Hello Friends, How is your holiday season shaping up? I hope you aren’t to stressed. Sometimes finding a little you time can give you the spirit of the holidays … especially if you can carve out a little girl time even tho it’s a busy season. Last month I had that opportunity to hang with these two.
Many laughs later … and an idea that happened on that weekend … was to do a little studio tour with the three of us … Jennifer McGuire , Kristina Werner and I. Kristina explained it perfectly … she said, “we each have similar systems but, all look & work differently.” Kristina needs to see things or she forgets they are there. Jennifer has to have it all tucked away and I am a bit of both. Jennifer says that “we all are different and admire how the other works” I couldn’t agree more … do you want to see for yourself … let’s start my part of the tour?
Click here to watch the video in HD and click here if you want to subscribe to my channel.
With super dark floors and constantly changing light it was difficult to get the best photos and video but, I tried over the course of several days to try and give you the best.
Incorporating antiques in my crafty space … make it my happy place. A vintage typewriter that I purchased on Etsy gives me a punch of color. When I started collecting 20 years ago I had to pound the pavement to build a collection .. like the hands … now days all you need to do is search google. The antique toast racks are holding cards that need to be mailed and serve as decoration too. I am temped to add a few more.
In the video I share what a disaster my studio was …. with many “before” shots. This photo is my favorite “after” shot. I did a little shopping around my house and rounded up some antique accessories that would be functional & create a more satisfying work space. These hands I have had for more than 20 years … they work as book ends for my coloring books and give me a pretty display area that I was craving. That paint chart above the hands my daughter painted. The tallest “glove mold” is holding some treasured felties that were gifts.
Over the years I have shared many photos of Max in his chair on Instagram. Once I cleaned out the other chair facing Max he decided to claim that one lol. Unfortunately, I had to remind him that he was lucky to have his own chair 🙂 The two benches under my long antique table double as storage space. They open up!
The story on these chairs …. about 10 years ago I convinced my friend she needed to buy these two chairs from an antiques dealer for her master bedroom. When we were building our house I had remembered hearing that my friend was tired of her chairs … thank goodness …. so we traded chairs! I had them professionally painted ORANGE and reupholstered with a fun fabric.
My video tour is really a long last make over. Having the right tools is necessary so I picked up several rolls of the bright white grip paper to line each drawer with. This way everything stayed in place unlike before. I purchased many of these drawer organizers to maximize my space and to make each drawer 100% functional. They were more money that I anticipated but, for four years I lived in this space with it not functional so it was a good investment in my book.
If you haven’t already seen Jennifer McGuire or Kristina Werner studio tours I can’t wait for you to see how there happy spaces work for them.
I would love to see how your crafty space works for you and what makes you happy. If you want to share yours click on the blue Inlinkz button at the bottom of my post so everyone else can see too.
Thanks to Kristina and Jennifer giving me the motivation to finally get my studio in full functioning mode and thanks to you all for your visit today. Hugs, Kathy
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Beautiful craft room. I like all the special and unique items.
Thank you so much for sharing! My craft room is super out of date and I’m hoping to share a new video in a few months with a new set up, so yours, Jennifer’s and Kristina’s couldn’t come at a better time as it’s nice to get inspiration from such inspiring crafters as you all. I LOVE how you’ve all done things in different ways and it fits your crafting perfectly. I am so ready to go to IKEA once the room has been refurbed!
Kathy I love your craft room, it’s beautiful! Love how you showed the mess!!! Thanks for sharing your room!!!
Oh Kathy you made me smile so much during your tour. I love to see that your room is not perfect but it is gorgeous. I had never thought of putting beautiful antique objects to work in my craft room but it makes perfect sense! Your have inspired me to shop around home and see what I can incorporate
Max is quite the tour guide 🙂 thanks for sharing your craft room, I really enjoyed it. I love the mail sorting antique, I am a retired letter carrier and always enjoy anything to do with mail.
HI KATHY!
