Lets talk about the importance to make space, literally, for your passions.

Your space should represent what’s important to you

You can get a sense of what is important to you, by what you spend your time, money and energy on. The same goes for space. Whether you have a tiny room or a luxurious mansion with an extensive garden and a pool (hello, wanna be my friend?), your space has limitations. You decide what priority you give to what’s in your space. I assume that you’ll have at least a place to sleep, eat, and shower. But what do you do with the rest?
What do you want to create more of in your life? Do you want to become a super crafty DIY blogger? Do you want to relax more often and make time for meditation? Do you want to read more? Do you want to cook exquisite dinners or have friends over? Your desires have an impact on your space. Depending on how you set your priorities, you might want to: build a craft cabinet, buy a hammock or golden chair, create a mini-spa for yourself with delicious scrubs and scented candles, organize your spices in a cool rack, or build a shiny shoe closet.
Imagine that a stranger would walk into your space, and randomly open a few drawers and closet doors (try to look behind the creepiness of that and work with me for a second). How would he define you? Can he tell that you love indie rock? Can he tell that you’re a crafty lady who likes sewing dresses? Can he tell that you love to cook? Do your clothes tell a story of a stylish diva, a colorful artist, a businessman or is your closet stacked with old ill-fitting shirts and rags?
Do the things that you find important in your life have a prominent place in your space? If not, why not? I’m not telling you to buy another house to fit your hobby in. I’m thinking more along the lines of framing a picture, thrift shopping for the perfect dresser and organising your craft supplies.

Make your tools or supplies easy accessible

If you’ve seen my room tour, you’ll know that I have big drawers under my bed. Those used to host my craft supplies. The difficulty? The drawers are deep and long, and I had way too much materials stuffed inside. So it would be barely impossible to even open a drawer. And when I did, I needed to go through the gigantic mess with my hands, searching between the paint bottles, fabrics and beads to hopefully feel something that resembled a glue gun. Even the act of getting something out was demotivating and cost a lot of energy. How often do you think I got any crafty materials out? Well, not so often. Usually it would only happen if I had a very clear plan that needed a specific tool I knew was in there somewhere. Compare that to having a crafty cabinet where all materials all easily accessible. These days I can just open a small drawer to instantly find what I’m looking for. Sometimes I simply open them to get ideas for what to make, which brings me to my next point.

Make it easy to feel inspired

Giving your supplies a special place is a way to celebrate your passion. A happy or inspiring presentation helps to evoke a similar feeling. Just as you would nest a beautiful golden ring or a sentimental necklace in a fancy jewelry box, you need to treat your passion-materials as high value objects.
Simply opening one of my many crafty drawers feels like a special occasion. Seeing all my paints perfectly lined up, having my colourful ribbons stacked together, or going through my experiment drawer (see video below) instantly fills me with joy. Although it isn’t a magic formula to start creating, it definitely helps to set a creative mood.
As I explained Monday, Marie Kondo tells you to surround yourself with objects that ‘spark joy’. My creative craft cabinet definitely does that for me. Think about how you can surround yourself with beautiful things, specifically those that evoke a feeling that you want to create more of. How can you create a space that helps you to be: creative, self-confident, relaxed or whatever it is you want?
Sometimes it’s just a matter of tidying, so the things you love will be able to pop out and get the attention they deserve. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding something new or building something. Whatever it is, make sure you create a beautiful and inspiring place for yourself.

Work with what you’ve got

You don’t always need to spend a lot of money to create your own dream space. Forget the beautiful edited pictures you saw online. Think about how YOU can create whatever it is you want to create for yourself.
The base of this creative craft cabinet was 4 mini chests of drawers. They belonged to my grandmother and Joran’s stephmom and I received them when they passed away. One of the letterboxes I found on a flea market years earlier. All the doorknobs were found in a thrift shop. The wood was leftover MDF that Joran had stacked in his attic. Only (part of) the paint, the storage folders on the side, the legs and a few hinges I bought new.
It took a LOT of time to build this cabinet. I underestimated the time needed. However, I was happy to invest that time because I loved the vision I had for what it would become. Try to translate your ideal vision of a space into a feasible, practical project. With some old materials and some creativity you can get a long way.

Now, le moment suprême: the video. Not only does it show how I (we) built my craft cabinet. I also personally show you a glimpse inside the drawers. And who doesn’t like to peek inside people’s personal drawers?

How does your space represent what you’re passionate about?

Images by my little sister.