How I Setup A Wreath Shop In My Garage
Many of my followers ask me how I have my wreath business setup in my home. Well here it is, welcome to my wreath shop! It’s not pretty and I’m sure it won’t be breaking any Pinterest repining records but it is functional. I have my shop setup in my two car garage. I have to share the garage with yard tools and my husband’s Disc Jockey equipment but I’m fine with that; I just feel very blessed to be able to work from home. I guess I could take the time to paint the walls, put in flooring, etc. but honestly, I don’t need a fancy space to be creative and no one sees this space but me. One day maybe I can spruce up the place but for now, I’m just happy that I swept the floor.
[Tweet “How to Set Up a Craft Space in Your Garage.”]
It is wonderful to work from home and to be here for the kids when they get home from school. However, I sometimes have a hard time transitioning from work to family life and I usually work longer than I should. Plus it is much easier putting off housework to go make pretty wreaths. LOL My workshop has no heat or AC, the garage door is insulated but not the exterior wall. But that’s okay, I use heaters and fans to help control the temperature. One day I hope to have insulation added to that wall.
Here is a walking tour video I made showing you the different zones of my wreath shop:
I clean the work area 3-4 times a year, typically when I transition from season to season or when it gets so cluttered that I can’t safely walk around. You can see more pictures of my workshop below including some additional notes.
Below is where I stock my shipping boxes. I list where I purchase my boxes locally and places online in my ebook link here www.learndecomeshwreaths.com.
This is the area where I take my pictures. I use three shadow boxes to light the area and I use a piece of insulation to help reflect the light back up. I talk about how to edit photos in my ebook forum, www.learndecomeshwreaths.com I hang some of my premade wreaths on pegs from the ceiling. Hubs created a long hook for me so I don’t have to climb a ladder when I need to get one down.
This is my work easel and table where I hot glue. You can find instructions for making a table top version of a wreath easel link here. I keep containers full of seasonal flowers that I change out as the season does. Most of these spring flowers came from Michael’s or Carolina Pottery. Under this table I store 10” mesh and grapevine wreaths.
I’m supper excited about my storage drawers from Walmart! On the end by the garage door of this photo, I stacked two drawer units on top of each other. The plastic open shelving unit is where I store my current season ribbon (4th of July or St. Patrick’s Day) and is from The Container Store. The black rotating shelf organizer is from Harbor Freight Tools. You can see another video of this on my SouthernCharmWreaths Instagram page here.
Another picture of organizing my ribbon by color in drawers. I love these drawers because they can be pulled completely out so I can take the whole drawer with me to the work table.
I use an elevated card table with a utility mat on top of it for cutting ribbon and making the mesh wreath bases. The utility mat is green and I can use my rotary cutter on it without it damaging the table. I also have a brown piece of cardboard under the mat. I like to write down my wreath recipes in ink pen here, that way if I need to work on a wreath I haven’t made in a while, I just lift up the mat and find the recipe. A wreath recipe is just like a cooking recipe, it has measurements of ribbon and mesh, number of ornaments, placement of elements, and pricing. I give out a lot of my wreath recipes for free to my ebook customers here. I also use the step ladder as a form of shelving to hold my partially used mesh rolls. This helps me to remember to use these first instead of opening a new roll.
I have another table on the other side of the card table where I lay out all of the seasonal signs, ornaments, flowers etc. that I want to use. I work better when everything is out in front of me and I don’t have to search. Many times as I am working on one wreath on the card table, I’m glancing over to the supply table to see what I have and contemplating my next wreath…always thinking ahead. I have a box of burlap mesh and paper mesh on the end of the table, under the blue wreath. Under the supply table I store evergreen wreath bases and boxes of out of season supplies. On the end of the table by the garage door I store long stemmed flowers in plastic garbage cans.
Well, that concludes the tour of my wreath shop! I hope I was able to give you some tips for organizing your own craft room space. Let me know if you can think of a better way to organize mine as I’m open for any and ALL suggestions.
Happy Wreathing,
Julie
Julie, thanks for the tour. Love seeing how you organize your crafting area. Sadly my space is not as large as your, but I have a craft room and also use my kitchen bar and dining room area. It works out pretty good. I try(lol) to keep my supplies stored in clear plastic bins. They are pretty well organized at the start of a project, but not so much by the end!!!! I will try to incorporate some of your great ideas into my program. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for the tour.
