Sew Can Do: EZ View Desk

I don't know how time has gone by so fast, but it's been 4 years since my last craft room tour! That last one has been one of my most popular posts, so it seemed high time to open the door to my little slice of crafting heaven again and let my crafty online friends in for a new visit. Come on in!

A little historical background on my space: the room is a former laundry room/galley kitchenette that's about 8ft x 11ft plus a 4ft x 4ft alcove. When we moved in, the alcove was a louver doored closet (sized for holding a washer & dryer) on one side and along the other wall there were a bunch of basic cabinets and a small counter with sink and a stove. Since we have a normal kitchen and our washer & dryer are in the basement, this room was sort of a question mark as far as usefulness. Check out these old photos from before this was a craft space and you'll see just how lackluster it was:

I think this is much better, don't you?

This catch-all, wasted former closet got cleared out:

I migrated my plastic bins full of fabric & sewing gear out of the basement and eventually bought myself an EZ View desk from The Original Scrapbox and a padded swivel chair from Ikea to create a sewing nook.

There's a second taller desk along the same wall for more crafting space and storage. I saved up for a while to splurge on both desks and they were totally worth it.

The see through tops make all the small supplies normally hidden in bins & drawers easy to spot and add some crafty beauty. The key to keeping things organized in my limited space has definitely been my desks. They're designed to have loads of places to store craft and sewing supplies. With 4 years of constant use, I can definitely say they were money well spent. I haven't outgrown them and they've held up to everything I've thrown at them. Literally. A sewing machine fell on one from a high shelf a few months ago and not a scratch!

To keep cleaning up minimal, I make sure to always put things away in the same place. With 4 kids and a husband that all leave stuff everywhere (and almost never put things in the same place twice), I need as much help as I can get. It saves me loads of time since I don't have to dig around looking for things or struggle to remember where something is if I haven't used it in a while. This is especially true for things like patterns & manuals:

The Original Scrapbox recently came out with sturdier plexiglass tote bins for the desk shelves to replace the thinner fabric totes my desks came with way back when. New desk versions all come with these clear totes now. They were kind enough to upgrade my previously purchased desks to those and I recut card stock fronts to decorate & camouflage the contents. I also made some vinyl cut labels to stick on them for easy at-a-glance sorting. Things look more up to date and stay well contained:

I still do all my oven baking with the stove in the room and half the cupboards house various cooking and baking items I don't have room to store in my kitchen.

I made a less-than-useful sink into a built-in ironing surface by removing the faucet and cutting a piece of MDF to fit the sink lip. I upholstering it with Insul-Bright™ and a layer of cute canvas fabric on top. Since it rests in the lip all the way around the sink it's perfectly lined up with the counter for extra workspace. This little DIY has worked great over the years, is the perfect spot to use my Cricut Easy Press for heat transfer projects and has saved me a bundle by not needing to get a new counter (not to mention no longer needing to drag an ironing board in & out of this tiny space).

To maximize the remaining space (aka the one wall left), I added white bead board shelves for storing & displaying my smaller supplies like ribbon & beads:

I still have spool racks mounted to the wall next to my sewing desk:

and a big revolving thread rack to store all my other threads neatly next to my Brother PE-770 embroidery machine. Not only do they add some color & a bit of themed decor, but they make it easy to find exactly what I need for a project instead of digging through bins like I used to. With baby #4 having joined us this year, saving time and keeping things as neat as I can is a must!

Another new thing is that I now share the space with my 9 yr old daughter these days - she's taken over the cabinet under the sink area to keep her own scraps, mini dress form and sewing machine in so she can "work" with me when I'm sewing. We're still trying to organize her things a bit better, so details on that to come, but the new sewing machine she got for her recent birthday will fit right in decor wise:

We did a sewing themed birthday party for her this year, so many of the props I made have found a home in my craft space, like the DIY giant thread spool storage canister on this shelf. It's also where I keep fabric and craft books in my sewing nook:

Another improvement to my space has been this little guy, a ScrapMaBox shelf that The Original Scrapbox gave me to try out:

Before I got this organizer, I kept small notions in a drawer of my sewing desk. Over time the drawer got fuller & fuller and I was constantly sifting through stuff to find things. If I kept them in containers it looked neater, but meant I had to dig through those instead just the drawer. Now that I've got this helper, all my little things like pins, needles, marking pens and seam ripper have their own mini shelves and I can see and grab them in an instant. It's sized so that I can also fit it inside one of the main shelves of my desk if I want, but I like having it right on top, easy to spot.