BEAUTIFUL STUDIO!! I LOOOOOOVE the mix of modern & antiques! JUST BEAUTIFUL!!! 😉
Thank you for sharing. It’s always useful to see what solutions others have found to help me find the best way on how to organize my craft area.
I wish you a Merry Christmas !
Thanks for sharing your space- such a lovely room! I really liked that you included the before pictures too. Makes me feel much better about how messy my space can be at times!
Oh, you do not want to see my craft space, Kathy. I am the before pictures. I loved seeing your make over and I love that you made it such a reflection of YOU!
A beautiful/fun space. I love that your room really has a homey feel to it not just a “work space’. Just lovey. TFS!
P.S. You would NOT want to see my room tonight. I made tags all day and although I almost always clean it up before I leave it for the day…Today, I didn’t and it shows!
Thank you for sharing, what a wonderful space! Those windows are magical and I love your antiques!!
Thank you for sharing your creative space. It’s very inspirational. How wonderful to surround yourself with so many things you love. I love all your videos and techniques.
Thanks for sharing your room. I can tell it is your happy place with all the unique cards and antiques and especially your furry friend
Oh, Kathy! I just love your craft room! Thank you so much for the guided tour today! When it comes to antiques, we are kindred spirits. I love the way you use the antique toast holders and display racks! I adore the natural light that floods into your craft room, Kathy. Your antique pieces each bring their own stories and inspiration into your creative space.
My studio space is in our unfinished basement. Since my other passion is gardening, I have brought nature’s inspiration into my studio. I hang dried flowers and herbs from my garden from the ceiling rafters. Each year, I add more dried flowers. It’s such a happy place for me! Many of my supplies are stored in vintage wooden boxes. I have two large tables ~ one for stamping and one for designing scrapbook layouts. My work station that holds my Big Shot, paper trimmer, and score board is actually my dresser from my childhood. I just love this piece that has been with me throughout my life. ( I’m older than you!) Having a dedicated space for paper crafting has been a lifelong dream. It finally happened after I retired from teaching. I love having a special place ‘to go’ each day. It’s not fancy ~ but it’s just my style! My studio is a true blessing in my life!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas, dear Kathy! Thank you so much for all that you do and share with us! ♡
First of all, I appreciate that you all (well maybe not Jennifer, she’s in transition) had to clean up your craft rooms before showing them to the world. My crazy mess isn’t that strange then!
Max is adorable. I love that he has a chair. And I love the pretty colors on the chairs. You’re lucky to have a contractor husband who still does honey-dos. All the contractor ones I know (cough, dad, brother) never get around to doing those things themselves.
I used Ikea in mine, too. If I ever get it cleaned up again, I’ll upload my room. It’s much smaller, but I’m not doing it full time (unfortunately).
Love the special touches in your room – those hands are amazing!! And love the colorful trees on top of another cabinet. All of the antiques give your room so much character. I love love love it!!!
I love your craft room Kathy. Its me, the idea is to be organised and tidy but that gets in the way too often so we just craft and tidy later. I love your mix of modern and antique and all those lovely wonderful cards people have sent you. You are such an inspiration, thank you for sharing.
So glad you showed your messy area also, mine looks much worse. I hope to get more organized in 2017…I did just get the pouches to store my stamps and dies in so it’s a start.
Beautiful,inspiring craft space!! Thank you for sharing! Love all the antiques!! Where did you say you found that beautiful postal desk?
Thanks for sharing your space and your special treasures. Great inspiration and fun to peek into your spaces
Need to clean up my space but might just motivate me to clean sooner to post pictures.
Lisa
Beautiful craft room. Love all the antique items 🙂
Kathy, love your craft room! Your views are gorgeous and so is Max! I even spotted a card I sent you on display, that was pretty cool! I’m in the midst of re-organizing my space–thought it would be done before now, but between work, Christmas and some health issues- not done. I’m hoping after the holidays to be able to finish the job and I’m considering getting the Alex cart–I know you and Jennifer use those in your spaces, I’ll probably keep it on wheels to be able to move it around. I have very limited space–as it is also my “office” for my business (paper work only!), my sewing area and my paper crafting/art space. I’m in constant flux of doing stuff in this room–between work related paper work, creating cards for family and friends or projects for my DT gig. My head is always full of ideas, I just need more time to create!
