28-Day Organizing Challenge--A Craft Space of Her Very Own!

After tackling the huge library project, I just couldn't stop organizing! I had a sudden inspiration: What if I created a craft area just for Lily, stocked with the supplies she needs, avoiding the possibility of her ruining and using my supplies set aside for other projects? So that's what I did. The contest requires a before shot:Sorry. You can't really see anything, because there was nothing there! My craft room leads to a storage closet. Just inside the door to this closet is a long empty wall--the perfect spot for Lily's supplies. I harvested all of the stuff I no longer use that's cluttering up various drawers, shelves and spaces in the craft room and piled them on the floor of the closet. And the fun began!

I moved (okay--Tucker actually moved it with me!) an unused shelf out of the garage up the stairs, then I sorted all the supplies.
The blue tub on the upper left contains folders of scrapbook paper sorted by color. The upper right tub houses tempera paint, brushes, paper plates and water cups for . . . painting.
The next shelf: on the left is scraps of foam sheets and a tub for paper punches on the right.

The bottom shelf: on the left is a set of stackable bins. There weren't enough slots for what I wanted, so I cut two pieces of scrap cardboard to fit, and that handily added the two extra shelves I needed for 1-large construction paper 2-foam core sheets 3-small construction paper 4-alphabet stickers 5-(in the binder) miscellaneous stickers. The tubs on the right contain foam pieces, ribbon scraps, pipe cleaners and feathers.
The top two shelves hold all the supplies we need to keep out of Hyrum's reach (see yesterday's entry):
Scissors, sharpies, and die-cut paper on the top shelf and markers, popsicle sticks, paint brushes, google eyes, gems and pom poms on the shelf below.
Her lap desk easily rests next to the shelf, and the space between the back of the shelf and the wall is perfect storage space for full-size sheets of poster board.

The questions:
1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? I really wanted a place for Lily's stuff, but it was a pain to sift through all of my supplies to get stuff for her. Once I started, my own supplies have dwindled markedly--time to head to the scrapbook store!

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? The best aspect of this project is assigning sole responsibility to Lily for her craft projects. Everything she needs is accessible, and if she doesn't put it away, then she won't be able to find it. No longer is that my job. Quite liberating! And she's been very good about it so far. Ownership is good for kids.


3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? As you can see from the before shot, there was nothing there to begin with.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries? I love the idea that I created an art center out of completely unused, dead space. Things don't need to be overthought or complicated. Just packaged in a way that they can be used and returned to their home.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge? Not only did I gift my daughter with her own art space, it gave me more room in my space. Nothing was sacrificed in the process. I only bought a few plastic storage bins and used what I had on hand for the project. Best of all, I stimulated my daughter's creativity. See her first project?

Watch out Jackson Pollack!