder to the right corner of my desk hutch - I was finding it REALLY annoying trying to get the folders and journals out of this area as my pen holder is right in front.  So I did what I do best and analysed the space - anything I put there would be a nuisance to move so things had to be small.  I also needed to make the most of the shelf height - and that's how this idea was born.  I had an old lazy susan (rotating plate) that fit perfectly and I ordered a cheap 'tall' cake plate online - it really is cheap and it kind of has a lean - but works just fine as a paint holder.  So now I just reach over, spin the base and can easily grab the paint I need!

I moved my journals to the other side of my desk.

Since Last year I've added a few more decorative (but still useful) elements

I think the 5 most useful ideas you can take away from my blog and studio today are:

1. Make use of every inch you have - behind doors, up walls and right down to the floor.

2. Spinners are great for annoying tight corners, they allow easy access and you can stack a heap of stuff onto them.

3. Label everything so you don't have to waste time searching for things.

4. Drawers and boxes (square or rectangular) can be packed to use your space more efficiently than circular or oval shaped baskets or tubs.

5.  Only store the things you use all the time on your desk.

and don't forget - try to make sure you put your 'stuff' away after you finish each project (or 2) to ensure you don't end up with 'piles' all over your room - piles breed more piles (speaking from experience here)!

 

I hope you have enjoyed this look at my studio, come craft room, aka nook or walkway, and may your day sparkle!  PS - Don't forget to go over to My Desert Cottage to see the list of participants so you can look at a heap of other craft and art spaces!