Finding More Space for Crafting

If you are a serious crafter you might find that your projects often invade your entire house.  The dining room table has such a temptingly large and flat surface that it is hard not to start craft projects on it.  I have to constantly battle to keep my crafts out of my living spaces.  Some projects, such as those involving paper or cards, are easy to pack up midway through completion and put away.  Others, such as painting projects, are a bit more complex and require drying time and cannot be easily packed up and moved aside.  If you are constantly finding yourself struggling to find the space for your crafts and daily activities you might need to create a separate space for your crafting.

If you are lucky enough to have a spare room or corner that you can turn into your crafting kingdom then you are set.  If not, you may want to consider turning your garden shed into a crafting space.  Depending on the types of crafts you do, you will need different types of tools and storage.  However, most crafts can be accommodated by a good table and lots of shelves for various boxes and tools.

If you are content with sharing your garden shed with gardening tools you may be surprised at how much room you can make for your crafting with just a bit of tidying.  Neatly organizing and putting away all your tools will save space.  A peg board can help you hang up your gardening and crafting tools where they are accessible and easy to spot.  You can turn one half of your shed into your crafting space.  I do a lot of crafts involving dollhouse miniatures and do not require much table space.  Though, on occasion, I embark on larger projects that demand more space.  If you know that your crafts will need more space than half the shed, you can pack the gardening tools off to the garage or a small closet somewhere and take over the whole space.

Now that you have made some space you need to bring in the right table.  The right type of table depends ultimately upon what crafts you will be doing.  Just make sure it is sturdy enough for all the projects it will soon be holding.  Having tables of different heights may be advantageous for long crafting sessions.  If you have one that is suitable for working while seated you might consider making your second table tall enough to work at standing.  Tables that are roughly chest high would allow you to do detailed work without hunching over and hurting your back or straining your eyes.

If your shed has sturdy rafters you could even try rigging your table up on pulleys to give you various table height options.  If you do attempt this I would suggest using pegs against the wall to hold your table study at various heights.  The benefit of this method is that you can raise the table completely out of the way for more floor space when necessary.

Light is essential for crafting.  Make sure the place you put your work table has good light.  Placing your work area under a window will give you lovely natural light to work with.  You will also need to consider electric lighting if you do your crafting at night.

One advantage of crafting in a garden shed is that you do not need to worry about being overly cautious.  Garden sheds are meant to hold up to a little dirt and a little glue won’t hurt them either.  You can tackle painting projects without fear of permanently colouring your furniture or walls.  A little creative mess won’t be in the way here.  It will even be inspiring.  If you’re sharing your space with the gardening tools you could even be inspired by the scene to draw or paint it.  Or perhaps more practically, you could find yourself inspired to do a bit more work in your garden too.

Now that the garden shed is your crafting space you can completely embrace your creativity here.  Read your favourite stories out here.  Paint the walls in fun colours.  Feel free to repaint them whenever it strikes your fancy.  There is something delightfully sinful about doodling on walls.  You can write out your favourite sayings to inspire you or make you think.  Now you can start a project without fear of having to move it for dinner.  Be free and inspired to create.

This is a guest post written by Melinda Wilson on behalf of Tiger Log Cabins, a manufacturer of high quality garden log cabins.