The Planning Part 1 - My Craft Room

Because we were building our new home custom, the sky was literally the limit in the planning portion of the floor plans.  The limit became the reality of what I really want vs need.

In our last house, I had a small craft room.   Ok, some would even call it a closet.  It was on purpose in our Master Bath.  It was large enough for a work desk and tons of crafting supplies.  But, we knew that such a space might never aid in the sell of this house down the road.  But a huge closet would.  :)  And it would be a THIRD closet in the Master Suite.  (And it did help sell the house . . . for sale by owner . . . in 60 days . . . God is good)

At first I thought it would be so awkward to have my craft room in the Master Bath.  Just typing it sounds hilarious!!  But, as it turns out, it was genius!  Our master set on the end of our house.  So my craft room was far away from the rest of the house.  My getaway . . . my retreat . . . it allowed this stay at home mom some much needed get away time (think husband works 60 to 80 hours a week most weeks).  And when you don't really have a lot of money to get away with, you can understand what a blessing this space was to me.  Free . . . always available . . . and with immediate access.

Here is what that space looked like and how I used it.

I had this huge bank of amazing shelves.  I tried my best to keep things nice, neat, and tidy.  I grew to be in love with the ability to grab everything with a slight reach.

So here I sat . . . builder and husband asking me what I wanted to do.  Armed with lots of prayer, dreaming on Pinterest, and my past experience - I had two obvious things to decide.  How big?  And where in the house did I want this space?

How big?  After much soul searching, praying, thinking and deliberating, I realized that I did need (and could and would use) a bigger space than a closet.  But making it the size of a bedroom seemed inappropriate as well.  Although it would be amazing, I knew in my heart that it needed to be something in between.

Where?  This was at times really hard for me.  I love my family.  I have literally given me over to them - above my own career ambitions, above my own sanity some days.  And to be truthful . .  . I love it!!!  I love serving my family.  Nothing (well crafting does run pretty close to the top) gives me more satisfaction.  So on one hand, I wanted my space to be an extension of my world with in the main flow of the house.  But on the other hand, I love having a retreat and my own little haven.  For me, crafting is so therapeutic.  It keeps my sanity . . . keeps me balanced.  Life is so hard and stressful at times.  In the end, having a place to retreat and reload was more important to this mom.  So, I decided it would be off of the master suite somewhere.

As it turns out, it was placed at the back of my closet.  So in order to find me in my crafting world, you have to come into my house.  Walk across the living room.  Go through my bedroom.  Walk through the bathroom.  And when you get to my closet, take a deep breath, open the door and head to the little hidden door at the back.  Pause . . . open . . . and you are in my oasis.  My fun room!!  My craft room.