I know most women do not have a craft room. I think, though, that the concept of organizing your supplies works regardless of the space you have. The two words that come to mind when I think of organizing my supplies are "containerizing" (which applies to organizing most anything, not just crafts) and "work zones" (like in the kitchen). I'm by no means an expert at organizing-I never claimed to be. However, I think after having several craft rooms in different houses and different sizes of spaces to worth with, I'm getting a little better at organizing this room (at least to suit my needs).
In our first house, I stored my stuff in a couple drawers. In the next house, we had an armoire that we converted to a craft cabinet. Then the next house I got a full closet and a desk, and finally a whole room in our current house. We recently did some rearranging of rooms and I moved my craft room so we could create a food storage room. In moving, I have ended up in a smaller room. So I took my time and researched to see what might suit my likes and needs. I found several craft rooms online that I took ideas from to create what I call my "studio" (sounds more sophisticated than a "craft room").
I think I can describe my organization in my craft room better with pictures. So here are a ton of pictures with descriptions:
One thing I love about my new space is the fact that I have a door. Yes, you can see in, but it still helps to hide my mess when I'm really working. I can easily add sheers to the back side if I want.
This is my project table that I LOVE!(Target online!) It was pricy, but I found in all my years of crafting that I'm a "stander". Even when I had a craftroom, I found myself in the kitchen because of the island (great for cutting my fabric). So I decided that I would like one in my craft room. There are several things that I love about it. First, the size. It has a nice size top that's great for larger projects, or my rotary mats. I keep a piece of plexi glass on top so I don't scratch it up. I also love the bookcase legs. I'm still working on what I want to store there, but I have the room to work with. Right now I've got my extra ribbons in boxes and my Cuttlebug, and shipping scale, and laminator there. On top I have this nice organizer to hold all my tools. It's a great way to keep my pens, knifes, scissors and stuff in one container.
This is where the bulk of my storage is. I love these shelves from Ikea. I know many of crafters that have these because of their versatility. I've used a variety of containers, baskets, and bins on these. The top shelves hold my books, albums, school books, Scouting books (current calling), Primary help books, Primary helps CDs, etc. I love that I can decorate with pictures, but not have holes in the wall. Such inspiration to have family photos and pictures of my kids all around. My birthday calendar is up there on the top shelf too, along with my TV!
I have a full section of these lined baskets I purchased 50% off at Michaels. Each basket holds a different category of supplies: stamps, unfinished paper projects, unfinished wood projects, large ribbons, metal embellishments (all my picture hangers, wires, magnets, etc), etc. It's nice to have my unfinished projects right in the middle of the shelves, without a lid, so I constantly see them-constant reminder for me. And by grouping them together, it makes it easier for me when I want to finish them. Usually I'm either in the mood to paint, or to stamp, etc. So if all my unfinished wood projects are together, then I grab the whole bin, lay the wood out on the table, and I can paint several projects at once.
This is one of the fabric bins that I have. I have two rows on each set of bookcases. I found them at Target and they fit the size perfectly for these shelves. Most of mine are filled with fabric. I've got it separated into flannels, fleece and cottons. I have one bin for projects that I've started. I have one that's full of my yarns and crochet threads. Then I have one that holds my extra paint bottles, and one that holds all my paint supplies: paint brushes, plastic wrap, wax paper, sanding paper, etc. Then I have several that hold all my work supplies: one for metal ovals, one for metal scrolls, one for finished vinyl projects (that are organized in manila folders), one with packaging supplies and one with shipping supplies (all my different sized envelopes, tapes, tissue paper, bubble wrap, etc).
I have these plastic paper dividers for my patter papers. I have them separated into groups like: Christmas, Other Holidays, Baby, Masculine, Feminine, etc. Each plastic divider came with plastic pouches to further organize the papers. So I have them organized in the pouches, grouping sets of papers together. Most my papers I get in stacks or sets so that's how I organize them. I also store my extra sheet protectors, specialty papers (vellums, etc) and white cardstock (because I buy it in bulk) here.
This I purchased from Ikea also. It's meant for the kitchen, but I think it's perfect for a craft room. It's on the wall in front of my scrapbooking desk. Makes it convenient to have supplies in the bins and paper towels handy.
This is my electronic center. I have my laptop, printer, and my cutters all in this area. I made the project board above the desk. You can't see the fabric bulletin board side because of my "Edward" poster (Christmas gift from a friend). So it's a bulletin board/white board. The legs of my desks are great because they have storage in them. So I have a couple magazine holders to store my computer paper, and then specialty papers like transparencies, business cards, etc. Then I have a couple bins in the other leg, one for small scraps of vinyl, and one for the vinyl that I have cut, but haven't pulled.