It's given me more storage room in my drawer now & doesn't look like a mess anymore:

It's also given me the perfect place to display my whimsical pincushions:

The shelf above my sewing desk is one I'd repurposed from a guest bathroom ages ago. It's still great for my sewing-themed knick knacks like a vintage Strawberry Shortcake figurine sewing, some My Little Pony sewing character figurines, my sewing machine USB drive:

I'm trying to figure out a few ways to squeeze even more into my space now that I've got a junior crafter eager to join me, but overall I'm pleased that the set-up I've been using has worked so well for so long. As much as I'd love a giant room for all my crafting endeavors, this cozy space is still a dream for me:)

I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a ScrapMaBox & totes from The Original Scrapbox to customize as I desired and review. All other items referenced were purchased by me. The opinions are completely my own, based on my honest experiences.

Do you ever look at those amazing craft room tours, the ones with a room the size of a garage, custom built work spaces, and stunning decor, and think "I wish I had that", followed by:

I'll admit I did. With 3 kids, a mortgage and real life stuff popping up at every turn, kitting out a fancy craft room hadn't been a priority. And even if it had been, I'd have to evict a kid or two for some extra square footage. I've been lucky enough to have half of a former laundry room/galley kitchenette to call my craft room. It even looked pretty cute in my last tour a couple years ago, but since then the repurposed furniture, plastic bins & makeshift containers just weren't working anymore.

My problem was that I was outgrowing my space but had nowhere to go. As I learned to craft more, I accumulated more supplies. Things were getting jammed into any nook or cranny available, which meant I was never really sure where things were or what I had. I'd tried reorganizing & purging, but the bottom line was I'd reached the point where it wasn't working anymore. There was more stuff than places to put it and a larger space wasn't an option. This was not a good look:

My Craft Room Mess

I remembered I'd seen some crafter-specific furniture from The Original Scrapbox in a big blog's craft room reveal a while ago, but hadn't thought it would work for me. For one, my space is basically one side of a galley kitchen, not a lot of configuration options for furniture or storage. Secondly, I'm a regular person with a real world budget. I'm also a super cheapskate - the thought of spending more than $20 on a single item for my craft space gave me palpitations. But as I searched for an ideal solution, I kept coming back to their EZ View Desk. It was the same width as the crappy drop leaf counter I was using, but could hold a lot more. I told myself if I wanted it enough, it would be worth working towards.

So I started saving. Making a few hats, selling a few patterns, doing some freelance projects, I kept setting it aside for several months until I had enough. And I timed it just right with Black Friday so I could get a sale price too. It was totally worth it. I now have a dream craft room:

I feel like a kid in a candy store when I look at my stash of supplies now! Come have a peek...

I've stocked these shallow partitioned drawers with my various craft paints and inks. Now I can find things at a glance instead of sifting through bins or drawers where I may have put them. And to add some personal style (and protect my drawers in case of any spills), I fitted them with drawer liners I cut from some laminate cotton fabric:

I keep my tools, washi tapes & glass vials on this side. The partitions are totally removable so I can change the size of the sections if I end up getting more stuff or change what I put in them.

I bought the add-on extension drawers for this desk which make it several inches taller and added some extra deep pull out storage for my big tape rolls on this side:

And my hot glue goodies, scale and barrette making supplies on this side. This stuff was all too tall or wide to put anywhere else, but now it's easy to access:

I also sprang for the additional LED light option. Not only does it look cool, but it's totally handy for tracing so I don't need a separate, bulky light box.

It also makes an awesome catwalk for toy fashion shows. Work it ponies!

The cool thing is you can choose your own bases on these desks, so I went with the side tote option on this side. The totes are clear so I used some double sided tape & scrapbook paper to give them a custom look and keep things looking neat too. Now I've got distinct, easy access spaces for my card stock, Mod Podge, glues, brushes and all the other things that used it get the "throw it all in a bin" treatment.

The door front houses zip-up pouches that can stick anywhere inside it thanks to a velcro wall. I used the space under the desk to store my tackle box organizers.

