I found her.  My crafting muse.  She was hiding in the troves of junk in a dilapidated antique store on the Outer Banks.  I knew immediately that she was going to be the focal point for designing my new craft room.  She was beautiful AND she had a spinning wheel.  (Just butter on my biscuit!)  Between that and her sepia tones and inked in blue hues, I knew that we were MFEO.  It didn’t even matter to me that she wasn’t cheap.  (I mean, who likes a cheap woman?)  I quickly named her Loreli, and now she graces my craft room permanently.

Loreli-My muse

One of the first signs that you have reached adulthood is that you no longer have hordes of second-hand and mismatched furniture that was passed down to your from dead relatives, parental moves, or irresponsible hippie roommates that don’t take shit with them when they move.  Well, let me just say, it has taken me a long time to become an adult.  So, my craft room renovation/cathartic Craigslist purging not only gave me and Loreli a clean slate to work with, but it also helped to also usher me into adulthood.  And might I mention that you meet very interesting (read: weird, socially awkward, a little scary) people through these two online purviews.

Since my childhood desk was one of the first pieces of furniture to go, I needed to start with a crafting table.  It needed to serve triple duty as a sewing table, cutting table, and desk.  I had seen lots gorgeous farm tables online, but they were always WAY out of my price range.  Finally, I saw a unique table that someone had made out of a five panel door.  Since DH had just begun his woodworking hobby in ernest, I though what better way to test his love for me than demanding that he build me furniture.  Not only that, but I would do so right before leaving for France for a month.  Plenty of quiet time for perfecting his craft.  Well, I was astounded upon coming home.  The table he had built was elegant and sturdy.  I think he might just love me.

My DH loves me, and it getting quite good at the woodwoking!

Aren't I so lucky! What a table!

Before leaving for France, my mother had been desperately trying to rid herself of all the junk above their garage.  It a fit of regression from adulthood, I saved a lot of the junk to prevent it from going to the landfill.  What can I say?  I’m a sucker.  Two of the things saved were my Grangi’s (our name for our grandmother) blue, Lady Baltimore suitcases with purple interior.  I thought they would make fantastic coffee and end tables.  I was right, no?

The Lady Baltimore makes a fine end table.

And the lil' Lady Baltimore isn't too shabby, either.

A craft room always needs space for brainstorming.  Again, so as not to add to a landfill, I decided to repurpose a gaudy gold picture frame that an old roommate had left here.  A little silver spray paint and it went from gaudi to freakin’ sweet.

Not yet a chalk board, but pretty and silver.

On to the storage wars……I decided to keep another old rommates shelving unit that she had left upon her move across the country.  It’s not ideal, but functional for now.  Eventually, DH (he doesn’t know it yet) will be building me some custom shelves.

Not ideal, but functional shelves for now.

For my thread, I decided to use an old printer’s cabinet that was also found amongst my mother’s junk.  It makes the perfect home for all my cute wooden spools.

A printer's drawer makes a lovely thread shelf.

Now, my serger cones were another issue.  They’re too big for this kind of shelf.  Once again, I turned to DH to save the day.  And, once again he brought his A game.

DH's spool/cone thread holder

While there are still projects to be done, like painting the chalk in the silver frame and putting up the antique postman’s cabinet that we found over the craft table, its coming along.  And I love nothing more than coming home, pouring myself a glass of wine and crafting in my new oasis.