Hello Julie, it is so nice to see others work areas. My husband would die if I took over his garage.(LOL). He said he had a dream that I did just that. So, he built me a shop 16×16 with an attic. And I have out grown it. I am now reorganizing and still do not know where I am going to put everything. I work in my shop until after dinner then i relocate to the kitchen, some nights until 4 am. But like you said, it was nice to be here for my kids, and now that my adult son is in a wheelchair, he really needs me at hand. However, I did get some more great ideas on doing a few things different. I guess this year I will add another 16×16 addition. I will have to post my work area, I think I have more flowers then Hobby Lobby.
Thank you so much for the tour.
Where did you buy your revolveing tool stand . I also paint i have been looking for something like this.
Harbor Freight. It was $20. You can purchase online too if you don’t have a store near you at Harborfreight.com. I thought it would look cute painted a bright color too but just don’t have time.
I bought some meshes, wraps and ribbons from http://www.papermart.com/HOME last Christmas to decorate my tree and now I am left with the remaining stuff. I was wondering if you could share some tutorials with us about making a wreath than I could use that stuff to make a beautiful wreath.
Hi Julie,
I thought it was interesting to see how you store things. We are very similar on our thought process. I don’t do this as a work from home business. I have just done it for fun over the years and made them as presents and done a couple of booths. Since people didn’t seem to want to pay what the wreaths were worth around here, I just kept to it for myself and friends, along with doing them as gifts.
I have taken the deco mesh empty rolls and come them up into different sizes to help store my picks and tools in for more stacked organization. It was a way to recycle some of what I use and helped me get more stuff in less space.
Thanks for sharing your stuff.
Elizabeth
Great idea! I use the large tubes the ornaments come in from Hobby Lobby to do this too. Great idea though and thanks for sharing your tip!
That’s a great idea for the empty rolls!! Thanks for sharing!!
Julie, Thanks so much for sharing your space. I also appreciate the updates you do for those who purchased your e-book. You have really encouraged me. Thanks so much! Praying for many blessings and much prosperity for your family and business!
Awe thank you!
HI Julie ,
Wow , you really do put a lot of stuff in a very small space. You are and will always be my hero!!! I wish I could give you a big hug for all you do to help all of us .
It’s amazing what you do each and every day. I know the Lord is your guide as he is mine so I know you are constantly smiling and praising the Lord for all the gifts he has given you.
You are incredibly talented and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your gifts with us.
Yes I’m very blessed and give Him thanks and Praise daily. Thank you!
WHAT A GREAT IDEA. I NEVER THOUGHT TO DO THAT, BUT GARAGE IS FULL BUT I LIKE THE IDEA ALOT. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS VIDEO.
Thank you for the tour,I am 74 years olds and I just started to make the wreaths and now I can not stop,I am a snowbird in fl for now in April I will be going back home upstate ny and I. Have wreath for all seasons to show my kids and friends.thank you so much
Greetings Julie,
I been a follower of yours for a year now and I must say that your “hands” have been trully kissed by God with such a graceful and loving talent that has touched the heart of many as your wrapping, curling, swirling, gluing, smiling and loving us through each strand of color , fabric and thread. Thank you a true precious southern charm.
With warmest regards,
Yvonne
Awe thank you Yvonne!
Where did you get the shadow box lights? I cannot get good pictures of my wreaths. Thank you for sharing.
Online at backdropsource.com
I love your wreath shop its very organized. It looks so fun, great that you are doing so well at your craft. I enjoy making wreaths, my mind just goes wherever I want.
Thanks for the tour
Hi Julie,
Just like your other readers and followers have said, I love, love, love your work. I noticed that some of the ladies mentioned all the help you give them. How does this happen. How can I get in the “loop”? Jody Perry
I help them through the forum of my ebook, http://www.learndecomeshwreaths.com Tons of great information there.
Julie,
First I would like to thank you for your e-book and website. I have a couple of questions
1. I’m having a hard time finding orange, coral, teal,Salmon ribbon and also more college and pro football ribbon.
2. What would you suggest to help get the word out about the wreaths?
Again thank you for all your hard work!!!
Julie, thank you so much for the inspiration and knowledge you have shared. I feel so blessed that I have been able to make these beautiful wreaths. God has opened this door during a difficult time in my life, and I thoroughly have enjoyed coming up with new wreath ideas. A local gift store in my area is selling my wreaths, which has encouraged me even more. Thank you again.
