Now get the look
1. Frame and hang your artistic creations or your favourite prints on small hooks attached to a versatile painted pegboard 'splashback'.
Display all your kids' art at once! Have them help you use a circle paper cutter to punch a series of rounds from their works. Mount them on white card using double-side sticky tabs, then pop the finished arrangement in a frame.
3. Small hooks on pegboard backing are ideal for hanging scissors, rulers and rolls of tape. Check kitchen stores for baskets, racks and caddies you can hang from your pegboard to store your supplies. Then gift-wrapping is a breeze with a wrapping station loaded with a rainbow of ribbons. To do this, drive two closed eyehooks into overhead cabinets, spaced to suit, then load a metal rod with your ribbon collection and thread the rod onto the eyehooks. It's a wrap!
4. If you're lucky enough to have built-in storage in your craft room, consider removing the doors and painting out the cupboard to suit your room's new scheme. Measure up your shelves and take dimensions with you to the shops so you can choose the most efficient storage system.
Also, a flat pack lowboy is a terrific option for storage scrapbooks and albums. Deck it out with baskets to keep things hidden, too.
5. Gotta love easy access! All for a generous-sized desk with storage underneath. Shelves keep paper supplies flat, sorted and accessible – just cut down a melamine sheet and rest each shelf on metal or plastic pegs. And a narrow spice drawer (usually found in the kitchen) is ideal for tucking away paints and bottles.
6. To add pattern to your pegboard 'splashback', you can buy ready-made stencils to place over panels of pegboard (try stencilgallery.com.au) or you can make your own.
To do this, first prime, then paint your pegboard in your chosen colour and let dry. Using a photocopier, enlarge and cut out multiple copies of the stencil diagram to suit. Spray on face of each sheet using repositionable spray adhesive and evenly space shapes on your pegboard about 1cm apart, making sure you press down edges.
In a well-ventilated area and on a large drop-sheet, work from above and carefully spray over the top of shapes with two thin coats of a contrasting colour. Let dry after each coat. Remove shapes and discard. Attach pegboard to battens (screwed to wall studs or wall plugs in masonry walls) using an even spread of small screws through face of pegboard.
7. A magnetic white board is just the ticket for a work area. You can jot down measurements or reminders, clip on notes with magnets and keep small stationery items in magnetic containers. Lean it against your pegboard or secure with mounting tape or screws in an equally practical spot.
8. Add a desk lamp for when crafty days turn to craftier nights. And to prevent pesky cords ruling your workspace, use a drill fitted with a hole saw to cut an opening in your desk top, then thread the cords through the hole - out of sight and out of your way!
Keep costs down with flooring
Have a lean reno budget? Choose carpet tiles to soften underfoot in your workspace. They're inexpensive and easy to lay yourself (on a level substrate, stick them down with carpet tile tape and trim edge pieces to suit with a utility knife along a straightedge). Now, you might be tempted to chequerboard the tiles, but the tip here is to choose the same coloured floor tiles so they blend seamlessly. They'll never know the difference!
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