It’s Tuesday! Which means it’s time to introduce you to our special guest contributor, Monika Wright! Living in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, Monika has 3 children {as well as several fish, 2 cats and a dog} and is married to Mr. wRight. At least she thinks so! While she still creates scrapbook pages about her family, her true passion lies in creating mini albums and journals to document their stories.
Monika followed her dream and started her own business, I Love It All, in 2010 and has been designing art prints and mini albums for customers around the world ever since. She also serves on the design teams for The Twinery, My Mind’s Eye and writeclickscrapbook.com.
Let’s give her a warm welcome!
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I began scrapbooking in 2009 with a small 3 drawer paper organizer atop an old dining room table and here I am 4 years later with more paper than that old organizer ever dreamed of storing. I’m a gal who doesn’t like clutter, so I battle with my need to have quick access to supplies and tools while wanting to keep things hidden and pretty.
I have been known to splurge now and then, but I also have a practical side and have found that empty food packaging make wonderful storage bins. I recycle snack cracker cartons, fruit cup containers and gift boxes to fit inside drawers that no one but me will see anyway.
What kind of budget did you have when organizing your space?
When I moved from my son’s former bedroom out to our sunroom a few months ago, I knew that I would need quite a few items. Because of the growth of my business the past 12 months and my need for optimal storage, I wanted to invest in myself and my business’ future for the long haul and I knew that it was going to cost some money. While the IKEA product line was budget friendly, the three tool chests were by far the largest expense, but worth every single penny paid. It would have been more cheaper to go with more of the IKEA storage units matching the two I purchased, but they would never have held the amount of goodies in such an organized manner that these chests do. I will have them forever.
Here’s a link to specific items I purchased for my Studio overhaul.
What was your greatest challenge?
There are a few things I had to keep in mind when designing the room.
1. Since my Studio is directly off our dining room, I wanted to keep in mind the visual appeal of what was seen from a high traffic area of our home. That I placed the small settee, floor lamp, rug and ottoman that were already in the sun room where they are was a conscious decision to give my otherwise utilitarian room a soft, inviting feel.
The bonus about having a sitting area in my Studio, I find, is that my husband and I often drink a cup of coffee here together while we chat and catch up on our e-mails. And, as I prepare this post, my youngest daughter is playing games and talking to me about a zillion different things. My kids love to be in here with me!
2. Because the sunroom is an addition and not originally part of our home, all electrical outlets run along the wall to the right of my desk are, behind my IKEA Expedit shelving unit. There are industrial grade spotlights above the tool chests and my husband had the bright idea to use electrical conduit along the ceiling to hide the wiring so that I could have light above my crafting area, which is an unexpected twist to the ultra modern pendant light I have above my computer desk.
3. This isn’t just a crafting room, it’s also the office space I use to conduct business for I Love It All, my Etsy shop. That meant finding space for two printers, the specialty paper I use to create the art prints I design, a professional grade paper cutter, various other crafting tools and the usual amount of paperwork that goes along with owning a business. Therefore, I had to find creative ways to store Design Team papers and embellishments, my personal paper stash as well as the crafting supplies I use to create mini books and journals and art prints for the shop. I’m guessing you can imagine how much paper that really is.
Generally, I am an organize it once kind of girl and while I do find new ways to organize, I am a huge creature of habit and once I find a plan that works, I stick with it. What you probably don’t know is that my Studio is really still in limbo and these images required some creative rearranging to snap the photos I’m sharing with you today. I imagine there will still be a few tweaks to my system until I’m comfortable with my new space and have a {final resting} place for everything.
What is one thing you’d like to improve about your storage/organization?
I’d like to find a short rolling cart to slide under my desk area that would allow me to store both my sewing machine and my vintage typewriter so that they’re both within easy access. I rarely use my typewriter as I have to pull it off the shelf and try to find an empty spot when I’m in the middle of crafting, which means that every available flat space is covered in paper with no room for more gadgets. I’m thinking I will repurpose a white laminate paper cube and add some wheels I already have instead of buying something new.
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I love Monika’s space! It’s accessible while still creating the most storage capacity possible. And using the tool chests – brilliant!
You can find Monika here: blog | etsy | facebook | instagram | pinterest
However, lately my tiny space is feeling even more cramped than normal. I have barely any wall space and I knew that adding another knife rack (maybe even 2 or 3 more down the road…) just wasn’t going to work. So I needed to come up with a new idea. Then looking around on Pinterest I found a few cool ones…
