More Craft Room Organizing Ideas

Take a peek into my studio...rest assured, it doesn't always look this tidy!

I promised more organizing ideas for your craft supplies, but I guess I'm really just sharing what works for me. 

First of all, I am very fortunate to have a room to call my own.  That wasn't always this case in this house.  For the first several years here, all of my supplies were in boxes in the attic, and my sewing machine was put up and taken down many times a month.  When we finally started working on the basement, I was able to carve out some space for a sewing room, and was happy down there for several years. 

But my four children grew up, and the youngest boys weren't so keen on sharing a room when they were home from college, so I gave up my sewing room for my son, and my husband and the boys started roughing out a space for me in the attic. 

 

My studio is 10 feet by 15 feet, but has sloping ceilings along the 10 foot walls.  I have two windows on the wall facing the street, and a door in the opposite 15 foot wall.  While I would love to have floor to ceiling shelves on all four walls, the sloped ceilings prohibit that, so I've had to make the best of the space.  On the wall between the windows, there is a large computer desk. My embroidery thread racks are up top, along with binders of beading, quilting and sewing projects that I have kept from magazines. I have space for my laptop, and some storage underneath. 

 On the right side of the room, I have a full size dining table, including the leaf, as a cutting/work table.  I used bed risers to make it the right height.  There is plenty of space underneath for Rubbermaid bins (mostly fabric storage) and a bookshelf and plastic drawers provide storage for smaller items. The plastic shoe boxes hold rubber stamps and other craft supplies.  Even though they are clear, I still label everything.    




On the left side of the room, I have two hand-me-down dressers.  The one on the left holds beads
and jewelry making supplies, with the bottom drawer filled with scrapbooking paper and dies for a Cuttlebug die cutting machine.  The one on the right has a whole drawer for buttons, pressing tools, glues and other adhesives, book-binding supplies, and larger sewing equipment.  On top is a two-drawer antique thread box that was my grandmother's.

My sewing table is an island in the center of the room, with space to walk around it on both sides.  It is a little over 6 feet long.  I bought this at Ikea about 20 years ago.  The base is made up of two cabinets -- one has double doors, the other has a single door.  I keep a lot of sewing supplies in these cabinets -- again, stashed in clear shoe boxes, so I can find zippers, velcro, bias tape and cone thread easily.  I keep the sewing notions that I use frequently in that small brown tackle box on top of my sewing table.  It's within easy reach of my machine. 

 Across from my sewing table, next to the door, is a tall bookshelf.  Plastic bins hold more sewing and embroidery supplies, the pizza boxes and binders hold rubber stamps, two other tackle boxes hold beading tools, and there is space on the shelves for some scrapbooking supplies. 

There is another, small bookshelf to the left side of the door, which holds 30 quart Rubbermaid bins of quilting fabrics, t-shirt knits, patterns, and antique linens and laces.

Yes, I've labeled just about everything.  That is the hardest part about moving into a new space...things are not where they used to be.  Although I found a place for everything, I don't want to spend too much time looking for my supplies, so I labeled as much as I could.   

My dear husband (d.h.) had made me two large pegboards for my basement sewing room, but I just didn't have the wall space for them in the attic.  So he kindly offered to cut one down for me, and you see it fits nicely around the window.  (The other one somehow ended up in his workroom!)

I picked up the clear plastic pegboard shelves at two different stores that were going out of business.  These hold ribbons (at the very top), some rubber stamps, punches and scissors, embossing powders, and other papercrafting supplies. 

There are few other things in the room.  A small wooden bookshelf holds sewing, beading, stamping and craft books.  You saw my carousel for rubber stamps and ink in the last post; I also have an Iris cart with other small stamps tucked between the dresser and the bookshelf.  And I have the rocker I bought when my oldest was born, right next to the computer desk.  It's important to have a place for visitors to sit in the studio, because someone is always popping in to chat while I work (or while they are waiting for me to finish mending something for them).  One last little cabinet holds my special things. 

My grandfather was a skilled carpenter, and he built this child-sized cupboard for my mother when she was a girl.  When I was little, my brother painted it white and gave it to me on Christmas.  I played with it for many years, and after I moved out of the house, my mother used it in her sewing room.  I inherited it when she died.  It holds many little sewing related knic-knacs, including my grandmother's sewing basket.  Behind the upper doors are music cd's.  The drawers and lower cabinet are used to store keepsakes and supplies for my letterboxing hobby.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my studio, and picked up a few ideas to incorporate into your own crafting space, no matter how big or small.  If you will indulge me, I'd like to reiterate:  label as much as you can, so you don't waste precious time looking for what you need.  Then you'll have more time to craft! 

Now, go make something fast!