Hello darlings! I pray today finds you happy as a clam.
Today I would like to share with you something super exciting in my world.
After 25 years of trying to carve out space for myself and my crafty brain, and having a couple of decent spaces along the way, I can honestly say I have a fabulous crafty studio. I have the smallest bedroom in our home (approx. 9×13′) and have turned it into my little oasis. Aside from my back patio, this is my favorite spot in the house and I spend a LOT of time in this room. It’s small but mighty.
I ordered the Dream Box on Black Friday 2020. My estimated shipping date was December 28,2020. I wasn’t expecting to receive it till well after the first of the year. These things are pretty much made to order, and I knew the company was having supply issues due to COVID. However, Bertha arrived at my house on December 28th!!!!
Create Room uses Old Dominion freight. I’ve never got anything via freight before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was able to watch Bertha’s journey from Arizona to Florida (super cool), and the same morning that she arrived in Orlando, Old Dominion called me. The delivery driver called me when he got off the exit into my town. Now the shipping is “curbside delivery” so I was figuring I’d beg the guy to put it in the garage. We don’t have a long driveway but we are in Florida, and it can rain at any moment. Not only was Luis just super duper nice, he OFFERED to put it in the garage for me.
Luis asked me all kinds of questions about what the heck this thing was, why some crates were huge and some were not, etc. We had a very nice chat. Create Room has sent a Christmas card with a pop up Dream Box so I showed him that so he could see what it was and he was pretty amazed. He called it a “tool box for crafty ladies”. Perfect description!
My husband is such a good sport. He came home from work to take a few pics for me and to get the crate lid off.
Ya’ll this thing is awesome. I wish I’d bought one way back in 2005 when they first came out, but I couldn’t fathom spending the money. But you know what? With all of the furniture pieces (all second hand purchases and IKEA stuff), containers, etc., that I’ve tried, purchased, etc.,, I’m sure I could’ve bought two of these. It’s a great investment, especially if you’re tight on space. For example, our home in Ohio was a 3 bedroom (one bedroom was a converted attic). I started out with a TINY computer armoire in the living room with hubby’s desk beside it. We eventually moved his desk and my craft stuff to the basement and spread out all over the place 😂 It was a disaster and not very pretty. Once the kids started graduating and moving out, I moved out of the basement into a bedroom that was almost 12×12′ (hubs decided to remain a basement dweller). I had a pretty sweet set up in that room but it was super cramped ( we kept a day bed in that room for guests, and I used it for a couple of months after the stroke). I had my tool box and tons of IKEA in that room. If I’d had a box then (called the Work Box then the Scrap Box back then), that room would’ve been so much more comfortable.
Now, even in this tiny room, I feel like I have more space than I did in the room in Ohio. Bonus, I don’t have to keep a bed in this room, but if needed, I can close up the Dream Box to set up a bed if we need to let a guest sleep in here. It’s just awesome!
Here’s the crate with the lid off. This was very well packaged. Hubs was impressed with the packaging ang how everything was labeled. It took him 6 hours total to assemble it.
I mean look at this guy! In his PJs with a smile on his face. I am so blessed!
Here’s Bertha in the process of being loaded up. It was a lot more work than I anticipated it would be 😍 but worth every minute! She is 9′ wide when fully opened and as you can see there’s only a couple of inches space on each side. You don’t have to use it fully opened, however, so it’s totally doable for even smaller spaces.
Now, this is NOT a cheap piece for furniture. I liken it to a Disney vacation (pre-COVID, anyhow). It’s not cheap but it’s a good value. Create Room does offer financing if you want to go that route. I saved up some money (the IKEA stuff that I sold out of my craft room, cards that I made and sold, money from the eggs that I sell from our chickens, etc.) over about a year. I didn’t purchase a fancy front since she’s going to be open unless we have a guest sleeping in here. I didn’t get the crown light because this small room has a large window and I have fabulous natural light. The only ‘extra’ I purchased was more totes. And I would like to purchase the slim totes and another set of jars. maybe a Dream Cart in a year or two.
I’ll be doing a craft room tour near the end of February. There’s a couple of things that need finishing before I do a big craft room reveal, but it’s gonna be fabulous!
Remember, be excellent to each other!
Go make fun stuff.