My Beautiful Mess

After creating the layout of my Beautiful Mess (two posts back), I got emails from friends who wanted to see the whole mess. Well, here they are! I did clean up the space a bit, I don't always have it so dishelved as was in the layout!

To begin with, my room is small. I would say, probably, 8' x 10'. This is good and bad. The good thing about it is that I have to keep it organized or I will trip over everything. The bad is that I can't spread out the way I would like to. But, I am happy with my room nonetheless. It's JUST RIGHT for me.

Also, I am cheap. Really, I am. I hate paying full price when I don't have to. All of the furniture and organization inmy room was either found at a garage sale, bought on clearance, or given to me by family. As I describe my room, I will try to tell you where I found the oranizational pieces that I use.

 

This is an overview of it, from standing in the doorway (that goes to the laundry room). The floors are stained concrete - this is perfect. I don't worry about making a mess or spilling anything. Just mop it and go! My countertops are from Lowes, in the clearance section. Alex made the whole countertop (the laminate and legs) for $60.00. Can't beat that. The wall shelves are from Hobby Lobby (bought at half price), and my chair is an old chair I recoved to match my room. My walls are painted with paint that was on clearance at Lowes as well (2 gallons @ $5 each).

 

This is a closer picture of the counter top & wall. The quote is by DCWV. I store my odd & end chipboard and specialty ribbon in a glass jar from Hobby Lobby ($2 a piece). The black box on the table is where I store photos that I am scrapping right now. It is from We R Memory Keepers; and the Clip It Up is where I store non-theme embellishments, by brand. Next to the countertop is my bookshelf, that I had from another room. The rolling metal cart (that you only see a bit of) I bought at a scrap garage sale for about $10 - I store all my pattern paper (and any scraps that match) in 13x13 folders, by manufacturer. I also have folders for transparencys, specialty papers that have die cut edges, Halloween, Fall, and Christmas.

 

Here is a close up on my bookshelf. On the top, I have canvas baskets that hold my Zutter, Cuttlebug, and chipboard sheets. I also have my large 12 x 12 Fancy Pants Stamps stored here.On the second shelf I have my buttons, stored in jars from Hobby Lobby ($2/each) - seperated my general colors. I did my large florals the same way. I also store my DML Floss in a jar. On the third shelf I have these tall and skinny jars that I found on clearance at Michaels. Can you believe that they were only $1 a piece because they had been clearanced out?? I LOVE THESE. I store my markers, paintbrushes, ribbon scraps that are less that 12 inches and my chalk pencils.

 The next shelf holds my photos - sorted - in Martha Stewart photo boxes. Got these babies on sale at Michales, for about $10 a box. They are super sturdy and love that they are covered in fabric. I also store my paper pads on this shelf, right beside my Zebra and Lady Bug. Gotta have a great spot with a few for my friends, right? The next to bottom shelf holds my 12x12 cardstock (sorted by color) and my sewing machine. I also have an American Crafts Alum that I store printed photos that I love, but not sure how I will scrap just yet. If I don't scrap them within 3 months or so, I move them to my photo boxes. The last shelf is my binders for stamps, Inspiration Notebook, books I read (and reread) and a basket that holds project kits that I just haven't gotten to.

 

Here is a closeup of my stamp storage. I took page protectors and sewed pockets to fit my stamps. I also use baseball card holders to store my smaller stamps. In each pocket, I stick a white card with the stamp brand and the name of the stamp. I have two of these binders - one for graphics and journaling and another for cards and holidays. I figure I have about $10 total in all the costs to make the two books.  

Another close up of bookcase. 

 This is the wall right next to the bookcase. I use this curtain rod ($10 @ Walmart) to hold my layouts right after I am done - or to showcase ones I love. The quote about it is from Once Upon A Design (cute & cheap). I use this turquoise stand to hold my magazines, cricut cartridges, and basket full of Aphabet Stamps. I bought the stand at a craft fair.

 

Ok, as I post this I see that I should have straightened up the drawers, and fixed the lables. Oh, well. This metal storage cabinet I bought at a garage sale for $5. Best investment I ever made. In each of these drawers, I store themed embellishments (boy,holidays, that sort). I also have drawers for tools, flowers, adheasive...a bunch of stuff but it is all stored by categories. I keep my Cricut on top for easy access. The wire basket on the floor I bought at Hobby Lobby for about $6 - I hold my adheasives that I use a bunch, scissors, and acrylic stamp blacks and cleaner. On the wall, my dad made me this stamp shelf....out of scrap wood. We painted it black and it is just right! There is a door right next to the wire bakset but I didn't take a photo of that...sorry but I didn't think you'd care!

 

This is on the other side of the door, right beside my countertops (in the corner). Alex made me this bulletin board out of scrap wooden trim and chicken wire. Again, about $5 worth of materials. Here, I clip any notes, inspirations, etc that I want to see while I scrap.

This is how I store my alphabets, ribbon, mini albums that are unused, chipboard, paint, and punches. I bought two rolling carts at Walmart ($12 each) and slide them under my countertop. They slide back far enough that I don't even know they are there when I scrap, unless I pull them out to get something. The lables were ordered online, from Once Upon A Design.

I hope this answers all of your questions - if I missed anything, leave a comment and I will post the answers here for all to see!

Thanks for touring "My Beautiful Mess".

xxoo,

M

Comments

[Kathy]

What a pretty room! You gave me lots of ideas! Thanks for sharing.

[nicole renee]

Wow this is awesome, may be stealing some ideas from you. : )

[Amanda N.]

You have a fab scrapbook space! :)

[Marcie Morgan]

Your room is scrumptious! Love the colors!

[Brenda Smith]

I LOVE IT!!! Absolutely gorgeous and perfect! What else could you do? It's great :)

[Lisa Andrews]

Your room is gorgeous! I really like the rod you use to display layouts and all of those yummy goodies in glass jars.

[berta]

Great room! Love the chicken wire display board and great find on the little metal drawer set! Lucky you!

[Martha]

love your room!

[Erin Bohland]

I love your pretty room. Love the blue color. Neat storage ideas..

[Ruby Boolahoobay]

Excellent job! I'm in the process of finishing up my craft room. It's 8x14 but I clearly have a lot more junk than you do! I'm going to have to clear out a bit. :-) Thanks for the great ideas. I think I'll snag the chicken wire bulletin board idea.

[marshan alma]

Love, love, love your room

[Donna]

Melissa, I liked your stamp room pics so much I linked to my blog and posted about it at rubystamper.blogspot.com

[lori]

Ok so you cleaned up alot since last time I was there!! Very cute though, wish I had some of your creativity!!