Love your creative space Kathy, it looks so calm and tranquil with all that beautiful natural light and amazing views outside those gorgeous windows. I love how you have incorporated your love of antiques into your space, definitely making it your happy space. Thanks for sharing the before photos as well, clearly I’m not the only one who will craft in chaos( my husbands words!!!!) And your chairs they are amazing……I love your orange accents, orange is my favourite colour in the whole world.! Thanks for sharing your beautiful space have a most lovely day. Cheers Donna z 🙂
Lovely craft room – so neat tidy and fun to work in. No wonder you always sound so happy in your videos.
What an absolutely beautiful space to be in Kathy. I love the mix of antique and contemporary that you have going on, and all the splashes of colour. Those chairs are gorgeous! And of course I love that Max has his own :-). You have that most amazing wall of windows too, so much light which is fantastic! And there was a card I sent you on display too, that makes me happy . We are hoping to move next year and that means a new craft room for me, I am going to try and incorporate some of your ideas . Thank you so much for doing the video for us, you, Jennifer and Kristina rock! Off to watch their videos now. Hugs xx
I might need a trip to IKEA. I really like how your drawers create perfect storage solutions. Mine is so hodge-podge, mostly plastic carts and Goodwill furniture. I cannot believe how many supplies I have acquired since I started papercrafting–two years ago! There is a chair at the table, but the table is so messy, I usually bring things to my desk to work on. This way, there’s always a pile by the desk that needs to be put away. Right now, all my Christmas crafting supplies are out, waiting to be re-filed. That will clear off the dresser that is my cutting station. (it’s a pain in the back to die-cut with my Big Shot on the floor!!!) Honestly, I think what I love the most is your windows and your view. Seriously, How do you not just sit and stare out at that???? Thanks for it all. Merry Christmas.
This has been so much fun to tour all three craft rooms…so much great inspiration! I definitely need to purge and organize so I feel more mojo! Happy Holidays!!!
Your craft room is just beautiful and I love how you have incorporated your lovely antiques and special personal items. It makes me look at my room and wonder how I can renovate it to be more productive. Thanks so much for sharing and I just love your blog and look forward to each new posting! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Wow, beautiful room. You give me inspiration on better organizing my room. I could live in yours with Max. Thank you for sharing! Merry Christmas!
Your room is beautiful, Kathy! I love the antique pieces you’ve incorporated, but I’m especially pea green with envy for all of the natural LIGHT you have flowing into your space! Natural light makes a huge difference to me (I almost never create after the sun’s gone down), and I would love to have a room that has that much light! Thanks for sharing!
It’s so nice to see the crafty spaces of my favorite crafters. You, Kristina and Jennifer have set the bar very high as far as craft rooms go. I love the hominess of your room with your antiques, your gorgeous antique chairs, and Max. I try to visit your blog often because your work blows me away.
Even the untidy parts looked elegant! Beautiful many thanks for opening your room to us!
After seeing all 3 Studio videos, I clearly need to do some work on making my Happy Place a Happier Place.
It was great being able to see 3 different craft rooms and what you guys all do the same and different. For the most part, I think that what you all do the same is what I should for sure implement since it works for you guys collectively.
Gorgeous craft room! You mentioned your age like you’re old or something. Ha! I’m 63 and have been crafting in one way or another most of my life. I love watching all you young kids create beautiful things. You all bring much joy into my life.
Your space is so true to who you are, Kathy! I love it – thanks for sharing! Have a blessed Christmas!
I thoroughly enjoyed your studio tour with your pooch and those chairs are amazing giving just the right Zip to the creative eye . Your antiques are a wonderful addition of you into your space , I also have some me in mine too . Enjoy your creations , I know I will !