I love the drawer storage unit. It has 6 large drawers and it's on wheels so I can move it out away from the wall when I'm cutting large pieces of vinyl.
So I'll show you how I have my drawers organized. The top drawer has a bin for pens/pencils, and then has most of my cutting accessories-cutters, scissors, exacto knives, blades, etc. As you can see, I use the Walmart bins a lot.
The next drawer has my punches and circle cutter. If I didn't have this cabinet, I'd probably put all of these items in a basket or bin, so they are still together. Think "function" when grouping items...
Next is my embellishments. Some people choose to put these in small bottles and display on shelves on the wall. I was trying to stay away from too many holes in the walls so I chose to put them in these organizers, and then in a drawer. You could also store in baggies, according to type (brads, eyelets, tiles, metal letters, etc) and put in a box or basket.
This drawer has all my stamping supplies: inks, stamp cleaner, roller, embossing powders, heat gun, chalks, sponges, watercolors, etc. Again, organized with bins.
This drawer is for adhesives. They are catagorized by type: dots, tapes, liquids, tape guns, glue guns, staples, etc. With this being a drawer I use all the time, you might think that I'd have it higher in the cabinet. However, because it stores my modge podge, I needed a taller drawer. The cabinet has short drawers on top and taller drawers on the bottom. That's why this one is towards the bottom.
The last drawer is my ribbons. I've stored my ribbons several ways in the past. You can put the spools throw dowels and hang them up. You can make or purchase ribbon boxes where the ribbons hang out the sides, etc. I found this way easiest for me (for the moment). If I have any duplicate spools, I have a couple boxes on my island bookcases where I store them. The only thing this wasn't really great for storing were the big rolls of ribbons that I have (I buy my grosgrain in 100yd spools). They are kind of shoved in the back. But until I find a better place, this is where they will stay. The bins are holding my small ribbon pieces that I get from scrapbook stores and specialty ties.
The other 1/2 of my L-shaped desk (on the other side from the computer) is my sewing corner (if I'm not scrapbooking. When I organized, I tried to think of "zones". So this is the sewing zone. One of the legs of the table is a cabinet similar to the larger one above, but it's got 5 drawers and they are narrower. This is where I keep my sewing supplies.
Top drawer: sewing essentials. I have my pins, scissors, rotary cutters/extra blades, sewing machine accessories, extension cord, etc.
Next drawer: threads! Love this drawer! I have been fretting with this drawer for awhile until my dear friend Alisa solved my issue by giving me threads! At first, I only had a few of the small spools and they didn't sit well mixed in with the larger spools, but I wanted colors grouped so I was having a little issue (I know, go ahead and laugh-issues with thread. But it was...)
I got this nice package of threads on the small spools so I was able to separate the sizes of spools and group colors together. I LOVE having the right shade of thread for a project!
I used to keep my threads in a sewing tote-when I was actively going to church to sew and didn't have a drawer. I love this way so I can see at a glance what I have-hopefully it will keep me from buying duplicates which I've done in the past because they weren't color organized. Another thing I've done is use a piece of scotch tape to tape the end of the rolls down to the spool so they don't get tangled. I think this is a must if you're going to put all your threads in a bag, box, or bin. There is nothing worse then having to sit there and untangle 10 spools that have tied themselves in knots.
Ok, I'm showing this drawer because of the containers in it. In the back, I have lidded boxes (that came in my sewing tote). I keep all my supplies for quilting in these. Why? I usually quilt at church or in another room of my house where I can set up my quilting frames. Having the supplies in containers makes it really easy to put them in my tote and haul to church, or take into my other room to quilt. The purple thing is a cylinder with dividers. I keep safety pins and thumb tacks in there. They are divided and organized by size (I think it has 6 compartments. If you have oils for your sewing machine or cricut, put them in something so they don't ruin your drawer or basket. I have mine in a plastic bin-could you have guessed!! lol
My other drawers in this cabinet contain my patterns and my rotary guides.
On the shelf right by my desk, I have my business catalogs, card making magazines, scrapbooking magazines and books. Makes it very easy to grab one and get a little inspiration!
Most of you have seen this, but it's one of the things I get the most comments on-my paint caddy. I lug this everywhere-especially to church when I'm teaching a craft. I just wrap a little plastic wrap around it so the bottles don't fly out when I'm driving. Paints are organized by colors-here again-I did it because it's the one way to make sure I don't buy duplicates. I was writing the name of the paint on the bottle top and storing them with their tops out. That was fine for me because I know most of the names. But when other women use my paints, they don't know the names so they go off of the color. So this makes more sense for me. But what I have done is put a little black dot on the lid if I have an extra bottle of that color in my "overflow bin". My "overflow" bin also holds all my larger containers of paint as I purchase some colors in the super size bottles.
