Our Virginia Home Office & Craft Room Reveal

I’m so excited to give you the full “final” tour of our Home Office and Craft Room today! I use the term “our” very intentionally here. While this room is very much my office and crafting space, it is used heavily by the entire family. It is here where I create every project and write every word you see on the blog; but it’s also where we make Pinewood Derby cars, work through math homework, and play with kinetic sand. This room is as functional as it is beautiful, and has been one of the hardest-working rooms in our entire home. I can’t wait to show you around!

Before

This room is actually the formal dining room in our traditional two-story rental home. It is situated immediately to the left as you walk into the foyer from the front door; and its large bay window looks out over the front yard. You can pass through this room directly into the kitchen via the rear doorway.

The room is painted the same light beige as the rest of the house, with prominent crown moulding, chair rail, and decorative trim contrasted in bright white. When we first moved in, it was outfitted with dramatic custom window treatments and an oversized light fixture.

After

In terms of a “makeover,” we actually didn’t do much to this room. In fact, we removed more than we added! We took down the ornate window treatments and replaced them with crisp white drapes; and swapped the massive ugly light fixture for one that was much cleaner and more size appropriate. The rest of the style and function of this space was created through smart and really hard-working furniture, mostly from IKEA.

Come on in and have a look around!

I’m going to dive in deep to each area and show you why and how this room works so well for us, starting with my favorite corner not just in this room but in the entire house…

Video Tour

Before I give you the full tour in pictures, below is a video tour of this completed room. The short video gives you a good sense of how and where everything fits together. Video not loading for you? You can watch it HERE.

Craft Storage on IKEA Kallax Shelving

As much as I loved the decorative wall treatment in this formal dining room, we had no choice but to cover it all up with storage. Since this is a dining room, there are no closets or built-in bookcases. We had to rely on free-standing units to hold all my craft and business supplies.

IKEA Kallax shelving has been my go-to craft storage solution for years, and placing a 5×5 unit perpendicular to a 4×2 unit was not only an ideal way to fill up this corner of the room but also provide plenty of space for my craft stash.

At first, I anticipated the “step down” between the two units to look awkward. But instead, it created a perfect spot for our printer and some other office supplies that need to be out of reach of little hands.

FUN FACT! The open corner behind the two units is our “Pit of Despair.” There is literally NO way to reach anything that gets dropped back there. So it may or may not be where toys get “lost” when they’re causing too much trouble. Who knows what we’ll find down there when the movers haul these shelves away!

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, the items on these shelves will look pretty familiar. The organization solutions currently in play are mostly the same ones I used in our last home. (See It: How I Store Aaaalll My Craft Supplies)

While I am constantly shuffling items around to make everything fit just right, I still rely on a combination of IKEA Drona bins, Y-Weave baskets, document boxes, and open shelving to store a wide variety of craft supplies.

IKEA Drona Bins

The IKEA Drona Bins have long been my favorite solution for storing bigger and bulkier items such as fabric, party supplies, and kids’ craft kits. I love that they use up every available inch within an IKEA Kallax cubby and have solid fronts so you can’t see the mess items inside.

Target Y-Weave Baskets

I like to visually break up the two rows of solid Drona bins with my favorite Y-Weave Baskets from Target. They look really crisp and clean and are a bit easier to pull in and out. As such, these baskets hold my vinyl, iron-on, Infusible Ink, and Cricut Joy supplies…all the things I reach for often.

Paper Storage

The second tier (all the way across) is all open shelving outfitted with various organizers to hold paper…yes, 5 of those 7 cubbies hold paper. Between printables, labelmaking, and tons of Cricut and kid crafts, paper is the number one thing I reach for; and having it perfectly sorted and stored on a prominent shelf has been one of the best solutions in this entire space!

For basic cardstock (both 8.5×11″ and 12×12″), I use a series of acrylic paper sorters sitting right on the shelf.

Paper scraps are organized into document boxes (similar) and labeled with colorful masking tape…

…and I use these clear plastic document boxes to hold all my printable papers (e.g., Avery labels, magnetic papers, sticker papers, waterproof papers, etc)

Under the printer, a basic paper sorter (similar) holds our printer papers (e.g., laser copy paper, white photo paper, and white cardstock)…

…while a clear acrylic bin corrals all my journaling and goal setting supplies.

If you’d like to learn even more about how I store my craft papers, you can see all the details here: How To Store Craft Papers.

Machine Storage

The top row of cubbies (as well as the top and sides of the units themselves) are where I mostly store machines and larger accessories. I use the IKEA Kallax Glass Shelves to break up larger cubbies to hold my Cricut Joy and various Cricut EasyPresses, while my Cricut Explore Air 2 and laser printer sit on top of the units. This keeps them easily accessibly but also out of the way when not in use.

Also along the top, I store stacks of extra-large cardstock and my phone mount/stand…

…and down the side, I keep all my Cricut mats hung on Command Hooks.

All in all, pretty much every last inch of these two units are used to store a wide variety of craft and Cricut supplies!

The Movable Craft Table

In the center of the room is a white craft table. But there is something very “special” about this basic, unassuming IKEA table. It’s on wheels! Which is easily one of the smartest things I’ve ever done in a craft space.

