Take a tour of Organized-ish HQ, the studio where Lela Burris and the Organized-ish team create blog posts and binder kits, shoot videos, and make crafts.
Welcome to my studio, or as we call it, Organized-ish HQ. This studio has been something I and my team have dreamed of for years. Before, we would pile up at my dining room table and have meetings, do group work, and lug down all my Cricut supplies for fun crafting power days. And while it was nice and intimate to work at a dining room table together, we knew we needed a space of our own.
Now that we have this studio, we have the space to let our creativity go wild, and spread out so we aren’t working on top of each other. I am so excited to invite you into my craft room/blog studio! Make sure you take your shoes off at the door, because those aren’t allowed unless we’re crafting. But real pants are totally optional, so sweatpants and yoga leggings are totally appropriate visitor attire. 😉


The Craft Zone
As you enter the door, you’ll find me sitting on the table like this. Kidding…kind of. But you will usually find me at this table. It’s my main workspace for all my craft and DIY projects. I knew I wanted a large work table, but I also wanted it to be light enough that I could move it out of the way if I need wide-open floor space. So instead of opting for a big bulky craft table, I chose two Ikea basic tables and sat them side by side in the middle of the crafting zone.

To raise the tables to save my back, I put the legs on bed risers. This was a cheap and easy way to have higher tables for working, but still allow me to lower them back down for team meetings that require a large conference table at chair height.

Behind the two big tables is The Wall Of Creativity. I know it’s cheesy, but I’m the boss and I can call it whatever I want. This wall is made with Ikea Boaxel shelving and Ikea Skadis pegboards. I created the shelving layout so I would have a counter-height work desk. The great thing about this placement is that I can swivel my chair between the wall desk and the floating work tables for efficient project work.

On the desk section, I keep my Cricut machines, heat presses, and laser printer, along with cutting mats and extra printer paper on the shelves and crafting tools and frequently-used embellishments on the pegboard. I added pop lights to the underside of the upper shelf to give me extra task lighting without having to take up desk space with a lamp. This is where I do most of my vinyl weeding and paper cutting.

Above the desk area are two long shelves that hold more craft supplies. These are things like adhesives, stickers, embellishments, stencils, painting supplies, holiday crafts, card making supplies, and hobby-specific crafts supplies. The labels are made with dry erase vinyl so I can easily change out the contents of the containers as my craft stash fluctuates based on the season.

To the left of the Wall Of Creativity is my secondary storage area, which holds all my vinyl, paper, and bigger craft supplies that don’t fit in the small containers above the wall desk. And to the right is where I store all my photography and video gear. These cube shelving units are from Ikea and are called Kallax. I like them because the cubby openings are almost 13″ wide and tall, so 12×12 scrapbooks and paper can fit in them easily. Most cube units only have 11×11 openings.



Some cubbies are divided using wine bottle inserts from Ikea, while others have specialty organizers from Stamp N Storage. And on the bottom, the containers I chose are actually bathroom storage containers from Target. I love them because they’re stackable and super sturdy. To label all my vinyl cubbies, I added transparent labels using my handheld label maker so the whole team knows where to find and put away supplies after a Power Day.


And the final area of the craft zone is my dollhouse workspace. This isn’t for the whole team, or for Organized-ish at all. The dollhouse renovation project is my own personal hobby and creative outlet, and this was the only place I had that I could store it all safely away from my cats at home. I love working on the dollhouse in the studio because it’s quiet, pet free, and usually people-free in the late evening. I use a rolling cart for building supply storage and a makeup organizer on the table for my go-to tools and adhesives.

The Office Zone
Moving to the next section of the Studio, you’ll find our office area. This is where we store all the biz stuff like client paperwork, blog paperwork, and Organized-ish Binder Kit stuff. That desk is where I write the blog posts and emails you see every week. And it’s also where I shoot most of my live video trainings. Across from the desk is a small dining table and two more chairs, where the team can work if they don’t want to sit at the big craft table. Most of them work virtually so they aren’t here all the time, but it’s nice to have an extra workspace so we can switch up our seating sometimes. We opted not to have multiple desks or cubicles, because none of us really like that vibe. We prefer a casual hangout space to work.