Beth
Thank you so much Julie. I am so excited at how much I am learning from you and all the incredible ladies on your forum, I so wish that I had all your talent. God bless you so much and please keep up the awesome work!!
Thank you very much Julie.
Julie, Thanks so much for sharing your work space with us. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I’m spending time this week reorganizing my craft space and supplies. I definitely picked up a few good tips from your tour. You are such a talented lady and I thank you for taking the time to share that with others.
I was wondering where you buy all of your mesh and wreath work from and do you buy it in a bulk or Lot … I love all of your awesome videos i just wasn’t sure if you have a website that you buy your stuff
Thank you so much for your help
I list all my vendors (over 100) in the forum of my ebook, http://www.learndecomeshwreaths.com
The most important thing that you did not mention are your rubber mats. These are great when standing for long periods of time on concrete. You are one talented lady!!!
Oh you are SOOOOO right!! I wish I could afford to do the whole floor!! I purchased these at Home Depot and I’ve seen them at Tractor Supply too.
Ladies, I was just telling my husband about how giving Julie is. She truly blesses us all with the information she shares and ‘gives’ away. Others are interested in making money even though they purport they have been blessed by God and thank Him every day for their blessings ($s) and want to share their talents (however, we pay for it if we want the knowledge). I really have a great deal of respect for Julie because she’s, I think, kind of like me and many of you, in that I/we don’t have a lot of $’s. That makes me respect what Julie is doing for all of us that much more. She is a giver. Thank you Julie for your loving kindness and generosity.
This truly brought me to tears. Thank you, thank you Sandra! I very much needed this message this week.
Hi, I love your work! You are really talented. I like the fact that you give God the glory for your talent! I was wondering where you got your easel that you put your wreaths on while you work.
I love to makwreaths! I have a building that I am working on getting it set up to work out of. All my wreath making stuff has taken over my house. Thank you for all the tutorials and helpful ideas that you give.
Thank you!
Maria
hi Julie
Where do you get all of your embellishments?
Hey Tracey, Thank you for visiting my blog. I purchase them from all over really. I love Hobby Lobby for signs and ornaments, Carolina Pottery and Sims Pottery for ribbon and flowers; to name a few. I list over 100 vendors in my ebook, http://www.learndecomeshwreaths.com.
Where do you buy your boxes from.
I buy locally from a manufacturer but you can purchase online at staples.
Thank you so much for sharing usally craft rooms I see they have a petty separate room . And i also work from my garage and I got some great ideas thanks. I try to balance my family stuff and with my things from the shop in the garage. And I also live in the state of Nevada and the garage gets petty hot in the summer that’s another thing I have to work on.
I’m glad you found it useful! It gets really hot here too. I use fans for now but hopefully one day I can install an AC unit.
Thank you so much for all of the info you have passed along. I am retired but still need some income. I’m thinking sbout creating wreaths, swags, garlands, etc, anything to do with mesh and ribbons. I LOVE to create and love when I make people happy with them.
Unfortunately, I give away most of my creations and now realize that I could supplement our SS by selling things.
I also love that you are a Gamecock fan! That’s the first thing I spotted on your fridge in the garage!
I live in Charlotte NC and don’t know if I can heat or cool my garage enough to work but I am sure I can come up with a solution.
Thanks again.
Loved the tour, gives me hope that for now since I’m not going to be able to hold a real full time job for a good a while (just found out i have cancer) and I’ve always enjoyed working with flowers, ribbon, ect. I might be able to still contributed to my family and have something to make myself keep going. Lovin your whole blog thank you
Julie
I love the video. I had known you worked in your garage but for some reason imagined it perfectly set up with everything stored in some state of the art way that was perfectly neat and orderly. It is very orderly but seeing it makes you more normal and me to. For me being creative gets messy. And like others have said it can take your house over. I clean up after every project or wreath and get it back in order but my world is full of box’s I’ve wrote on so I can find stuff, all stacked where labels show in one of my spare bedrooms. The other spare bedroom has shelves of mesh and other supply and I work in the living room. All I can say is it’s a good thing my kids are grown and I’m single. You have inspired much of my creativity and now that I see I’m pretty normal and there is no easy way to store it all I feel even better. You are extra and above the rest with talent and I love your work. So glad I found you to learn from. Thank you so much.