Sisters Sharing Scrap Spaces

One of my favorite aspects of scrapbooking is being able to share this craft with others who love it as much as I do. One person that I spend most of my creative time with is my sister, Tanya. She scrapbooks also and has developed her own unique style. I feel very fortunate that we live only fifteen minutes apart and have the ability to spend time together sharing our layouts and ideas.

When she first got started, she was able to carry all the supplies that she owned in a 12" x 12" container that was about four inches deep. It didn't take long for her to ‘catch the bug' and join the ranks of not having enough space to store all of her new goodies. Sharing her scrap space with a home office meant that she was spending more time clearing off her desk than she was getting to create pages.

Earlier this year, she created a plan to re-do the office so that it could be effectively used for both purposes. The result is incredible and allows her room to pay bills, work on the computer, and scrapbook. The best part is that there is enough room for me to join her as well.

She started by installing white kitchen cabinets from a home improvement store along one wall. The idea was to keep the main floor space open while using upper cabinets as storage for her embellishments and photographs.

Next she had a white counter top installed in a u-shape under the window. One portion of the counter top is a standing work space, and the other portion is lowered for sitting work space. The lower area is where she has her computer and printers, as well as a file cabinet that stores all of the things for household use. The standing area is where she works on her layouts. She loves the fact that if she gets interrupted, she can leave the project out until she gets a chance to come back to it, something that was near impossible in her previous arrangement.

On her counter top, she has fabric baskets that hold a number of things like current projects, new purchases, items that she uses the most or items that she wants to share with her sister (my favorite one).

The open space below the standing-height counter provides horizontal storage for 12" x 12" patterned papers, organized by theme and color. A set of cubes from Target hold matching baskets that contain her chipboard collection, divided by alphabets, shapes and colors. Also under the counter is a set of plastic drawers that hold rubber stamps and supplies. Having all the stuff together saves time when creating a last-minute card.

At the end of the counter space, there is a six-foot-tall bookshelf. This is where she keeps her cardstock in Crop in Style vertical storage containers, idea books, page packets (all ready for crops) and ink pads.

She stores silk flowers, ribbon and a variety of smaller embellishments in clear jars to keep them organized and readily available.

As you can see, she has come a long way from a 12" x 12" plastic box full of supplies. What is even better is the fact that all of her items are now stored in a way that makes her more productive and inspired when she does get the opportunity to scrapbook.

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