ORGANIZING THE CRAFT SUPPLY CORNER

I love the house we currently live in; it’s a great upgrade after all the time we spent living in a one bedroom apartment and offers great opportunity for space division, has great storage space but is still small enough to manage cleaning wise. Since it’s a rental space instead of a space we own mixed with the fact we didn’t move in with much furniture I’ve spent the last year struggling to decide how to outfit our house in a way that works, isn’t overly expensive but is also possible to move with us if we ever move out.

The reality was that the desk was never worked at because it became a universal dumping ground of everything by everyone, I didn’t have a good chair to sit at it with, a good chair wouldn’t fit between the desk and the cube shelf and the toddler saw it as a play area that she never wanted to move from. 

And honestly, the entire thing was such a freakin’ eyesore. 

So the search began for ways to make this corner functional for our family’s need.

OF COURSE, I FOUND MY ANSWERS AT IKEA

I never want to live in a world where Ikea doesn’t exist. I’ve gone back and forth with myself about buying furniture from Ikea because the quality has definitely gotten cheaper over the years. But the reality is that I’d rather buy from Ikea instead of the other options that float at the same costs and I’m making sure that I’m buying pieces that offer variety in both our lives and our household. Also, I can get a tasty snack or meal while I’m shopping for cheap so they really know the way to my heart. Ikea furniture is also an easy brand to find secondhand. Our playroom has Ikea Kallax shelves that were gifted to us for free!

I knew I needed this space to offer:

• Furniture that wasn’t too bulky
• Furniture that had doors, so the sneaky hands that come through the baby gates can’t get into anything
• Deep enough to fit my storage containers and the new printer
• White, clean and versatile 

After looking at inspo photos on Pinterest and then scrolling the Ikea website I had decided that cabinets were the best option. They’d be deep enough to hold everything, they could close and be baby proofed, cabinets are easy to fit into any space if I ever changed my mind. The Ikea Brimnes cabinets immediately stole my heart and I was set on having two of them side by side with a desk top extending perpendicular to them. Until I measured the space and realized that, thanks to the baby gate being installed, the cabinets wouldn’t fit. They were too big by  less than an inch! So back to the drawing board I went. 

In the end, I scrapped the desktop idea, changed the second cabinet to an Ikea Brimnes bookcase and could still use the wall shelf I need to move in the space. I still got to have the babyproofable cabinet to go right against the baby gate, the bookcase was deep enough to hold the printer without worry and it had two bottom drawers that I could dedicate to hiding paperwork and blog related stuff, like my letter boards. If I didn’t want to work at the dining room table like I usually do the cabinet is at the right height to sit at with one of out dining room chairs and use it like a makeshift desk. 

While the paperwork drawers still need to be reorganized they’re at least able to be closed and out of mind for the next little while. I love that all the boxes and paper organizers now have homes where they can be seen. Seriously, I’ve had these whale patterned ones for…. three years now? They’re finally being used in a way that they’re actually being shown off. Toddler can easily open the cabinet and get the paper and crayons she needs and also put them away. 

The plastic bins in the middle are from Dollarama. They hold the main kids craft pieces that they’re likely to want to take out themselves – crayons, pompoms, foam stickers, pipe cleaners… These clear bins have lid locks so it they drop them the contents won’t fly all over the place. Since the containers are clear, the kids can see what’s inside without needing to read labels. 

The boxes on the bottom are the same boxes I use in the bookcase. They’re the Ikea Tjena boxes. The colourful ones on the bookcase are the same ones as well, however Ikea switches out the pattern every season so you won’t find the exact pattern I have anymore. 

Oh, and the old furniture from the nook? It didn’t go to waste. The desk actually got moved upstairs to the toddlers bedroom where it’s receiving endless amounts of love. Not really as an actual desk space, but an awesome play space where colouring occasionally happens. The cube shelf is currently dismantled and waiting to be passed along to a family member. 

Find the Ikea Brimnes cabinet h e r e .

Find the Ikea Brimnes bookcase h e r e . 

Find the Ikea Flisat table mentioned h e r e .

Find the Ikea Tjena Boxes used h e r e .

Find the Ikea Flyt magazine files h e r e .