Does anyone have a craft desk/table in their living room?

[my4blessings]

I primarily stamp in the living room sitting on the couch with a kid-sized table. I store my supplies in our bedroom so I am constantly hauling things out of our room. I would love to find a way to make this work in our living room and I know I would stamp a lot more. Anyone have a solution that is still esthetically pleasing? I don't want it to be a messy area but I would love to have room to store my stuff and work as well. Where should I even begin looking for something like this?

Thanks for any help!

[purplewinkle]

I found an antique cupboard that stores my stamps. An armoir or chest of drawers may work as well.

I like to stamp where my family is.

[crazycatstamper]

I have the smallest bedroom in the house as my craft room. I share it with our cat (used to be 2 cats), her "furniture" and her 2 littlerboxes, so it's pretty cramped in there. It's also all the way across the house from the kitchen and living area (but right inside the garage door where the Laundry "room" is!). Since I like to be able to work on projects (especially now that Christmas cards are looming on the horizon!) while dinner is cooking or while actually watching tv WITH my hubby, I set up a 2 x 4 folding table behind the sofa in the living room. I call it the "project table". I will bring out whatever I need for what I am working on, either in plastic storage tubs or just haul it out there by the armload!. If it's going to be a long haul project, I will usually use the plastic tubs so I can keep most of the mess out of sight!

[Vegastamper]

You can get an armoire that is designed for use as an office space. When you open the doors, there are all sorts of drawers and other storage spaces inside. There is usually a desktop that pulls out or is on a hinge. When it is closed it is a nice looking piece of furniture. I have seen these in the home office section of many furniture stores.

[my4blessings]

I like the armoire idea, it's a possibility. Anyone else have any ideas for stamping in small spaces? The other thing I thought of was just maybe having all my storage stuff be very portable. Maybe a craft cart or a mobile desk? Is there anything like this on the market that anyone knows of? I've been searching, just haven't come across the right thing yet.

[dianerh]

I've seen craft armoirs upwards of $15000-$2000 but they looked awesome! A place for everything! I can't remember if they were Sauder (put-together) or "nice" furniture, though.

[WeimFamily]

Sauder has a craft armoire. It's not really high quality and you have to put it together yourself. But depending on your decor, it may work. Here's the link to the item.

http://www.sauder.com/furniture/product.asp?p=473

[photocropper]

Depending on your decor you could maybe find a roll top desk or an antique desk to put in the living room that would fit in better than a table top....
If the way it looks is not an issue you could get a small folding table from Lowes/Sams/Walmart and put a velcro skirt on it to hide carts or boxes of stuff underneath....
Good luck and let us know what you come up with!

[Edie32]

We have a computer desk that will work for this purpose some day.

It's meant to hold a computer - side storage for the CPU and another main storage pull out drawer - but it's attractive. I think they sell the hutch units for it to go on top, too.

If you could find something like that and the top hutch part had doors to 'hide' things that might be useful.

I hear ya, though.
I stamp in the kitchen area and I can see the t.v. from where I am but I like to be able to leave my works in progress out instead of putting them away every time.

Hope you find some thing!

[MaryEileen]

I presently have a gateleg table in the living room. I have 6 of those plastic storeage units with 6-8 or 10 drawers, they are on wheels, and are about $20 in Staples. When I'm working on a project, I wheel in whatever items I need, and then can fold up the table, and wheel the store unit back to the spare room.

If you have the room and the $$, Home Decorators has map chests. I would love to have two Map chests, and add a table top between to make a desk area.
It could be matching wood, or formica, etc. Homedecorators.com


Mine are Oak, and looks nice in the spare room. I don't have room to make a desk area, I have them on either side of the spare bed, and use them as night tables. Good luck. I like to stamp in the LR, and watch TV.

[rbheath]

I have a small space dilemma also and I have several suggestions:
1) I have a storage wire basket system from IKEA - some come in 4 baskets - mine is older and it has 6. I bought a cover that zips around it and keeps everything contained. and not viewable.
2) I have a rolling filing cabinet - they come in wood or plastic. It's handy for storage of a number of things.
3) Baskets are nice storage items. Do you a bookshelf in your living room that you could use to store baskets on? That's easier than hauling everything out of a closet when you want it and they're easy to move around and esthetically pleasing.

I bought a craft desk for quilting and the quality was poor. I still use it, but it's not one of my better purchases. You'd do better with an inexpensive card table (IMO).

HTH.