P.S. I’m 47 in May so I’m no spring chicken either .
Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous space. All those windows AND a fireplace….what a dream! It was very touching to see how lovingly you’ve displayed the many, many cards that you have been sent.
I forgot to add, and thank you for showing the “befores” too.
Well done!!!! I am in the process of downsizing to be able to move from a house to a one bedroom apartment – think I have a store when I look at all the crafting items – LOL! Has been a challenge, but I KNOW it will work for me in the new apartment! Thanks for your tour and tips – will be a great help as I sort out and rearrange!
Paper Hugs,
Jan
Thanks for sharing your craft room with us, Kathy. Love it! Such a lovely, bright, relaxing space in which to work.
I really don’t think that your room was ever messy…..if you want to see messy, welllll, I won’t share that! Great video, thanks for sharing part of your beautiful house. I love the windows and your dog is sweet! I am going to start looking through Ikea on the web and see what I could fit into my space. Thank you so much for taking the video and being part of my favorite crafting trio!!
What a wonderful craft room. Love, love all the light.
Your craft room is so nice. I have a craft hut but all I have is a few cabinets from Michaels. I’m still dreaming. Your not old….I’m 70 and enj;oy all you young folks. ;D
Thank you, Kathy, for sharing your craft room with us! I really enjoyed your video, and the whole post. I love your mix of old and new, and your use of antiques for storage! The chairs, all the displays, the antiques, your dog… they all give your room a warm, fuzzy feeling. 🙂 I’ve watched all three of the “studio makeover” videos, and enjoyed every one, but yours made me the most happy. Happy Holidays to you and your family!
You have a beautiful craft space, Kathy, especially with all the natural light coming in. My craftroom looks worse than your before pictures. When we moved into our house two years ago, I hid lots of stuff in the wardrobe cabinets, but I need to take it all out to better organise it. However, my first task will be painting my room with the paint we bought a few months ago when it was at a discount. Hope I will get to it within my 2 week holiday break that started today. Yay! But first I will check out the other 2 studio tours. I just knew you had coordinated these tours when I saw 3 similar messages pop up on my Blogger dashboard this afternoon.
A very merry and peaceful Christmas to you and yours!
Marianne x
Kathy, It was so much fun to see your craft room, thanks for sharing !!! I was so jealous, not only of your craft room being so organized but of all your antiques. What beautiful and unique items you have, I have such a love for antiques. It was such fun to see Max thru out the video following you around, what a cutie. I didn’t see your Butterfly board, did you retire that? What a beautiful view it looked like you have, sometimes that cane really make you creative. Also, Girl you are NOT old, I hope not, because I am one year older than you so that would make me old and I don’t want to be old. LOL
Thanks for the tour! Beautiful room (and adorable dog!) And it was SO EXCITING to see my card displayed!!!!!!! Inside your stamp cabinet, “Hope” on the left door top! You were so generous to send me the die cut when I was going through my breast cancer treatment! xoxoxo Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Awesome room! I loved how you showed before and after photos. No one can be perfectly tidy 100% of the time! Your windows are amazing. I would probably pull up one of those big chairs and sit in the sun with a book!
What a glorious room to play in! The pup picked the best seat! I like your sense of style! Orange motivates me.
Hi Kathy!! I LOVE LOVE your room! It is so airy and BRIGHT! I LOVE the wall of windows, and the flooring and the built ins! And I love your eclectic decor and style! You are so blessed to have a husband so skilled to build stuff for you!! I wanted to ask you where you got your desk chair from…that one with the mesh…and also, I have been trying to find/get a cabinet to store my stamps and stuff that are in those double fridge binz like Jennifer McGuire does. I converted my stamps to that storage system, but I am having a hard time finding good storage for the binz! That cabinet that you have yours in…did you buy that one like that? Or did you/your husband customize it to store the stamp bins in? Please let me know! Thanks, V
I love your room! While I can definitely see the greatness of having a room totally purpose built, your mix of old and new is my style. That postal desk is amazing and I love how you’ve stored some of your embossing powders.
