Stamping in the Kitchen

I wish I had my own room just for stamping...but since that's not an option right now, I use the kitchen table as my workspace. I was determined to keep it looking like a dining area, without my supplies taking completely over, and I have been asked a few times how I do this. Well, for one, it IS taking over...but when everything is put away, it still looks *mostly* like a dining room.


First of all, I bought the tallest widest bookshelves I could fit on the one wall (Ikea - $80 x 2), and then a bunch of wicker baskets (also Ikea) to fill some of the shelves. I use 4 of the baskets to store my wood block stamps, which are mostly SU organized by flowers, animals, sentiments, and elements. One basket is for other brands, and one is for my Big Shot. The last basket stores larger tools, my work mat, and my folding trimmer fits in there too! I use mag files (Ikea again) laying on their back for my 8.5 x 11 cardstock on the top shelf, and then I have 12 x 12 paper trays (Display Dynamics) for all of my patterned papers.



My husband helped build an ink pad holder that fits perfectly in the top shelf, which makes all of the pads easily accessible by just turning around. My table is counter-height, which makes it so easy to stand and grab items I need without getting up and down from a regular height table. Just about everything is right behind me as I work. The tool carousel (Makeing Memories) was one of the best purchases, since it fits almost everything I use all the time, and I can just pull it out and set it on the table, as well as my trimmer, Big Shot, Revolution and Scor-Pal. Set-up really only takes about 2 minutes, it's cleanup that I don't look forward to! I store most of my dies and my Copics and Stickles in the black storage units (Quickutz Magpie) on the wall, and I hung a curtain wire underneath it with clips for my ribbons. Since I was running out of room, I bought the little rolling plastic cart that just barely fit in the corner. The drawers store my smaller ink pads, punches, SU wheels, clear envelopes and packaging, and background stamps. Above that I hung a CD rack to hold my clear and unmounted stamp cases.



Across the room
I have a tall dresser that fits a lot of odds and ends, like ribbon on spools (I put one yard of everything on the clips), scrapbook albums (the drawers are 13x13 inside!) as well as my cuttlebug and all of the embossing folders, and all of my heat embossing tools and supplies.




Right now

my Cricut is banished to the laundry room (right around the corner) where I have a large solid shelf that allows me to use it without moving it around. I also store my in-progress scrapbooks in there near it.

So...until I get my own room...this is *my stamping space*. Yep, we spend a lot of evenings eating dinner together around the coffee table or in the family room. But I *can* put it all away and we have our dining room back!