[JulieHRR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by my4blessings

I primarily stamp in the living room sitting on the couch with a kid-sized table. I store my supplies in our bedroom so I am constantly hauling things out of our room. I would love to find a way to make this work in our living room and I know I would stamp a lot more. Anyone have a solution that is still esthetically pleasing? I don't want it to be a messy area but I would love to have room to store my stuff and work as well. Where should I even begin looking for something like this?

Thanks for any help!

If you can afford it, there are some beautiful oak armoires out there made specifically for paper crafters--if I ever had to give up my studio (don't get me wrong, it's sized more like a large walk in closet, but it's mine!), I would purchase one of these as they are very nice.

I can't recall the brand name of the high quality ones, but if you google for "scrapbooking armoires", I'm sure it'll turn up.

[pigfingers]

I vote for the armoire or desk with a roll top or one of those secretary desks that has a fold down front.

[nbwcc]

I have the BEST Armoire from IKEA (it was really cheap, but is very durable), and it holds all my stuff so nicely. The doors come off and go back on with clips, and it is so easy, this way when I am stamping, I can take the doors off and don't have to keep opening and shutting them. I also have a small table and chairs also from IKEA that is up against the wall when not in use.

I will post pictures for you when I get home tonight.

[craftdoc]

I have all my cardstock in hanging file folders in crates in a nice but inexpensive cedar chest I got at Oak Express. THe 12 by 12 also fits in there using the cool holders that we are going to start carrying in the Winter Minicatalog. Baskets are great and any sort of furniture that has doors will cut down on the cluttered look.

[nbwcc]

My cabinet from IKEA, (I know I was gonna do it yesterday, but I was all excited by the Halloween fun!) It is the best $199 I have ever spent, it's so tall (seven feet tall), and holds it all! The removable doors come in handy sooo much, I can sit right in front of it, and throw stuff right back in!

[my4blessings]

[QUOTE=nbwcc]My cabinet from IKEA, (I know I was gonna do it yesterday, but I was all excited by the Halloween fun!) It is the best $199 I have ever spent, it's so tall (seven feet tall), and holds it all! The removable doors come in handy sooo much, I can sit right in front of it, and throw stuff right back in!

Thank you for posting your pics. It looks like there is a lot of room in there! In fact, I think you could fill it up a bit more!

At this point I think I am leaning towards maybe trying to make do with what I have except for buying a few good portable organizer type things. We'll be redoing our basement in a few years and, at that point, I'll likely set up a good workspace in the family room. Until then, I will probably stick with hauling it around, just get better organized so it doesn't take as much work.

It was fun dreaming about some of those amazing armoires. There are some beautiful pieces of furniture out there!

[redapron]

Mine used to be in our sunroom off the family room. It was pretty messy (shame-face ). Then we finished our basement for a craft/play/tv room for the kids & me. I decided against closing off my room so I could "be" with everyone, so I understand why you'd like to stay in the LR/FR. I have a counter and book cases but that wouldn't work well for you.

Have you seen this at Target.com?
Nesting Craft Furniture

This might be the furniture that JulieHRR is referring to. Gorgeous but oh-so-pricey!
French Envy

Or at Walmart.com?
Sauder Craft Armoire

Good luck in searching for the perfect solution for you. Please post when you are set up!

[CaliGal]

Unfortunately, my craft desk is in my "formal" living room - right when everyone walks in the front door (not "formal" family - so the room was basically empty before I became stamping obsessed!). I ditched my computer and set my desk with whatever I could find to help me organize my clutter. Also purchased a computer armoire at WalMart for $89 and converted it to a storage cabinet.

BUT - if and when I do get a room to myself, this is my goal:

http://www.hobbyhideaway.com/

I saw these at the Memories Expo in Pasadena a couple months ago - THEY ARE AWESOME! Lots of space and the ability to slide the counter up into the cabinet and close the doors without dumping a project midstream.

[propecia]

I have all my stuff in my livingroom in a corner. There are pics in my gallery of how I Have it set up!

[smartypants]

My dining room and kitchen are separted by a half wall...I store all of my stamps in the island in the kitchen and have a desk in the corner for stamping. It gets cluttered sometimes, but I try to have some organization with baskets. My ultimate goal is to find an old pie safe or baker's cabinet with the enamel top and metal doors to store and stamp on. Found one in Gladewater and passed it up..wished I would have bought it! Anyway, just an idea for you...

