Decorate Your Scrap Space

Some people say that where you create plays an instrumental role in what you create, and I tend to agree with them. I am at my most creative when I am surrounded by the things I love and the things that inspire me.

Build an environment that inspires you to create with these scrap room decorating tips.

Color Matters
Aside from proper storage and organization I think the most important step when decorating a scrap space is to choose the color scheme.

When choosing a color scheme, start by finding an inspiration piece—something that makes you feel creative. It can be a fabric swatch, a piece of art, a piece of furniture, or even a favorite scrapbook paper. Often the inspiration piece will contain the color scheme you’re looking for and all you need to do is find paint and coordinating accents for the room. If the inspiration piece doesn’t offer three to four colors for your scheme, use a color wheel to find accent colors that will work with your inspiration piece.

As you consider paint colors for the walls, keep in mind that the color will change with the lighting during the day. While you may love warm mustard yellow first thing in the morning, it might be far too overwhelming on the eyes in the bright midday light. A good way to test this is to paint a large wooden board the color you are considering and move it around the room at various times of the day.

Another reason to carefully consider the wall color in your scrap space is that whatever color you surround yourself with might change the way that your project looks as light is reflected off walls and other surfaces. Neutral colors on the walls such as tan, cream, and white are a good way to assure natural lighting and reflections, especially right around your work space. However, don’t let that stop you from painting one wall the deep purple you’ve been dying to use!

I started decorating my own scrap room by choosing a floral valance for my window. I then matched pale butter yellow paint and decided on sage green as an accent color.

Theme
Your room doesn’t need to have a “theme” per se, but choosing a general style will make it easier to achieve a cohesive look. I chose a shabby vintage garden theme for my room. All of the accents are recycled garden or vintage items. The container for my handmade paper is an old garden planter. The cork board is a vintage dresser mirror with the glass removed and cork board inserted inside the frame. An old, used lattice piece holds small hooks for ribbons and embellishments, and vintage sap buckets hold painting supplies. By choosing a theme, I knew what types of containers, wall décor, and accents would help complete the look I was after.

Need ideas for themes? How about Funky Retro? You could easily take your color cues from some of the hot new retro papers on the market and add black or chocolate brown accents throughout, such as photo boxes, framed pictures, and shelving.

Another style that might be fun to explore is Paris Chic. Rich burgundy velvet, black and white toile, and lots of vintage glamour would make for a fun and exciting scrap space. You might even add an actual divan in the corner for reading!

Looking at decorating magazines and websites is a fun way to choose the style you like--especially if you don’t know where to start. Choose a special item that has meaning and build your room around its colors and style.

As you add trinkets and style to your room, be sure to look for organizational items like boxes, tubs, and containers that can be painted or altered to match your décor. I spray painted several baskets with my sage green accent color to create functional organizational containers that also serve as a consistent accent throughout the room.

Space to Create
Since this is where you’ll be creating your works of art, the workspace and seating in your space should be both functional and reflect your personality. In a scrap room, your desk will likely function as both workspace and storage space, especially for your most frequently used tools. As you search for furniture, keep in mind how you can organize your supplies so that you will be able to access them easily. You may want to consider both pre-made and custom-built furnishings for your storage and workspace. If you think outside the box you may be able to build your own custom units that will meet your specific design and style needs.

In my scrap space, I chose a country cream desk set that is distressed and aged. I made a second desk for my room by placing an old door on a base that I purchased at a salvage yard. Both items were distressed and painted, and then a glass top was added to the door to make a work surface that fits my personality and is easy to maintain.

In Good Light
Finally, lighting is a critical factor when designing your scrap space. Overhead, natural, and area lighting should all be worked into your design in a way that is functional and attractive. In my own space, I’ve used overhead lighting, added vintage desk lamps with true-color bulbs, and added blinds to my windows that allow me to control the amount of light in my space. This helps cut down on damaging UV rays as well during the bright sunny days of summer.

Look at your desk space and decide if additional lighting is necessary. If so, you can customize a lamp or shade to go with the style of the room you are designing.

Consistency, no matter what the colors and style of your room, is very important. Just as we use the “rule of three” on our scrapbook layouts by choosing odd-numbered items and using elements or colors in three spots for consistency of design, we can apply this rule to our decorating efforts.

Most importantly have fun! Decorating your scrap space, no matter how large or small, is about expressing who you are. It should be fun, and personalized, just like the layouts that are created in it.