Tour of my Ikea Craft Room !

 

For the last 4 years, we stayed in the newly developed Al Warqa area of Dubai.

We went from a community living in Arabian Ranches to a stand alone 12,000 sqft villa.

Visit here for my craft room in Arabian Ranches.

What was spectacular about the villa, is that it was designed by an Emarati for an Emarati lifestyle. Whats different about Arabic styled houses ?

Well, Arabic style houses generally have two main entrances to the main building, one for the family, and another one for the male guests. The men guest entrance is greeted by a very large hall which is called the Majlis. This comfortable large space is generally where the men of the family entertain their male friends, hence it is lavishly large.

Another significant thing about the villas’ is that every bedroom is ensuite. Which meant, my 5 bedroom home had 7 bathrooms !!! (1 extra for the lounge room and another for the dining room)

Cleaning such a large house is not for the faint of heart ! But Thank heavens for the abundance of easily available part-time help in Dubai.

Another aspect, which we were lucky, we did not have, is the presence of an entire block of an adjoining building which houses the maids and drivers of the house.

Most of the times, the kitchen is also a part of that building block. But we were lucky, our kitchen was in the main building.

That was too much space for a family of five, however, it would benefit, the constant arrival of relatives and feline friends ( fostering that me and my family volunteer for.)

Thanks to alot of persuasion and prodding – We decided to convert the majlis into my craft Studio.

Was it a dream ??

Absolutely YES !!

For someone who started crafting 12 years back from a modest desk  placed at the  corner of her bedroom … here I was, in a HUGE studio with craft supplies and goodies, I could have only dreamt of years back !!

The studio took nearly three months to be shelved, stacked, stored and organized.

As you will notice from the pictures below, 100% furniture and 95% storage items (like boxes, pots ) are from #Ikea !!

I think, for artists, Ikea is a PERFECT !! They cater to each and every need of ours brillaintly and I have NOT been compensated to state so 🙂

Don’t they look organized ? Even the white pots holding markers are from Ikea.

The large striped boxes as well as the white bookshelf is Ikea.

These wired racks make it easy to locate ribbons etc

Different sizes of #Trofast boxes

The white cookie or cupcake , wire stand is also Ikea.

This PVC rack was designed and constructed by yours truly !

Ribbons, twine, yarn, embellishments all stored in the ikea wire racks

Linnamon study desk ! Notice my delicious pinking shears ! Over the years, I have picked quite a few diecut machines, as you will notice, there’s the Silhouette, Revolution, Cuttlebug, and Big shot !! What ?? Hoarder, you say ???? No way – just moving with time !

4 Glasholm glass tables !! Every shelf counts as storage !!

The two drawer racks on the left of my chair, houses all my rubber stamps and diecuts. My throne is the Marcus swivel chair from Ikea

I picked these white storage boxes from Ikea as well as the Trofast shelf and storage boxes.

Unfortunately these wire racks have been discontinued by Ikea !! The newer version are not as sturdy as these.

Trofast storage combination

This stores my jewelry making supplies

Most of those colored plastic drawers have paints and glue

10 Snille swivel chairs.

My precious books and notes – one of my fav Ikea cubby cupboard

Felt, fabric and more stored in the Ikea cupboard

Another Ikea cupboard

Was the craft room a  good idea ?

Absolutely !!

How long did it take ?

Very long to organize it all ?

what happened next ?

We moved out of this house this January (2016)  !!!!!!!!

How do I feel about it ?

Miserable !! I miss the sprawling length and breadth of that room so much, so dearly 😦

It was perfect in every way and the  best possible gift, my husband could give me !!

Our new home is in the area called The Villa – Dubailand. Its a modern villa and the added benefit of the majlis is deducted in the form of a pool. We have converted the 5th bedroom into the craft studio – but it is still a project under progress.  Will share with you the development in another post.

I hope you enjoyed my craft studio tour and found inspiration in some of the ways in which I manged to store some supplies.

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