A Room of my Own: Furniture

After all the coats of paint were dry--including all the Q-tip dots I made with white paint all over the ceiling to cover the red splatters--it was time to build some furniture. Months earlier--when we were working all this out--I purchased a large, adjustable, white craft table at IKEA and I really liked it. So we were planning to match everything to that. Plus, I loved the clean lines and the white energy against the brightly-colored walls of the room. Something about white in a craft room always makes me happy!

These shelves were our best fit -- and price. We used a 4-unit bookcase stacked on an 8-unit one. Fit just right. And it left enough room between bookcase and ceiling to store little photo boxes on the top. We also took the time to secure these to the walls, of course! The finished product is about 8ft/2.4meters high. With this set, I was able to store my fabric, books and binders easily...until I buy more books, that is. And yes, I got sucked into buying those little black folding chairs, too. They are so cute!

The table was called GALANT  but now has another name. I had it for two years before we even did the rest of the room -- how time flies. I love the corner workstation and desk! I had to watch out for the left/right thing on the desk. Got a little confusing.

My hubby and I headed to IKEA to get the furniture we had planned for 2 years earlier: a corner desk for the computer, a sewing table/desk, and some book cases for one wall. For the bookcases, we went with the KALLAX series. (Why does IKEA do everything in ALL CAPS? It always  feels like they are shouting at you, even from the freeway as you see their sign!)

In case you are thinking of bookcases for craft storage, consider this: a while back, we found a huge set of the BILLY series on Craig's List (for pretty cheap!), and thought we had struck gold. That is, until we looked at the dimensions. Be careful that your bookcases are deep enough to actually hold books, binders and craft supplies, or anything else you plan to store. Do you want to fold fabrics on the shelves? Stack boxes?  Measure your stuff! I was surprised by how deep my books were compared to the bookcases.

The little ALEX chest of drawers can be found here. It turned out hold a lot of notions, trims and extra crafting supplies. I even have a knitting drawer in it! As you see, a lot still needed to be done. 

The BILLY series is only 11"/28cm deep, which was not going to be enough room for my supplies, at least not comfortably. A little shopping early on revealed that KALLAX was going to be the best price for us, as well as 15 3/8"/38cm deep, with plenty of storage room.

A little more measuring of the room helped us pick up a corner desk, the MICKE corner workstation and the desk, which has a hole in the center--probably for a computer, but I put my sewing machine cord in there.

I know this is sounding like a commercial for IKEA, but it was so easy to make everything fit! Plus, we made a day of shopping! There's a Starbucks nearby at Cascade Station. This was made more exciting by the fact that we spotted Trailblazer Lebron James -- though we had no nerve to approach him!

Why are we looking at couches?! It must be the IKEA trap.

The one! I was trying to save some $$ and so did not buy the drawers, but it also worked out as they would have been
useless to me. It paid to be patient!

The table, now called BEKANT! What th-?! Does it even matter?! What ARE these names?

Mommy, Daddy...I really need a desk. Yes, she got it. Sigh....and no,
she does not do homework there.