We also have a wall with big bulletin boards and calendars to keep our team organized. We pin up video outlines, shot lists for our photographer, and special event info. And we also have a giant two-sided dry erase board for mapping out ideas and outlines. And let’s be real, it’s an awesome board for impromptu afternoon games of Pictionary.
Get more ideas for maximizing blank wall space in my new course, The Organized-ish Craft Room.

The Rest Of The Studio
Also inside our studio is a kitchenette where we make coffee, drink coffee, talk about coffee, and wash paint brushes. (But mostly make more coffee) I lined the existing bar that was in the room with a peel-and-stick mural wallpaper I had custom-printed to fit the built-in bar. And I painted the countertop pink and coated it with three coats of polycrylic. It’s holding up very well with no scuffs at all. The key to the application was two coats of Zinsser Bullseye Primer. It will make any surface paintable without sanding.
There are usually barstools here, but I took them to my garage to be spray painted pink and yellow. I plan on knocking that out this week so we can get them added back. You know, for a place to drink coffee. Ha!

There’s also a bathroom (behind the teal door) which is under construction, and a hangout zone with a foosball table for taking breaks and letting our minds clear. This section is next up on the remodel list, and we want to make it a fun multi-use area for comfy team meetings, brain-breaks, and also plopping onto a sofa with a laptop for a more relaxed blog post creation space. The goal is for the whole team to feel comfortable here, and for it not to feel like an office. Once the rest of the studio is finished I’ll add those pics to the tour and update this post.
Want To Know What’s Happening At Organized-ish HQ?
Read every post I’ve ever written about craft room organization, and if you need more in-depth help keeping your craft area organized, I’ve got a start-to-finish course for any size room, closet, kitchen nook, or table.
The next semester of The Organized-ish Craft Room is open! This is my self-paced workshop-style training for how to plan, set up, organize, and maintain your craft space, no matter how big or small it is. If your craft room (or closet, or dining room nook) needs some serious organization, this course is for you. Enrollment fills up quickly, so grab your spot before the doors close.
Rosemary says
Where is your desk from in your Office Zone? I also love your pen organizer. Did you make that? What an amazing space!
Brad Gandy says
Hi Rosemary! That desk was from Target, but it has been discontinued. As for the pen organizer, those are shelf inserts from Stamp ‘n Storage. Here’s a link to get your own set.
Sherri says
That is a spectacular space!! So thoughtfully organized…fun…efficient…just perfect!! Can’t wait to see the rest when it’s done!
Brad Gandy says
Thanks, Sherri! We love working down there for sure, especially playing with the Cricut machines. 🙂 We’re always knee-deep in projects, so the whole space will be finished before you know it.
Trinka McCabe says
wow! looks great. my basement flooded so I will be starting all over. I hope I can pull off something as great as yours. Wish You lived near me!
Brad Gandy says
Oh no, we’re sorry to hear about the flood, Trinka. We’ve linked to or mentioned as many of our personal favorite products as we can, and we’re glad to help you with some inspiration for your rebuild.
Claire says
How large is that room?
Lela Burris says
Hi! It’s actually about 800 square feet total, including the kitchen area and community workspace that’s not shown. But just the craft and office zone of the room equates to 18×12.
Tracy Yost says
Is that a tiny saw for your dollhouse work? I must know what it is. Can you post a link for it? Thanks in advance. Beautiful space you’ve created.
Lela Burris says
Hi! Yes, I use it to cut dollhouse moldings and small pieces of balsa wood. It’s great! It even allows you to make mitre cuts! I got it from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2NBCEn8
Carolina E Gonzalez says
OMG! I love how you organized everything. But then you don’t want to make a mess by taking stuff out :(.
Great idea with the legs!!!!
Lela Burris says
My hack for keeping it clean is to schedule in cleanup time. Then I feel ok about making a mess. So if I have two hours to work in there, I set a timer for 1 hour and forty minutes. Then when the alarm goes off I know I have 20 minutes to clean up my mess. 😁
Jeannette says
You are the luckiest girl in the whole USA
Just sayin’
Lela Burris says
Thank you! I feel like it!