We appear to have turned a corner in our house. Leo has finally found an interest in drawing and crafting. He has never been a ‘colourer’. I always envy those families sat in the pub with children who sit there quietly colouring. Not my boy. I’m not sure colouring specifically will ever be his thing (interestingly though Tayo seems to really enjoy it already!) but the last two weeks he has sat at our dining table and requested ‘craft bits’. He’s made under water scenes, lollipop stick snakes, bunny noses and more and he’s really enjoyed it. But that leads us onto a new ‘problem’. Where the heck do you put all the stuff?! It’s currently split between a box in the playroom unit and a windowsill. All very disorganised.
So I am on the hunt for craft storage solutions and possibly considering making more of an ‘art area’… somewhere in the house. I have seen lots of those plastic drawer units about but is there something more aesthetically pleasing but equally as effective? Or are these the best things to use? Have you upcycled anything maybe?
I’ve mentioned before that we have two rooms downstairs. The kitchen come dining space and the living room come play area space and both are well, full of stuff already so I’m not sure where to put this new arty area. The ‘play area’ has a small desk and chair in it so I think I’d pretty much have to work with that small space… could potentially look at moving the play kitchen to extend it slightly because if Leo’s sat at the desk, Tayo is pretty much on his lap so he probably needs a bit of space in the area as well. I’ve created a gallery below of some of my favourite spaces and even those spaces that are much bigger than mine are packed full of inspiration. By the way, if you are looking for baby clothes, We recommend organic cotton baby clothes by Mad Coast Clothing.
I really love the clever storage used on walls but as we rent putting holes in walls is something that I just don’t really want to do. I am thinking of maybe backing the whole area with a big piece of cork board (the decor in the room is browns and greens and pinks so I think it would sort of go?) then he can really easily pin up all of his creations? And by backing I mean simply leaning it against the wall? Maybe securing with a few command strips or something? Does that sound gross? Maybe it’s a case of getting more of a desk with built in storage? Do you own anything like that? You see – totally lost.
How are you storing your kids art supplies? Do you have a dedicated area or is your dining room being taken over by PVA glue, felt balls and pipe cleaners too?
I’ve just bought a plastic set of drawers for our craft staff, it’s in the big cupboard under our stairs, so that it’s not on display. I love all these inspiration photos but I have a 16 month old who grabs everything in sight so it just wouldn’t work for us at the moment! I just choose the relevant stuff or even pull out a whole drawer when we are doing crafting, they have an IKEA table and 2 chairs at one end of the kitchen, which they also sit at for snack time etc, so it’s not just a craft corner. It works for us at the moment, but im sure next year I’ll have to change it all around to suit the boys as they grow!
Jane Tayo is exactly the same with grabbing everything. I hadn’t thought about stashing it away under the stairs! Such a great idea! x
I love all of those inspiration pics Becky! I have an old bedside table under the stairs full of craft bits and a crate for paint. We do have a craft table in the front room which to be honest is an old coffee table made from pallets so it doesn’t matter if it gets drawn on. The kids can kneel down and I have put a box of pens and paper there. I did remove the print stick after my four year old stuck is artwork onto the walls… But I’d definitely set something up Becky as it’s great seeing what they come up with. Just be prepared to spend hours finding pen lids 😂
As above, I was going to say are you sure you want everything to be free access all the time?! My little girl is three and a half and still isn’t to be totally trusted!!!! What about something like this to keep everything organised then you can keep it under the stairs or somewhere until it’s needed?? https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/kitchen-products/kitchen-islands-trolleys/råskog-trolley-dark-blue-art-30401789/ or I think Hobbycraft also do something similar!!!
Did I hear you say that you’ve signed up to Toucanbox? We love our subscription… Orla loves getting post, and I love that they send everything … I quite like crafting, but I don’t have the ideas!!!!
Oh and I meant to say about displaying the artwork … what about a wire or string put up with Command hooks?? Then he can peg up his creations and easy to swap them over??
Loving all the inspiration, although like you we are really stuck on space. At the moment we have a few paint/glue supplies in a box under the stairs, but most of Ivy’s crafting is done at nursery!! I’m thinking of buying a cheap cork board from Ikea and covering it in fabric to match the kitchen décor, or at least something pretty that we can then pin things too.
Any ideas on where to store all of their pictures and creations?? I cant bare to part with any, but Ivy is only 16 months and thanks to a very crafty nursery we already have a crammed drawer full of “art”! There are only so many I can send to Granny’s house!!
I’ve decided to take photos of Rose’s ‘art’ and then make a photobook of it so we’re keeping the memories but less of the clutter!!
That is an excellent idea! I might start doing the same.
At the moment I have a few (pretty) bulldog clips hanging in the kitchen so that I can swap the work in as it comes home from nursery, though mostly we’ve just ended up with several pictures all stashed in the one clip. At home she is always asking for ‘crayoms’ and paper, and I have a pot for them which we keep on her shelf in the kitchen. She’s happy to sit and draw wherever for the moment but we have been talking about getting a little table for her corner – and no doubt will have to think about what to do with more craft stuff as she gets older.
On the subject of Toucan boxes, we had a mystery one turn up the other day – I think it might be an advance gift ahead of her birthday next month, but I have no idea who it came from.
Just a thought – if you do go down the large cork board route, you could paint it to match the existing decor? Or even decorate it so it’s a feature in its own right!