I really enjoyed all three craft room videos from you talented young ladies! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Wow what an awesome work space. It is a dream craft room for me lol only the lord knows when I will ever be so lucky. Thanks for opening up your room to share with us.
I am in love with your bottle brush trees! Are they vintage as well?
Thanks Anne I purchased them from American Plant in Maryland. I bet you can find some on line? Good luck 🙂
What a fun and educational tour! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your craft space. I love your incorporation of antiques. My dream is to have a craft room someday that has space which would allow me to get organized and display my favs!!
Your space is so warm and inviting. I love the antiques scattered around the room. Thanks so much for the inspiration and for sharing your room. I hope you have a blessed Christmas.
What a wonderful space! I love your use of antiques as I’m an antique junkie too! Thanks for the fun tour! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
Love, Love, Love!!! Between you and Jennifer I am now looking for some items I can show off my cards with. Love your antiques. Kathy you are an A1+ designer and organizer. Thanks for sharing
I’m wondering if you might have a link for your rotating paper storage?
Love your craft room tour!
Thank you.
Hi Karen, Here is a link for you. It’s a little pricey but, worth every penny in my book and I love that it doesn’t take up any space in my studio. Happy New Year and thanks for watching 20-Tiered Literature Stand, 4-Sided, 80 Pockets for 8.5 x 11 Catalogs, Rotates, Gray
Opps lol here ya go http://www.displays2go.com/P-577/80-Pocket-Revolving-Literature-Displays-Metal-Magazine-Racks-Gray?st=Category&sid=530
Thank you so much, I appreciate it!
Karen
Thanks for sharing your beautiful room!
I love a few of your antique pieces! They are so gorgeous? Don’t you have trouble with fading of your cards and the paper in your stand? I have a room with a lot of Windows and I’m always finding things that the light has affected! I even had a bottle of glue crumble under my hand when I went to squeeze it while the glue inside was fine! Let me know! Rebeccacell@gmail.com
Kathy I sent a private email with most of my comments but wanted to say here what a neat airy inspiring place to work. Love all the natural light and your crafting partner Max. Thanks to you 3 for doing these videos for us.
Ohmigosh, I love you even more now. If that’s possible. Your studio is exactly what I thought it would be. So filled with your personality and great taste. So good! Plus I loved hearing your voice again. Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful room and I love the natural light you have with both sets of windows on either side. I do have one question, what kind of printer do you use to print out your images to colour?
I always love opening my email to find a link to come visit you!
I know this is an old post but I just now got to view your craft room and I must say, I am totally impressed! Your room is beautiful! You have so much storage space and even when the room was messy, it wasn’t quite as messy as my bedroom. The antique stand up card holder I’ve seen at craft shows before but in gray or grayish silver, not in the color you have. I’ve seen a few your height and a few that fit on a table. I also love the view that you have in your room and Max, your dog, is cute.
I don’t have a craft room. My bedroom holds some of my craft things and so does my living room. I have a faux wood thing that holds my printer and then it has like 2 cubbies underneath that hold paper and a few other things. My dining room table is where I do my crafting because it seats 9 people so it’s big. Right now its half full of card making things. I will never, ever be neat and that’s just the way it is. If I had more storage space that might be another story. My dad has some shelving in our basement that right now is empty. I am thinking of putting some of my craft things down there and then when I need something, I can go down there to get it. Our basement is cold and we’ve had mice down there so there is no way I actually want to craft down there. However, storage is another thing altogether.
I loved watching the video and I want to watch more of your videos. I also like your voice on the video. I always hate how mine sounds on tape.
All of the tours were extremely helpful , I can use all the organization tips I can get , I’m a mess .
Gorgeous craft room–I love the antiques and all the natural light. Am curious–what do you call those ceramic hands? Are they glove forms? Something else? Thanks so much for sharing your beautifully inspiring space with us.