I found these glass canisters at Ikea and loved them (especially their frosted look) but I wasn't sure what I could store in them. Well, they work out great for my flowers.
Did I say that I love boxes?!?! lol I have boxes of all different sizes and shapes. I just found these at Walmart and really like them. They come in a package of three different sizes and they are collapsible. You must snap the bottoms together to make them-very easy. They are plastic. I think I got the set of three for $9 and they are pretty big so I thought that was a great price. Look in the office section! (They come in different colors too).
Many of my other boxes are from Walmart also. In their scrapbooking section they have these smaller white boxes-great for storing and organizing your photos so you can scrapbook them. The larger boxes I have organized all my children's special artwork, cards, or larger pictures that I will be adding to our albums. I think that I will cover them in pattern paper or add ribbon so they tie into the room. I need to label them too.
These white boxes are from Walmart too-found in the scrapbooking section. The small ones I store my chipboard letters and shapes, and in another small one I have all my photo prints stored (organized by dividers) so I can easily scrapbook them. The larger boxes are great for storing your children's artwork in, until you take pictures of it or put it in albums. I also have our larger family pictures in there until I put them in binders, and one for cards we give each other. I need to decorate them with pattern paper or ribbon and label them. They are also a great size to use for storing any 12 x 12 pages that you aren't done with (along with any supplies or extra pictures you're putting on the pages). I think the boxes are 13 x 13 or larger. I know I've posted this idea before, but what I do with all my kids' art projects are to save only the really special ones for my albums (mostly cards for mother's day or father's day). All the others I put in a box, and then when I get a chance, I lay them on the floor in groups of 10-20 and 1 picture of each group. Then I can scrapbook this photo that shows all their pieces and I don't end up with albums and albums of artwork.
This is stored in my large cabinet (I'll show you in a minute) to hold my solid cardstocks. I love the individual clear bins (with lids). I have them separated again by color and the bins are large enough to hold 12 x 12. I have all sizes of cardstock in here, from small 8x8 to the 12 x 12. (I keep my scraps in another bin). Some people put their cardstock on stacking trays, on their shelves. They have each tray a different shade of color. I didn't do it because I buy my paper everywhere and thus have probably 50 shades of red, and the fact that the trays were expensive. I already had this and it's worked for years so I'm sticking to it. It's nice and easy to just pull out the color I need. The only problem I have is that I'ved filled it up-and then some! Guess I need to use my cardstock!
This is my quiet zone. I wanted a comfortable chair where I could cuddle up with a good book. You'll see that the end table holds all my books (well, not all, but some. I can store books in the front and then on the side. I have my coasters, remote, and candy dish (minus the candy because Jarrett has found it!) on the table. It is in front of the window so I can be reading a book while the boys are playing out front and I can see them. I also wanted a place where a friend could come and sit and chat while I was crafting-if they don't craft. Jarrett loves to come and sit in the chair, eat the candy, and watch my new flat screen tv!
When I agreed to move out of the old craft room, I told the hubby that a new cabinet was a must. I know most might question why, but I really have a lot of stuff. This is for all those oversized things and my business stuff. I have that paper cabinet in here (because I had more more space to put it), along with all my vinyl rolls, easels, plates for my business, ironing table (it's a 1/2 size), iron, my sewing machines, etc. I don't know if you can tell, but on the right side (when looking at it), you'll see a little blue. I intentionally didn't put it against the wall on that side. I have it pulled out about 8-12 inches. That's where I store all my shipping boxes (flattened of course), butcher paper roll, cellophane wrap (for wrapping baskets and gifts), oversize metal, and large wooden plaques (for orders). It's just a nice little cubby to hide away all that stuff. Maybe one day I'll have room in the cabinet for that stuff, but not right now! This was purchased at Ikea (it's a wardrobe). The height helps to make the ceiling look higher and the dark black-brown color helps to ground my whites. Love it!
I think craft spaces are highly individualized and personalized. There are so many different crafts out there. You need to design your space to fit your needs. If you ever get the priviledge of having a craft room, think about what you're going to use it for, before you spend a lot of money on furniture. In the past I've made sure that I had plenty of desk space for friends to come over. Since that's no longer an issue, this space is more intimate with more open storage and less tables. I can still have a close friend over to craft (if I can find another crafting buddy!), but my whole room isn't tables (like my previous one was when I was teaching classes in my home). I like having a "computer" station, and my "sewing" station (that can be for scrapbooking if I'm not sewing anything then. I usually leave my sewing machine out, and then mainly use the large island to do my scrapbooking and vinyl projects on. If you're always sewing, you'll want a table where you can keep it out. If your stuff is "out", you're more prone to use it and complete the projects.
Happy crafting! If you're ever in the area, make sure you bring a craft project or let me know what you want to work on. I'd love to craft with you!!
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