Creating an Art and Craft Cabinet

This post is about how I created a small space for arts and crafts and it ends with a few tips for developing a creative space.

When I was working on our Home Purpose Statement, I decided that one of our main home purposes is to be a place for artistic expression. We are blessed to have a room available for this, but it was becoming a bit of a junk storage area. Earlier in 2015 I did a big clear out of the art/music room but for some reason the space still just wasn’t working as planned. Time for a re-evaluation of what was working and not working!

After some reflection I asked my daughter why she didn’t enjoy her crafting cabinet which was in the art room, and she suggested that she would rather have the long counter top which would give her space to work. Her idea inspired me to do a swop – I would put all my scrapbooking supplies and craft materials in the cabinet and she could use the bigger counter top space for her projects instead.

I also decided that one of the reasons I didn’t get to art and craft work was because the light in our art room is not that bright and I have to go and unlock the room to use it. It is also not that well ventilated, so not ideal for keeping archival materials. So we moved the cabinet into the guest room! Initially the guest room was a huge mess and I wondered if I would be able to fit all my crafting goodies into such a small space. But some persistence paid off.

In the last few weeks I have loved using my new crafting space because it is easily accessible now and I have all my supplies at my finger tips. The lovely morning light is ideal, although I have found the inside of the cabinet needs extra lighting. It is easy to put everything back in its place and I can shut the cabinet doors when we have a guest using the room.

If you feel inspired to create your own artistic space, a really worthwhile read is How to make an Art Studio at Home by Amy Johnson Maricle on her blog Mindful Art Studio. Even if it is in the corner of a room, it is really therapeutic to have a space in which to create.

Some take away tips for creating creative space:

• Think about the creative space you need (and want!) – use Pinterest and Houzz for some inspiration and consider what will work for your home.
• No space is too small - all that is required is a surface on which to work and some storage space nearby (even a toolbox or rolling cart can work for storing art supplies).
• Lighting is important – try to take advantage of natural light if possible and supplement with task lighting where necessary.
• Everything must have a home – it makes everything so much easier to find and put away again if you designate a space for each item.

Do you have a creative space at home? What inspires you about that space? If not, what do you think is holding you back?

Dealing with Sentimental Items

I find it really difficult to get rid of particular “sentimental” items. In particular things that use to belong to family members and were passed on to me. I think it is fine to keep some sentimental items that are useful or bring joy, but I realized if they were simply boxed up or put away they were doing neither of these things. A particular example is a vase that belonged to my granny. I used to see it on her pelmet when I visited her as a child and thought it the most beautiful vase in the world. She graciously passed it on to me, but as an adult it was perhaps more the lovely memory than the actual item that made me happy. It sat at the back of the cupboard for ages before I realized I needed to get it out and actually use it for it to be worth hanging on to for many more years.

The blogosphere has various suggestions for dealing with sentimental items:

1. “Upcyle” items to make them more useful. Some examples are making fabric items into a teddy bear, quilt or cushion cover so that they can have a new life. I have some lovely old (and chipped beyond use!) china pieces which I hope to turn into a mosaic tray.
2. Choose one of a collection to keep rather than keeping the whole collection. This may be a bit tricky, but if you can hone down to just a few really beautiful or memorable pieces and sell or give away the rest it may mean you appreciate more what you do choose to keep. I may need to do this with my teddy bear collection!
3. Take a photograph and don’t keep the actual item. If it is just the memory that is significant, then in theory a picture should do just as well as the real thing! I am not convinced this will always work, but I think keeping a journal or brief note with the photo is helpful as a way of treasuring the memory associated with an item. Where this will work well however is all those children’s art pieces that are too big or awkwardly shaped to keep successfully.
4. Give the item to someone else who will love it. Perhaps another family member would appreciate the item more fully or someone you know would love it and find it useful. Knowing that your treasure is going to a good home may make it easier to part with it. I needed to do this with baby items I was hanging on to for sentimental reasons.
5. Limit yourself to a memory box. If you choose a limited space in which to keep sentimental items and then review your box regularly and update what you choose to keep, this may be an effective way to keep on top of nostalgia. One of my 2016 projects is to collect up all the paperwork that I am keeping for sentimental reasons (cards, photographs, children’s pictures, reports) and create a memory box with file folders for each year. That way I can keep everything in one place a limit the collection to a box.

It may be necessary to go through sentimental items more than once. You may possibly find that some items and photographs actually grow less significant with time. You may also need to think through your attachment to specific items and work through them when you feel less emotional about the memories associated with them.

What type of sentimental items do you find hard to let go of? How can you enjoy your sentimental items more often?