One of the pleasures of a crafting hobby is that it lets you retreat into a different world,and think about nothing but the project at hand, and the skills you’ve built. It can help to reduce anxiety by promoting a mindful attitude, and distract you from stresses in your day to day life, while giving you something to excel at and be proud of. You can magnify this effect by putting together your own crafting room – somewhere to retreat from the stresses and worries of life and focus entirely on your hobby.
Today, we’re taking a look at some of the essential things you’ll need to stock your crafting room with the qualities it’ll need to make sure it’s the ideal place to work on your next craft project, whether it’s knitting a scarf, weaving a blanket or an artistic piece of needlepoint.
Light
One of the most important things you can do is make sure you have clear, even light to work by. Most crafts require fine detail, whether it’s small stitches, counting threads for embroidery patterns, threading needles or casting on knitting. If you’re trying to do this in semi-darkness, you could make mistakes and damage the project you’re working on!
If you can, choose a room with large, north facing windows which will provide bright, but indirect light. You should at least try to site your chair close to a window to provide light for daytime crafting. In the evening you’ll need artificial light to work by. Choose a lamp that can provide an even light you can see by clearly, that doesn’t cause painful glare. Suit your choices to your needs: if you sit a lot in the same chair to work, putting a free standing lamp behind that chair can provide the directed light you need. You might also choose a desk lamp if you’re working at a table top, or even one you can wear around your neck, allowing you to be flexible about where you work.
Tools and Supplies
Look for a set of shelves with clear plastic drawers. This allows you to organise all your crafting supplies systematically, and see at a glance what’s in each drawer so you can quickly find what you need – and identify when you’re running low on supplies and need to restock!
You could restock with a visit to the craft store, or with a regular art box subscription so your supplies are delivered direct to your door.