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Hello friends! I have lived in a large home for many years (2000sq ft++) and as the kids moved out, I took over one bedroom/bathroom for stamping/scrapbooking and one den-like room for sewing. But it really makes no sense for two people to live in this house any longer and the husband and I are talking about a serious downsize, possibly even an independent living community. While I am not opposed to any of this, I am completely freaked out about my crafting. This move won't happen overnight so I have time to think it thru. I have a LOT of stamping stuff. Would the big scrapbox work for me? I frightens me a bit to think of buying this expensive piece and then it won't work??? Like what will I do with all this paper I have? I am wide open to any suggestions. I would especially be interested in people who are using a scrapbox....
I work in s closet that is set up similar to the Scrapbox. I have plenty of room, but do need a storage source outside of it. I would think you may need some sort of additional shelving/closet depending on how much you have.
__________________ Mary Jo
prairiepapercrafter.blogspot.com
I don't have one, but I'm pretty sure the Scrapbox has large enough slots for paper. And they make different models. So maybe one for papercrafting and one for sewing? And maybe another piece for extra storage? I was just thinking this way everything matches, one of my OCD deals
I moved a year ago from a 2,300 sq ft house 4 bedroom house where I had a huge scraproom into a 1,200 sq ft 2 bedroom condo. Since I didn't want to sacrifice my guest room I had to make my bedroom my craftroom as well, so I purchased a Scrapbox. The Scrapbox was really pretty and held a ton of stuff but...I did not really consider my needs as far as crafting went. I stand when crafting and I am a surface hog! I like everything set up like kitchen counter height and the Scrapbox does not fit that style. Also I have thick carpet in my bedroom so I had a very hard time opening and closing my Scrapbox. They do say they don't recommend it for carpeted areas, but I thought if I got a huge acrylic mat it would be okay...Nope.
Also, unless they've rearranged things, there is no place to store your 12x12 cutters or large rigid craft mats. I did store my Cameo in it, but when you pull it out to use it, the only place to use it is your table, which will take up a good portion.
So consider how you craft first...if you sit, don't mind the small attached table for crafting, have 9 ft of wall space for the Scrapbox to be fully open and plan to have hard flooring, then it might work for you.
Or if you plan to have two of them...but they still won't store bigger things.
Also, all your paper has to be stored flat in the 12x12 bins, which caused me to have to pull out all my paper to find what I wanted...no way to rifle through it easily.
Not trying to dissuade you, but giving you food for thought. I wish I had considered it more thoroughly before buying mine. I did sell it after only owning it for 4 months but I sold it for half price! Hard lesson for me!!
I don't have a scrapbox, so my comments will be based on what I see, not on experience.
It looks like it is nice for a self-contained unit that can be closed up and put away. But what it looks like is that you have to have vacant space equal to the width of the box on both sides in order for the wings to open up fully. I noticed on the website that you need 9 feet of wall space to open it up.
I have a custom-made cabinet that holds a lot of stuff. It has a pull-out desk inside the lower portion and a full bank of drawers in the upper hutch. I struggle with clean-up and put-away so the layout isn't the best for me. I have given thought to other layouts, and in a smaller room as well, and that cabinet won't be in my plans.
If you have a LOT of stuff, then the Scrapbox workbox may not be the best option. I would suggest figuring out the amount of cubic feet of storage your current supplies take up and compare to the cubic feet in the Scrapbox. It doesn't have to be a perfect measurement, but if the Scrapbox is 45 cubic feet and you have 200 cubic feet of supplies right now, then maybe it is not a good option...unless you plan to purge or have a large closet for storage.
Hello friends! I have lived in a large home for many years (2000sq ft++) and as the kids moved out, I took over one bedroom/bathroom for stamping/scrapbooking and one den-like room for sewing. But it really makes no sense for two people to live in this house any longer and the husband and I are talking about a serious downsize, possibly even an independent living community. While I am not opposed to any of this, I am completely freaked out about my crafting. This move won't happen overnight so I have time to think it thru. I have a LOT of stamping stuff. Would the big scrapbox work for me? I frightens me a bit to think of buying this expensive piece and then it won't work??? Like what will I do with all this paper I have? I am wide open to any suggestions. I would especially be interested in people who are using a scrapbox....
