I’ve had my DreamBox and Sew Station for over 6 months now, so I thought it would be a great time to update my reviews of both pieces and let you know how I’m feeling about them now that I’ve had more time working with them.
What is a DreamBox?
Before I dive into my 6 month review, I’ll give you a quick overview in case you’ve never heard of a DreamBox before. The DreamBox is a beautiful piece of furniture from Create Room. It’s designed to help you get your craft room organized AND provide a lovely crafting workspace. When closed, the Box looks like a beautiful armoire. When open, the Box transforms into a functional shelving unit with a fold-down desk that provides a huge amount of organized storage so you can quickly find and use your crafting supplies. Here’s a quick video that shows the transformation:
I also have an additional Left Side Table which provides more table space, and the Sew Station that houses my sewing machine and creates a wraparound workspace.
If you’d like to see a more in-depth video review as well as lots more photos and information, please visit my original post about the DreamBox: How the DreamBox Storage System Transformed My Craft Room
>>>The post linked above also always has the current sale info!<<<
If you’d like to see an in-depth video about my Sew Station, visit this post: Organize Your Sewing Room with the Sew Station
DreamBox Six Month Review
The bottom line is that six months later, I love my DreamBox even more than I did when I first got them. Here’s why:
The DreamBox makes is easy for me to stay organized. I am not a tidy crafter, and more often than not my craft room is a bit of a mess. However, I’ve noticed that cleaning my craft room usually takes less than 10 minutes now that I have a DreamBox because everything has a specific place to be put away. I’m more likely to put supplies away as soon as I’m done with them now. And even my daughter, who regularly raids my craft supplies, know exactly where everything goes so she can clean up her own crafting mess.
I love the extra table space provided by my side table. Since we had at-home online school the past couple of month, I’ve been sharing my craft room with my kids. It’s been nice that I can sit and work at the main desk while someone else can sit on the other side of the side table and work there.
Having a pretty and organized DreamBox makes my craft room a more inviting place to be. We’ve lived in our current hour for 5 years and this room has been my “office” the whole time, but before I had a DreamBox I spent most of my crafting time at my kitchen table. Because my office was always a mess. And even when it was clean, it wasn’t inviting. Now I really enjoy spending time in my craft room.
I now know exactly where to find all my craft supplies. You might think this wouldn’t be a big deal, but it is! I never used to know if I had extra adhesive or elastic in a certain width or twine in the right color, because they were all jumbled together in large bins. Now that all my supplies are organized, it’s easy for me to find what I’m looking for. And when my kids need something I can tell them exactly where to look! So I’m no longer buying supplies I already have or wasting time searching through bins when I could be crafting.
Sew Station Six Month Review
I’ve also been really pleased with the Sew Station. I honestly wasn’t sure how much I’d like it when I first got it – I’d always just set my sewing machine up on a desk or table top and wasn’t sure if I needed a specific piece of furniture for it. Here’s what I love about the Sew Station:
I really like that the surface the sewing machine sits on can be raised and lowered electronically. That means when I’m not sewing, it’s easy to store my sewing machine inside the Sew Station and place the lid over it, creating even more table space in my craft room. Then when I’m ready to sew, I can easily raise my machine to the exact height I prefer.
The plastic insert that perfectly fits your machine makes sewing easier! I’ve never sewn with an insert that gives you a completely flat sewing surface, so I was pretty skeptical of it at first. And to be honest, when I’m sewing clothes I prefer to have my machine all the way up for things like inserting sleeves, etc. However, over the past few months I’ve sewn hundreds of cloth masks to donate and having a completely flat sewing surface makes batch sewing so much easier! I think quilters would especially love this feature. Additionally, the flat sewing surface makes it easier to keep your seam allowance even, especially for beginners. I’ve been teaching my two elementary school aged kids to make masks, and having the plastic insert has has made it much easier for them to keep their seams straight.
The two table leaves provide lots of room around your machine. I like being able to keep a pressing mat and mini iron right next to me while I sew, so the extra workspace has been fantastic.
