Organizing Your Creative Space: Make Your Desk Work for You!

Now that I have been using my overhauled craft room for a little while, I have been noticing the small touches that make it function nicely for multiple purposes. These touches allow me to transition smoothly from one project to another with ease.

I have discovered that my desk is probably one of my most important “multi-functional tools” because without it I couldn’t do everything I do in my craft room, including:

• Sewing
• Knitting
• Scrapbooking/paper arts
• Computer work

To support all of these activities, we decided to set my desk up as a “work peninsula” which allows me to keep my computer at one end and a big 24” x 36” cutting mat on the other. Since the cutting mat also works as a good overall desk protector (no need for an extra mouse pad!) I just leave it out all of the time which creates a multi-purpose work surface. I can start my day out by using the desk to type up blog articles at my computer, and then easily push it back to the end of the desk that is anchored against the wall so that I can then start on a crafty project. This means that I am ready to start working on any of the activities listed above at a moments notice. No need for two separate work surfaces which saves on space in the room.

The Desk – Your Biggest Multi-functional Tool

Storing Your Working Supplies

Most of us buy a desk and keep the same set of supplies on it all the time. Since I had limited space to support so many different hobbies (plus computer work), we had to devise a way to keep my sewing machines (and related notions), paper crafting supplies and knitting supplies within easy reach. The picture below illustrates how these different items are stored nearby.

Tips for Selecting A Work Table / Desk

If you need your desk to work overtime for you, too, just keep some things in mind before you choose one:

Is it big enough for the projects you will be working on? (i.e. if you only need it for a laptop and a printer, then measure those and make sure it can handle those plus some room for you to write and possibly keep a small office supply container to hold your “go to” office supplies. But, if you will be doing other crafts on the desk, it needs to be bigger. My desk’s work surface measures 64” x 30”. I purchased mine at Target years ago, but you can still find a very similar model at Walmart.)

For a truly multi-functioning desk, you probably want it to have at least some open shelving underneath to hold your crafting accessories, or even a small cabinet that can hold some of your most important tools.

Make sure the desk is sturdy and durable enough for the projects you will be working on. There are some on the market today that are made of less expensive materials and might not be as sturdy as one made of mostly wood. For example, the plastic folding tables that you can find very inexpensively at big box stores are just not sturdy enough to handle sewing machines, or even large computers.

Hope these tips help you if you are searching for a new craft room and/or office desk. If you really take the time to think through how you will be using the desk and where it will be located in the space, you will be much more likely to bring home a keeper! And let’s face it, who wants to have to dismantle and take back a desk that just didn’t quite live up to your expectations? There’s just no time for that. Now…back to crafting!