[abcima]

I store tons of stuff in sturdy flat boxes that I got for free at the grocery store. They fit perfectly under my couch. Couldn't be more convenient and hidden at the same time!

abcima

[AmyR]

The SEARS catty has a crafter type armoire that has a fold out type desk top and shelves and whatnot - BUT it's like $400 CAN (and you still have to put it together yourself). If you just want something that LOOKS good for less - Home Depot has white armoirs that have like 5 shelves - it's really high (at least 6 ft) and about 16 inches deep for only about $175 CAN. I'm planning on getting one soon for all my stamp sets - I've grown out of the little armoire I'm using now. You still need to put together yourself the one from HD but it looks really nice (better than the Sears one anyway) and you can't beat the price - at least not in SK (don't even get me started on IKEA - I could live there - but the closest one is approx. 5 hours away). Anywho I HTH.

[Donna Cook]

Hmmm, I saw an article in one of the magazines, maybe Cottage Living. It showed storage shelves situated behind the sofa, it really was for toys, games, books and magazines, but would certainly work for stamp stuff. the shelf faced the wall, I believe the couch or sofa was set away from the wall, one didn't see the stuff when coming into the room, you could easliy get around to the shelves...it looked great in the magazine....how it would work in real life????? don't know....

[stampgirljo]

I have wanted this one for years. It is very sturdy. You do have to put it together yourself. I love the features. It is rather large but it would be like an extra closet in your home. I like that you can close the doors and the kids cannot get in it.

http://www.for-keeps-sake.com/

Happy hunting...

[robbrd]

In one house my stamp desk was in the play room and a closet down the hall held my stamps and supplies.

In our last house my desk was in the living room with a file cabinet to the left, a 6- drawer tower to the right and an armoir to the right of that. The armoir held a lot of the extras that weren't on or under my desk and 100+ stamp sets. The top shelf and floor of a closet in that room held the stamp sets not used as often (150+).

We've been in a temporary house for a few months and will be moving into a house in a month or two, and the desk will be back in the living room.

Deborah

[my4blessings]

This is as far as I've gotten, I ordered The Standard from here yesterday:

Standard

Now looking at using an antique chest of drawers that we have, moving one of my storage carts on the other side, and storing my ink in this new unit in the closet.

[k.baranowski]

I to like to do crafts around the house and I use a craft cart I bought at Target to store some of my supplies that I use often around the house. This craft cart has storage containers and organizers that plug directly into the cart. Very nifty! It works for me so check it out at Home Logic's website:

http://homelogic-craftzone.com

Kaye

[nightscrapper]

I used to be in this same situation before moving. I never did come up with a solution. I've noticed after looking at other's scrapping/stamping space, most are in this same situation. One of the things I have like are the really pretty desks/tables that people are finding at Ikea or Pottery Barn. This one gal, Michelle Hill, buys most of hers from antique shops. They are beautiful. If you'd like the link to her blog to see what her area looks like just pm me.

marlo

[Marthar]

Well...I am a teacher...during the summers, my teaching buddies, who are also scrapping buddies, and I get together weekly at our homes to scrap & stamp. So, by the end of May, my dining room table is in the livingroom, expanded to its full size. It stays there until about the end of Septmeber unless we have something going on at our house. It is as messy as can be and DH and sons indulge me. It's kind of fun because I can just sit or stand whenever and do a little here and there.

[jailbirdstamper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donna Cook

Hmmm, I saw an article in one of the magazines, maybe Cottage Living. It showed storage shelves situated behind the sofa, it really was for toys, games, books and magazines, but would certainly work for stamp stuff. the shelf faced the wall, I believe the couch or sofa was set away from the wall, one didn't see the stuff when coming into the room, you could easliy get around to the shelves...it looked great in the magazine....how it would work in real life????? don't know....

that sounds like a good solution - I would like the fact that the stuff is hidden if you did'nt have room for an Armoire. I have a sofa table behind my couch and that has wasted space underneath it.... hmmmm thinking... thinking... thinking...

[soupysp]

You really need to check out the Hobby Hideaway for the desk alone. Although their cabinets are gorgeous the desk sends me away! It always stays level (unlike a secretary desk that folds in) so you don't need to clean up when you close the doors. Everything is just as you left it the next time you open it up. So much time is saved you can't believe it. There is no question that this is best investment I ever made.

[MichelleGoodrich]

I wish I had one in my living room! Then I could stamp while hubby sleeps!

[mnhyrkas]

I am fortunate to have a guest room which I have commandeered into a scraproom. But occasionally I do like to go out into the family room to do projects. I gather up the supplies I need onto a cookie sheet or serving tray and bring that out to the family room. I have a stack of them so I can pull out whichever partially completed project I want to work on. A little carrying bag holds the supplies that I use all the time- scissors, baby wipes for cleaning stamps, adhesives. Usually I bring stuff out into the living room when I have already planned my card, or if I'm doing duplicates.