Those box organizers were way overstuffed before this desk, but look at the difference now that I can spread my stuff out thanks to all the extra compartments:

I went with the shelf cabinet on the other side to hold all my ironing stuff, laminator and cutting machines. My Cricut & Silhouette always sat out getting dusty & taking up valuable space on my old counter. Now they're hidden, but still easy to pull out. I've even got all my extra blades, pens and manuals right there in the zip pouches too instead of buried in the back of a drawer on the other side of the room.

Above my EZ View Desk, is this cute storage shelf I found at staples.com of all places. It's got the same bead board finish as my desk doors so it's a perfect wall complement. I keep my small spools of ribbon and beads on it. It looks pretty, but it's also helpful to quickly see what I've got. I slipped coordinating scrapbook paper into the drawer fronts to match my other accents:

Now let's head over to my sewing nook, since that's where most of the magic happens. This had been an ultra deep closet (it originally held a refrigerator). We had removed the louvered doors and added a small table so I could use it as a sewing area, but I couldn't really store much in this spot. When Black Friday hit and I was about to order my EZ View Desk, they announced the new Helen Sewing Desk and that it would be introduced at a special discounted price. I jumped in and got both.

This desk has the benefits of the EZ View but has sewing-specific features like a center drop-in section for sewing machines.

The coolest bits are the custom clear panel that was cut to fit around my exact machine and the stacking rubber mats to adjust the height. I just sent them a tracing outline and they made a panel that fits my Janome HD1000 exactly and is easy to remove when I want to free arm sew. I've also notice it is a heck of a lot quieter when I sew thanks to those rubber mats. It also came with a solid panel I can swap in if I want to remove my machine and use it as a regular desk.

Behind it is another deep section with a removable panel where I keep random sewing stuff like ribbons and trim:

There's a pull out drawer on one side to use for my design journal & notions:

And another for all my cutting tools on the right. I keep all my extra needles & machine accessories in some recycled wet wipes containers in there. The clear desk top makes it easy to find things and keeps me from getting to sloppy because I can always see my stuff. Very motivating for lazy people like myself.

I went with the side tote option on the left base again and use those to store all my patterns by size and style. I printed some labels in a fun font to put on each of the totes.

I keep my marking tools, specialty threads & fold over elastic in the door pouches:

The other base for this desk actually comes with a spool rack in the door, so I keep my extra thread and attachments for my sewing machines on it. When we were putting it together I was worried about how the door would open (since I wanted the desk side to be against the wall), but the bases can be flipped to open to the right or left, so it was no problem. I also got a Ribbon Box to keep all my favorite ribbons organized and ready to just pull & cut.

Above my desk is a shelf from Pottery Barn I'd originally had in a bathroom. I've repurposed it to hold my sewing knick-knacks like mini-figure of Lemon Meringue with her sewing machine, My Little Pony's Rarity (the sewing maven) and the high fashion ponies Hoity Toity & Photo Finish. And yes there's also Skipper & a coconut tree from Gilligan's Island, who is not related to fashion or sewing, but has been a bit of a good luck charm for me for years. My Brother SE 400 machine stays out of the way up top. I've hung some metal pails from Ikea from the towel bar for quick places to stash current projects.

And in the corner is my lovely dress form. She's a new addition that I'll be sharing more about in an upcoming review, but I can already say that she's been helping to hone my apparel making skills.

The other side of my room is still the original built-in cabinets, mostly filled with non-craft stuff, plus a stove.

I made a less-than-useful sink into extra counter space by removing the faucet and cutting a piece of MDF to fit. By upholstering it with Insul-Bright™ and a layer of cute flannel fabric on top it's become a big ironing surface. Since it rests in the lip all the way around the sink it's perfectly lined up with the counter for extra workspace.

I carved out this one upper section of cabinet for my treat making/party goodies. Some canvas bins from Ikea house my molds, pans & other bigger stuff, while the bottom shelf is devoted to my edible decorations, and organized using mason jars and berry boxes:

And I've sprinkled my room with things I've made and little decor finds, mostly from the dollar section of Michaels. As you can see I've got a sassy, vintage vibe going on in here:

My husband got me this fabulous sewing machine tape dispenser for Christmas last year. Perfect craft room decor AND it's useful!

And thanks to all my new "on the floor" storage space, my teeny curved side closet isn't so stuffed it's about to avalanche anymore:

The changes really have made a huge difference despite my space itself not really changing. I feel organized, my room stays cleaner and it makes working in it more enjoyable and less claustrophobic. It just took a little patience and some saving, but I can honestly say my craft room has become my dream space come true.