Organizing Your Craft Space!

By | 02/24/2013

Several customers have said that they would like to know how I organize my craft space.  I recently moved my stamping space from my basement to a very small room off my living room.  I had a good portion of the basement set up as a craft haven.  It was all organized and when I wasn’t at work, I was down there crafting! All my stamping stuff is now upstairs, where it is warm and dry!

My husband and I made a trip to Ikea and I picked out a giant table and some paper storage drawers.  I love the choices I made!!!  It may look like a hot mess to anyone else, but it is really organized and functional for me!  And a special thank you to MOM!  She gave me money for Christmas and this is what I chose to spend it on!!!  The table and the legs actually only cost $70!

Here is my desk when I’m not using it:

craftroomup1That is just the right side of the desk!  It is so deep that I actually have to stand up to reach stuff at the back!  I love how deep it is.  I can keep all of my tools on top and in reach and I can keep my drawer cabinet underneath and still have room for my legs!!!  Love it.

Here is the organizing tip that I wanted to share with you today: little shelves turned sideways act as cubbies!

sideshelves

I am one of those people that needs to have stuff in sight or I don’t use it.  I also can’t have a fussy organization system.  I won’t organize stuff if I have to put it away like a jigsaw puzzle.  I like bins I can toss stuff into and it all better be right next to me or it won’t get used!

That is why I love these shelves.  For less than $10 at a dollar store, I got this small set of shelves.  I turned it sideways and all of my tools are on my desk within reach.  You can see that I have a cubby of adhesives, a cubby for my clear blocks and a cubby for my embellishments, odd ink pads like Versa Mark and my paper piercing mat and templates.  My markers and embellishments are on top of the shelves as well.  Most of my tools are in those little plastic baskets and that works so well for me!  I always put them away, because I can just reach over and place it in the bin.  No excuses needed.  I made it too easy to put away!

I do plan on painting this shelf white when the weather improves, just so it matches the desk.  That will make my sister happier!  Plus, that desk is in full view of my living room.  It’s a tiny house, what can I say!

You can see that I also have a lot of non-stamping “stuff” on the shelf as well.  Those are my treasures!  Favorite gifts that my kids gave me or made me over the years sit right there so I can enjoy them.  All of the ceramic pieces on my desk were made by my daughter.  She’s extremely creative!  My son gave me that little bobblehead dog.  I LOVE that.  It’s one of my all-time favorite gifts.

I am left-handed, so I do have my desk set up just for me.  I chose a giant table that actually curves so the right side is wider.  Notice that my trimmer sits right there, right where I need it and use it.  The work space on this table is huge and I can really spread out a project.  My husband thought the desk was too large because the room is just over 7 feet wide and the desk is just over 5 feet wide.  It’s perfect!!!!!  Who needs room to walk around the room?!

I will share more nitty-gritty organizing ideas each week.  I would love to hear about some of your organizing tips as well!!!  How about tips for paper scraps?  Please leave a comment below and tell all of us how you organize those paper scraps!!! 

Thanks for visiting today!  Oh and by the way…just for full disclosure, there is a picture on my Facebook page that shows what my desk looked like this morning!!!

Be creative!!!

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