From Crap room to Craft room Part 1: Fabric Mini bolts

We moved into our home 18 month ago. Plenty of space for the kids there own room an office for the Hubs a guest room and my own corner of heaven.  A Craft room! Closet space with shelves and everything.  It was even a color I loved. Turquoise.  I have a thing for Turquoise.  Maybe its because my birth stone is aquamarine, not quite sure. I have always loved Turquoise. (I will save my love for another post.) Anywho...

 I was totally stoked to have a great space for all my craftiness. Then the moving truck came and unloaded.  The rest of the house got first dibs.  And my poor craft room got put by the way side.  Then I found out I was preggers with baby #4.  Pregnancy wiped me out.  So the craft room again got put on the back burner.

That room has been sitting in the basement totally neglected as life rambled on around it. 
Until now.

A bestie of mine wanted a new look for her couch and propositioned me a trade.  She offered to help turn the crap room into the craft room. I in return would give her couch and chair a new look.

  Great trade, right????? 

 May be for me. 

 I showed her the crap room (so she knew what she was getting into). 

She totally agreed to help.

It was a trade made in heaven for me. 

There is no way I could undertake this on my own. 

 I was so excited. 
Here is a picture of the Crap room Before the redo.

 This picture was even after we had pulled a few bins of fabric out. 
I was serious when I said I had a lot of fabric.
 I am not quite sure wht the previous owner was thinking.  Mountain dew is not a wall color.
{A change is coming..}

{Can you find the baby?? He is hiding there somewhere.  Poor guy}

Now onto the first part of the redo...

I have alot  of fabric. 

 Probably borderline hoarding..

Its genetic. 

Some people get OCD, others anxiety. 

Me its gathering fabric and loving it.  I get it from my mother.

I needed a great way to store it and know what I have.  I have been trying to decide for years. 

I have looked at all the blog posts on how other do theirs.

Looked at the products out there.  None felt like a good fit or I didn't have the money.

Until now. 

I wanted Mini bolts.  Like a fabric store but smaller.  Then I can see everything I have. I actually ended up with Mini bolts and Micro bolts. Minis hold 1-2 yards and Micros hold less than a yard.

I needed something to house the fabric in once the bolts were made. First thing was Craigslist.  My bestie found this cabinet and bought it for her son.  Lucky for me it was to big for his room.
 But perfect for mine.

It is pretty solid and a bargin at $50. 

I had to add a few shelves in the spot reserved for a T.V. They cost me about $6
(The Lowe's man gave me a deal on a broken board. Half Price! Yeah)
I had him cut them for me and hauled them home.

****As a side not my shelves were white when I bought them and I used black contact paper ($5)  to cover them instead of painting.  It took about 15 minutes to cover them and they were ready to go. No mess.   So easy and they look great.

Onto the Mini bolts!

I started with:

 1/8 inch tempered peg board.

I bought a sheet that was 4x8 and had the Lowe's guy cut it down to a manageable
size for me to transport and cut myself.
Tempered Peg board $10 a sheet
This board comes with out holes.  But my lowes was out.  So pegged it is.

{I bought 3, 4x8 boards. Lowe's man gave me a great deal on two
of them because the boards had some flaws.}

Once home,

I cut them into 8 1/2 inch squares it worked best for my cabinet.

I took home my sheet in 4 pieces and had my Hubs but them to squares.

For Micro bolts I cut the squares in half again so they measure 81/2 x 41/4.
 They are the perfect size.

To hold the fabric on the bolt was a dilemma.  They clips fabric store use can be pricey and I need a lot of them.  I found these hair clips at Sally's beauty supply. They are perfect. They slip right on and hold the fabric in place. I chose these because they have a small liip under the clip.  Normally used for the curler in your hair, but today it is to hold a little fabric.  They are perfect.
The price... I got mine on sale for $3.99 a box. Yipee!!
{I bought 3 boxes}
Lots of fabric here remember... If my husband only knew.

I spent about 2 hours folding my fabric. Doesn't it looks so pretty. 

Pin It

The boxes hold fat quarters and small pieces of fabric.

The baskets are holding sewing notions. 

One of my girlfriend's thinks I should group in colorways and colors.  I said one step a time. Maybe some day. But for now I am super excited this project is done and I can enjoy my finished project.
One BIG step closer to having a beautiful craft room.
Total price for my fabric redo.....
$90

Totally worth every dollar!

Linking up here: