Hobby craft room

From the Resene colour inspiration – latest looks gallery

Whether you need a relaxing spot to practice yoga or an organised area for your DIY supplies, chances are you don't actually need four walls surrounding you to get the job done

Having room to spare isn't a common problem. If you're lucky enough to have a bonus room in your home, consider yourself lucky. For most of us though – especially those with open plan houses and two or more kids living with us – you might not have the space to step away from the rest of the family and enjoy some time alone behind closed doors.

Whether you need a relaxing spot to practice yoga or an organised area for your DIY supplies, chances are you don’t actually need four walls surrounding you to get the job done. Most of us have some space – be it a corner, closet, alcove or niche beneath our stairs – that can be reclaimed where we can create a special zone dedicated that’s just for us without taking up an entire room. However, it can take some creativity to start putting it to proper use – or, to put up some boundaries beyond walls that send the message to others in your home that you need a little ‘me time’.

Show off your DIY skills by creating a craft room in a reclaimed corner of your home. Use a swatch of a favourite fabric to inspire your colour scheme. You can bring it into your local Resene ColorShop and the staff there will be able to help you find colours to match or coordinate with it. Alternatively, you can upload a scan or photo of your fabric to the free online Resene Colour Palette Generator to find some close Resene matches yourself. Our fabric matched to Resene Lusty, Resene Bitter, Resene Dust storm, Resene Tuscany and Resene Twine. These hues were used to bring colour and energy to an otherwise neutral space with the floor and walls in Resene Rice Cake.

Like many other creative people, there are probably a whole bunch of different crafts you like to take part in – and that means you’ll need plenty of different types of storage solutions to keep all your supplies organised. It can be easy to forget about all the wonderful items you have at your disposal if everything is tucked away, so finding clever ways to not only keep things tidy but also make sure you can see what’s at hand can help save some pennies on your supply runs so that you don’t double up on what you already own.

Open shelves are a great option for pretty or inspiring items, or those you use most frequently, while hooks and pegboards are great for tools that can be hung or spools of ribbon. Upcycled glass jars are ideal for smaller, loose items. You can colour code them by painting each lid first in Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer and then two coats of a different Resene testpot colour that goes with your palette. To give your jars extra character, paint large wooden beads in contrasting hues and glue one to the top centre of each jar. Measure 10cm up from the bottom of each jar and mask off using high quality painters masking tape. Apply a basecoat of Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer, and once dry, paint with two coats of a third Resene testpot colour. This way, you can still easily see what is inside – and how much of it is left – while also bringing a little more colour to the space.

Rather than keeping the Resene Rice Cake walls plain, paint a full circle in Resene Twine and a half circle in Resene Dust Storm. Ask for accent wall colours to be tinted into a base of Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen which will give you a durable wall finish that also doubles as a chalkboard so that you can keep track of your projects, progress or stitch count.

There are probably plenty of other things around the house that could find new use in your craft room, too. Or, look to the kitchen or bathroom organising aisle at your local store for other smart storage solutions. Try painting a large plant pot or umbrella stand to house rolls of wallpaper. A towel rack or ladder could be just the thing to keep your already ironed quilting fabric smooth and within easy reach. You never know; that old spice rack or makeup caddy could be just the thing to keep your beads or embroidery thread collection manageable.

Accessories – Hobby room: Wooden artist's mannequin, paint, paint palette, canvases and jars and wooden beads all from Kmart. Other items stylist's own. Reading nook: Cushion from Shut the Front Door, chairs from Freedom Furniture. Books and candle stylist's own.

Paint projects

Storage jars

You will need:  

• 6 jars (3 large, 3 small)
• High quality painter’s masking tape
• Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer
• Resene testpots in your choice of colours – we used Resene Twine, Resene Bitter, Resene Tuscany and Resene Smokescreen
• Resene testpot brush
• Wooden beads, hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions:

1. Mask up your jars in the designs you want (dipped, striped etc.).
2. Paint a coat of Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer to the areas you want to paint including the lids on the jars and leave to dry.
3. Paint wooden beads with Resene testpots (no surface sealer required for these).
4. Once the Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer is dry paint your colours using Resene testpots onto the jars and paint the lids.
5. Remove masking tape.
6. Using a glue gun glue wooden beads to top of storage jars.
7. Fill your jars with craft bits and bobs, buttons, wooden beads, string etc.

Arch storage unit

You will need: 

• 1x piece of MDF board 1.8 metres in length 60cm wide and 18mm thick
• Bamboo storage boxes
• Resene Lustacryl in your choice of colours – we used Resene Twine, Resene Bitter, Resene Smokescreen, Resene Dust Storm and Resene Tuscany,
• Paintbrush, sandpaper, jig saw or similar, pencil, string, straight pin or small nail and glue to stick boxes to board

Instructions:

1. Draw a half circle at the top of the board using the pencil/drawing pin method to get a perfect curve.
2. Using a jig saw, cut along your pencil line then sand down any sharp edges.
3. Paint board and bamboo boxes using Resene testpots in colours of your choice in two coats.
4. Glue bamboo boxes to board and leave to dry overnight. The height of the boxes will determine what you want to put in there. Work out what you want to pop in there first and then mark your box height.
5. Screw the whole board to the wall and add craft bits and pieces.

Project by Vanessa Nouwens. Images by Wendy Fenwick. 2021