Hi there! I have recently been visiting senior living communities with my parents. Depending on what you are considering, and what your long term needs may be, it is hard to know if a large piece of furniture is the right purchase, especially if it is very expensive or would be costly to move, and perhaps move more than once. The places we've seen have levels of care, so you may start out in independent living but eventually need assisted or one of you might need memory care. From what I've seen, the independent and assisted living apartments are a good size, and you could devote a second bedroom to your crafting space. Huge closets, lots of light, two baths, seem to be the norm in the newer communitites. I would advise you to explore your options before committing to one piece. You may end up in a space not much different than the room you have now!
bzzzeee makes a very good point! We moved three years ago from a home with three bedrooms, a basement, attic and garage to a two-bedroom apartment with no storage of any kind. Thankfully, the closets are walk-in, so I have one wall in the guest bedroom and most of that closet for my crafty/stampy stuff. I'm sure that I don't have as much stuff as some, but I also know that I have way more than I need, and it all fits just fine. I do purge on a regular basis, but for me the trick is consolidation - make the same amount of stuff fit in a smaller footprint. Examples are ink "spots" rather than full-size pads and unmounted stamps on panels in pockets rather than wood-mount stamps - or even cling mount. It's amazing the amount of space you can gain by tweaking things like that! I don't have ANY of the packaging of ANYTHING because it takes up real estate. I don't even leave my washi tape on the spools - it's wound in color groups on craft sticks in a drawer. You might consider options like that rather than a significant purchase...
Devil's advocate thought on the paper: take what you love the most and gift the rest to someone else - it is the most replaceable thing that you have. Also, I've found that I use mine A LOT more since I chopped it into usable sizes instead of leaving it 12" x 12" (and it's easier to find places that it will fit, lol). I cut mine into one 5" x 7", one 5" x 5", two 6" x 6" and one 1" x 12" strip, just so I'd have some versatility for different sizes/purposes. I figure if I ever need a 12" x 12" piece, I can just go get one...
__________________ ~ Sue Happy for no reason...
Last edited by gregzgurl; 08-01-2017 at 02:43 AM..
Reason: Added another thought...
I work in s closet that is set up similar to the Scrapbox. I have plenty of room, but do need a storage source outside of it. I would think you may need some sort of additional shelving/closet depending on how much you have.
Can you post some pictures of this please? I'm currently redoing my craft room and would love be to see how this works.
In a different location and before I did what I do now, I had a lot of my "stuff" in a closet:
The photo boxes lined up in rainbow order contain embellishments of that color, like buttons, embossing powder, Stickles, brads and eyelets, etc. What doesn't show in the photo is the shelves above the ones that are visible where I had all of my cardstock and much of my dp lined up in Cropper Hopper and/or magazine holders, and a couple of Iris drawer units stacked under the desk on the left that had ribbons and flowers and stuff like that:
Stamps (unmounted, of course) were lined up on a shelf above a small desk where I worked that was outside of this closet.
My friend has a scrapbox, and a handy husband. It took them a couple days to assemble it -- even then they had some issues. Her room is carpeted so they had to get a semicircle of thick wood to put on the floor for the scrapbox to live on.Her craft room has other places where she keeps things, so no the box isn't exactly perfect for her stuff. But she definitely loves it! I think it's up to you... maybe the company will be at a show near you sometime and you could see one in person and ask them some questions about it.
I don't have one, but I had drooled over one when they first came out. Then, I decided it needs too much empty wall space and it juts out pretty far from the wall.
Anyway, my only thoughts are that maybe you should consider a modular system, rather than the single unit. That way, you can reconfigure it at will or even split into several places (like need-at-hand stuff at your main station and then an overflow, or less-reached-for stuff at a tucked away station).
Modular systems are sold by Michaels, Stamp'n'storage and Scrap'n'cube, I believe.
Really look at how you work (position, light, etc.) and what you reach for most.
In 2013 I moved from a 2350 sf home with one room just for my stamping and scrapbooking. As it was a 8x8 room with zero closets. I stdarted buying the modular stuff using their coupons or sales and sometimes both. Modular versus a standup closet style cabinet would be useless and god-forbid I need to move by my self they're light and even easy to assemble. I am now up to a 10x10 that doubles as my room. Since I have. 5pc bedroom set again that cabinet unit wouldn't fit if I had bought one back in 2013. Modular fits perfect in my closet and I utilize the spare tall dresser as my stamp storage and yes I have that many.
As requested some time ago this is my closet. I use an IKEA cart for my Big Shot and hang a storage pocket bag on the door. I have pantry storage on each side wall along with three shelves above my work space. I put a phone in the work area (yes it is small) along with a tablet so I can watch whatever or look for ideas while working. I have the same shelving storage to the right so did not take a pic of it. Not in the picture is a turn shorage unit from Harbor freight that has those things you use all the time-scissors, tape etc. Mine is three high and very similar to the Tim Holtz unit.
__________________ Mary Jo
prairiepapercrafter.blogspot.com
Last edited by prairiecrafter; 09-04-2017 at 04:12 AM..
A few years ago, I had the extreme good luck to WIN a scrapbox here on SCS during the HYCCT challenges. My space is in our basement so I had plenty of wall space to accommodate the scrapbox fully opened. It has worked out so well for me but it is rarely closed. I also have an L-shaped counter and a long table for work space. As much as I love my scrapbox, I wouldn't think it would work in a super small space - or it may just be that i have WAY too much stuff LOL Below are photos of my space after the Scrapbox first arrived - I wish it were this clean now!
Downsizing.... what about the scrapbox?