The pull out drawer is a great place to store seam rippers, needles, bobbins and other sewing items you’ll use regularly as you sew.
One thing I want to note: the Sew Station can hook into your DreamBox so that along with a side table you have a wraparound work surface. However, I have found that I prefer to keep my Sew Station separate (pushed up under my window) because that provides easier access to my supplies that are in the door of the DreamBox.
Reader Questions + Answers
A few of you have asked questions about the DreamBox so I thought it would be worth including them + my replies right here. If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll try to keep this post updated with answers.
Q. Is there room to store fabric in the box?
A. Sure! There’s room to store lots of stuff in the DreamBox – you just have to decide how you would like to utilize the storage. I have lots of general craft + blogging supplies in addition to fabric, so I chose to store my fabric in the closet in my craft room and store my other (generally smaller) craft supplies + sewing notions in the DreamBox. I did this because it’s easier to locate the smaller items when they all have a specific spot in the Box. However, you can customize your DreamBox any way that you’d like. My box includes the 80 tote and 77 shelf package upgrade; however, if you want to store fabric in your DreamBox, you could stick with the 40 tote and 53 shelf package that’s included in the base price. That will give you some larger areas where you could store fabric. Just be aware that the shelves on the far right and far left of the box are shallow and would be much better for storing notions that fabric. AND if you really have tons of fabric, you will likely need overflow storage elsewhere.
Q. Is there a place to store the side tables in the box?
A. No, the side tables do not store inside the box. Each side table has one table leg which folds down when the table is not in use. When I close my box (which is not very often because I am lucky enough to have the space to leave it open), I lean my side table up against a wall or slide it into my closet.
Q. Isn’t this insanely expensive?
A. Like most furniture, the DreamBox is definitely an investment, and yes, it is expensive. However, it’s comparable to the cost of having similar shelving built into a room but offers more flexibility because it can be folded up. Additionally, the smaller shelves and multiple totes and plastic jars are much more functional for craft supplies than traditional shelving units.
Q. Is the pre-built service worth the cost?
A. Any question of something being “worth it” is relative, but the pre-built service is really, really nice. This is a large and very complex piece of furniture, with LOTS of shelves and pieces. The pre-built service means the three main sections of the box are delivered to you already assembled, which probably saves multiple hours worth of work. Standing them up and hooking them together is fairly simple. Then you start the process of installing all your customizable shelving. For more info on the pre-built service, visit my original post: How the DreamBox Transformed My Craft Room
Click here to view and build your DreamBox (or purchase other furniture and accessories)
Visit this post for even more craft storage ideas.
Missy says
Why is there no link to purchase this
Anna says
is this available in dark brown color?
office chairs
Jenny V. says
Hi! So, I ordered my Dream Box during the Mother’s Day sale last year and because of law school and kids and a variety of other things, I am just now getting mine out to assemble. The Sew Station is on the wishlist of future purchases once this mammoth is paid off, so I am glad to hear you like it as much as you do.
I did have a couple of things I have been mulling during this process, and I am glad to have stumbled onto your page since you use yours for sewing (as opposed to predominantly for other things— paper crafts, cricut, etc. I have a cricut and press, and jewelry making supplies, and crochet needles/yarn, but sewing, quilting, smocking, and embroidery are what I do the most.
So, my questions are:
1. Do I need to plan to keep my additional cubbies for fabric and pattern storage, since I have a ton of both? I assume my three sewing machines (regular, serger, and embroidery) will go in here for now, but eventually one will move over once I get the sew station.
2. Did you lay yours out the way Create Room recommends to begin with, and have you found that your needs have changed and you have rearranged since first setting it up?
3. Are there things you specifically like or wish were a little different for sewing?
I appreciate your insight on this. I am typically a very organized person; I was completely unprepared for how daunting this process was going to be!
Krista McPhee says
I’ve been eyeing up the Dreambox for months. I appreciate you adding in the 6 months review because it is a big investment. Thank you for a thorough review.