Chris Gardner is a modern decorating Jedi — he has attained the level of DIY Master. He's the man behind many of the great projects featured on Curbly, so to help kick off Home Project month (starting today and going on throughout February), we hit him up to share a before & after project from his own home. He came through with flying colors, as expected. Just wait until you see the room now…
Chris tells us: When I was able to make the leap and take my creative career full time, I realized I was going to need more than just my couch and a laptop to maintain a productive work-at-home environment. As a craft and DIY design writer and editor, I'm often working on several how-to projects, and wanted to create a space where I could figure out processes and shoot step-by-step photos.

I had a home office space, but it'd been a ramshackle, disorganized setup since I moved in a few years ago. So I invested about $500, got creative with IKEA furniture and hardware store staples, and created a functional workspace that allows me to stay on top of the diversity of projects I have going on at any given time.
See lots more photos of Chris' redone craft room and get details on the how he pulled off the new look: My Total Office Makeover: Done! | Curbly
Thanks, Chris!
Images: Chris Gardner/Curbly

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I love how this turned out. The knife strip as a scissors-holder is great. I use them for my sharp sewing supplies and it keeps them handy and safe. Great job, Chris!
I would love to have that much open bookshelf space for my knitting books. It would keep me from having to go digging in my closet when I needed a reference.
Nice! I notice that you, like my husband and a lot of creative types, very much like to listen to music as you work.
I bet all those books make the acoustics terrific.
very nice!
i'm having room workspace envy right now.
That is an incredibly inspiring space to be creative in. Bravo!
I sometimes wonder how many home business are launched with IKEA and $500... I know it worked for me!
i love the desk with the built-in lightbox (assuming that's what it is), very sleek.
sigh...one day I will have a craft room again. In the meantime I will settle for a craft armoire...<<insert little girl squeal here>>>...the DIYer in me in repurposing an old TV armoire into a craft armoire. Here is my progress. www.dosomethingcreativedaily.blogspot.com
The chair looks so stunning. The black colour pops out against the grey floor and the bookcases.