Welcome to Jennie Larsen WORKROOM
Buying a new home meant JENNIE LARSEN finally had a craft room. And she takes full advantage of the luxury, by making it a happy and social place to create in retro-style surroundings. By Janai Velez
Bright colours and room for craft gatherings were top prioriBuying a new home meant JENNIE LARSEN finally had a craft room. And she takes full advantage of the luxury, by making it a happy and social place to create in retro-style surrounding sites for Jennie Larsen, when she was furnishing her studio. She needed enough space to set up a large, folding craft table for when her mum and sister pop over for craft-night-ins.
“We love to create holiday wreaths. We also might do a popular holiday craft we’ve seen on Pinterest or floating around the web,” says Jennie, with as much enthusiasm for the gregariousness of the process as the stitching itself.
Make a pickle dish quilt with foundation piecing
The shared stories while crafting and making one another laugh are essential to the process. As are the snacks that are passed around. “We love Starburst, liquorice and M&M’S. If we are being healthy, then a vegie tray with dip,” admits Jennie.
Conducive to the merriment and creativity of the occasions are the vibrant room decorations, which seem to spread themselves by osmosis into the crafted designs being made within the studio walls.
“Colour is so important when it comes to crafting. All the shades make for so many different creative ideas,” she says. “I love wood projects, wreath making … anything that I get to use my glue gun with. As with most crafts, you dabble in something new and fun, and it leads to other new and fun things.”
When it came to designing her room, three things were design ‘musts’. “I knew two things were going in my space to anchor it, and those were my large turquoise cubby and my white hutch. I love gallery walls, so I knew I’d have one of those, too.”
Make your own japanese -style stencilled fabrics
To achieve a cohesive look for the gallery wall, Jennie combined circular, rectangular and square frame shapes and used a colour palette that complemented the rest of the scheme. Once all the frames where on the wall, the blank spaces were filled with decorative arrows and print outs.
Inside the closet is wall-hung boxed shelving her grandfather made for her when Jennie was little, to display her collection of Troll Dolls. Now, it stores jars filled with supplies, vases and sometimes a pretty candle.
Create a modern bargello quilt with precut fabrics!
“My grandfather was the most talented carpenter I knew, and he has since passed on. I will never part with it,” says Jennie. “I always think that you should add your own personal touches to any space, whether it be an inherited piece, a special item or something you made or fixed up.
Those are the things that bring the most inspiration to me, because I look at them and they make me happy.”
Along with these unique pieces, she’s added a few ‘surprise’ elements – literally, startling additions that continue to give her a shock. “I’ve been known to jump once or twice because of a mannequin I have in the corner of my room, as well as a vintage plastic hand that was once tossed on the floor. Both have made me do a double take!”
Jennie says she adores her craft room and feels lucky to have one.“That said, as most creative minds go, I’m always thinking of ways to improve, make it cuter or even change or rearrange” We’re hoping she doesn’t change it too much, though. It’s so lovely and welcoming just as it is. Her snack-devouring, crafty colleagues can vouch for that!
To find out more about Jennie Larsen, of Craft-O-Maniac, visit craft-o-maniac.com, follow her on Instagram (@craftomaniac) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/jencraftomaniac).
