One of my “new years resolutions” (if you will…) was to re-design our office/guest room/craft room into a more functional and usable space. I use the term resolution lightly because it was more like, this is the next big thing I want to cross off of my list and I simply won’t have time to even thing about it until at least after Christmas. So I’ve been working on it slowly but surely over the past month and a half.
First, a little backstory. Everyone loves backstory. Right? No? Too bad. We had a baby. We made what was our guest room (in our 3 bedroom house) into a nursery. One bedroom is ours and off limits to any technology (no TV, no computer, nothing with a screen). So that leave the last room to contain anything and everything that doesn’t go in any of the other rooms. This includes, but is not limited to a desktop computer, a second TV, a crafting spot, a place for guests to sleep and plenty of storage.
So here’s what it looked like to start:
This is my makeshift craft desk (two shelving units and a piece of particle board) and our VHS collection with the only VCR we have (as a part of the TV).
This is the computer desk, pile-o-crap and book shelf. Oh, and that’s the tiny thumbnail of a closet. The nursery, yeah, it has a walk in closet that is actually bigger than mine. Why? I have no idea. I have lots stored in it, but there’s one major problem. I only ever have time to do things that require things from that closet when Avie is sleeping. *Note to self: next time, chose the room with the smaller closet for the nursery.*
Now that you know the before, let’s talk about pieces of the after. We have 4 pallets in our garage and bought a slightly used twin mattress. (I know, I know, I should be careful, bed-bugs and all, but it was clean and in good shape and cheap. Being sold because the gal moved to California. Not likely that she had bed-bugs.) I have a grand plan for a pallet foundation for a twin daybed. I need another mattress, but when I get one, this daybed can be reconfigured for a kingsize bed when family comes to visit. And then returned to it’s twin daybed for regular use.
I also reorganized this closet. And… I made this to hold cords:
Over the door shoe racks are expensive when you’re trying to redo a room with a minimal budget. This was free. Seriously. My grandma gave me some double knit fabric (think 70’s pantsuit material) that I wasn’t sure what to do with. Since it’s pretty sturdy I thought it could definitely hold some cords. I had some random black fabric (with which I used one of my Christmas gifts, my new bias tape maker), I found the stick in my yard and the hanging piece is a strip of a t-shirt. I had about 2 yards, so I cut a strip long enough and wide enough to fit my door. Then I cut strips to make the pockets. The bottom 2 are something like 15″ and the top 2 are like 12″. Then I pinned them where I wanted the seams and sewed them down. Then, I sewed the sides. The bottom I just gathered and pinned as I went and sewed across. I made a little curtain pocket at the top for the stick. It’s nothing fancy, but it works. The hanging rack cost me $3 from Walmart.
Also, I found this. For $32.
My wonderful sister-in-law is helping me to paint this beauty for a craft desk. But you’ll have to wait for the after photo, because it’s not done yet. Progress is progress. Once I get the desk in place, and organize my crafting supplies, I think I’ll be ready to paint the room.
What’s left?
>a smaller computer desk
>painting and positioning the pallets for the daybed
>new bedding for the daybed
>paint
Total cost so far: $35
Stay tuned!