This table is a plain white tabletop from IKEA. Shortly after moving in, I gave it a really subtle “stenciled” pattern with vinyl. I’ll admit this was somewhat of an “on a whim” project, but it sure was a happy accident. Not only does the pattern give some much needed visual interest in this room, but it ties the beige walls and gold cabinet hardware together sooo nicely.

To make this table really work for us, we first covered it with an acrylic sheet (another smart move since kids are constantly spilling, painting, and coloring on this table)….

…and then we put it on casters via the IKEA Krille Legs. I’m not kidding when I say that every time I look at it, this table is in a different spot! Sometimes (oftentimes), I have it pulled all the way up by the window to take pictures…

…and lately, we’ve kept it nestled up against the IKEA shelves because it’s the perfect place for the boys to sit and do crafts, homework, games, etc.

FUN FACT! With the table on wheels, it’s also super easy to wheel out to the dining room when we need additional place settings when family comes over for dinner.

I never realized how incredibly handy having a table on casters would be, and I’ll never go back!

The Stacking Stools

Another one of my very favorite solutions we implemented in this room was a set of stacking stools. They came in a solid wood color, and I gave them a quick coordinating paint treatment!

Somewhere along the way, I realized that we both needed and AND didn’t need seating around the white craft table.

When I am taking pictures and wheeling the table all around the office to get good light, a static chair was always in my way. But then when the boys wanted to sit and do a project, we were dragging in chairs from the dining room.

These stacking stools are the best of both worlds. We can instantly pop them under the table, whether it’s in the corner…

…or in the center of the room.

But we can also keep them stacked up and completely out of the way when they aren’t in use.

I never would have imagined how much we’d be stacking and unstacking these sturdy little stools, and they are easily some of the best money spent in this entire room!

The Craft Counter

On the far side of the room is my beloved craft counter…something we invested in 3 homes ago and has been serving me well ever since.

This setup is nothing more than some off-the-shelf base cabinets from The Homes Depot and inexpensive IKEA countertops laid across them. But this combination creates a completely modular, flexible system with tons of storage space and a long work surface (that is almost never this cleaned off!)

Every time we’ve moved this system, it gets set up a little differently. In this home, we have one skinny cabinet on the outside left and the four remaining cabinets stretching to the right. This leaves plenty of space for a single counter-height chair and my computer. Whenever you’re reading a blog post, you can be sure I was sitting right there typing it out!

Beyond the storage and the flexibility though, my absolute favorite thing about this cabinet+counter arrangement is that since it moves with us, I don’t have to re-create the storage every single time. These drawers and cabinets are organized almost exactly the same as they were back in California!

The final wide drawer sits just below my Cricut machine and holds all my most-used Cricut tools and accessories.

The 5 cabinets below hold most of my smaller craft notions, exactly as I have detailed in this craft supply storage post.

A combination of plastic shoeboxes (similar) and large Sterilite boxes hold everything from tapes and paint to glitter, punches, hardware, trims, and so much more.

The only difference from our previous setup is that we now store our file box system in the far right-hand cabinet (rather than a printer). I love how well these boxes fit, and will likely always keep them in here now!

Above the craft counter, I have two (very) large pine needle prints that infuse a bright freshness to the space. The “I Will Get There” print was made the same way I made our bedroom art and reminds me to keep on trekking toward whatever goals are on my heart.

Products & Tutorials In This Room

Here are the sources and tutorials for everything you see in this space!

• Walls – Behr Sail Cloth
• Furniture
  • IKEA Kallax 5×5
  • IKEA Kallax 4×2
  • IKEA Tabletop
  • IKEA Krille Legs with Casters
  • IKEA White Countertops
  • IKEA Glass Shelves for Kallax
  • White Base Cabinets
  • Acrylic Table Sheet
  • Gold Drawer Pulls
• Seating
  • Wooden Stacking Stools
  • Turquoise Counter-Height Chair from Target (no longer available)
• Lighting
  • Gold Table Lamp
  • Gold Light Fixture
• Artwork
  • Pine Needle Prints
  • I Will Get There Print
• Storage
  • Acrylic Paper Sorter
  • Clear Document Boxes
  • Y-Weave Baskets
  • White DRONA Bins
  • Clear Drawer Organizers
  • Clear Journal Caddie

When I think back to the craft spaces in our past 7 homes, I can see little bits of every single one played out in this room. That’s because with each space I setup, I learn what I do and don’t like, what does and doesn’t work. I carry the good parts forward (like the craft counter) while ditching solutions I didn’t love (like all my craft supplies displayed on the wall).

Every room has been an evolution of the one proceeding it, slowing (but surely!) honing in on what kind of supplies I need to keep on hand (and how best to store them all), what furniture works well (for me and my family), and how I want everything to look. This room feels like I finally figured it all out…

I love love love this space so very much. How it looks, how it functions, and how we were able to use basic off-the-shelf items and turn them into something that looks beautiful and stylish. I feel inspired and creative in this room and am actually really sad to pull it all apart and leave it here soon. But if our journey has taught me anything…it’s that this space will only get better the next time around!