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Come behind the scenes at The Party Girl for a #CraftRoomTour and see Ashley's office & craft room.
My floral wallpaper. I am a complete girly girl (hence the pink walls!) and I'd been lusting after this peony wallpaper from Anthropologie for years, and when I moved into my own place it was the first thing I bought. No matter what I'm doing in here - working (I work from home so I'm in here all day) on projects or crafting for the blog - I have a great view that always cheers me up.
Tell us about your space
I turned one of the three bedrooms in our house into my office/craft room, so while it needs to be big enough to fit a desk for my computer, it also needs to hold my large craft table (where I do all of my crafts). I have a few other "stations" set up around the space which help keep things in their place. I work from home, so I spend all day in here. It's important that I have spaces to keep work stuff AND blog/shop materials, so I have a tall cabinet with all my craft supplies in addition to my desk drawers.
What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?
When we were renovating we took the doors off all our closets, and I realized that my craft table would fit perfectly into the closet space. Leaving the doors off opens the space so I have more room to move around, plus it shows off more pink walls! I also added wallpaper to the front of the desk drawers and painted the top of my desk a chalky pink, so it would blend into the walls a bit. The effect is so dreamy!
How do you keep organized?
I'm a bit neurotic, so everything has it's place. I have a rolling organizer where I keep paper (for crafts!) organized by colour, and a tall cabinet where shelves are organized by craft type - paint, stickers, patterned paper, jewelry, etc. I use a kitchen cart to store my printing supplies, including regular printer paper, card stock, labels, and greeting card paper.
I use two desks in an L shape, so I can keep files on one side and my planners (I have two!) on the other. That way I can keep my schedule open beside me to glance at, and still have desk space for reference documents.
Having a separate table for my craft space helps me keep my work separate from the blog and shop mess. I keep tools I use more frequently - scissors, hole punchers, etc. - in the craft table drawer, and it also holds my sewing machine and Cricut machine.
Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?
Keep your routine in mind when you're planning your space. Not all organizational tools will work for everybody - try to keep materials you use most often in an easily accessible place, and concentrate less useful tools in cabinets or places where you can close the door. I work with paper a lot, so having my regular 8.5x11 paper colour coded means I can grab what I need fast (which is useful when I have hundreds of different sheets). I keep my 12x12 paper pads on a separate shelf in my cabinet, so I can flip through them quickly. I don't use paint very often, so I keep it all on a shelf where I can see the colours I need, but they don't clutter my workspace. If you worked with paint more, you'd want to keep them in something more accessible, and probably clear (so you can find your colours fast and easily grab the tubes you need).
Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?
My favourite possession in here is my fake cake - I made it so I could showcase my cake toppers at craft shows, and I have it sitting on a shelf above my printer featuring one of my wedding toppers!
How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?
I keep a little hot pink Kate Spade NY notebook that I keep on my desk - I can easily slip it into my purse on the go, and can jot down ideas on the run.
Where do you look for inspiration?
I get inspired by everything, but the best medicine for creative block for me is flipping through magazines. I read all kinds of magazines - home decor, fashion, crafts, food, etc. The variety keeps things interesting, and new trends are great for inspiration!
If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?
As much as I love my pink walls, I sort of regretted doing them all pink. Having a white wall, or having higher ceilings so I could have a backdrop, would be amazing. I would also love enough space for one of those cool modern record players. The pink one playing Taylor Swift on replay is pretty much #goals.
Whose craft room would you love to explore? Send us a message!
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