Craftastic

Office

When it comes to craft supplies, I’m a packrat. Little bits of string, altoid tins, pretty-colored dryer lint… to me, these things are bursting with potential. Needless to say, my craft stash can get pretty unweildly.

When we had the whole upstairs to fill with useless junk, that didn’t matter much. I was free to save old coffee cans and dried up flowers and stacks upon stacks of magazines. But after we moved ourselves downstairs and my craft room and office merged, I started feeling twitchy about having to stare at all that STUFF in total chaos.

The befores (click for larger):

My basic plan:

Get rid of the current storage (dressers, cabinet, etc) that wasn’t efficient
Make my sewing machine easier to access
Keep supplies where I can see them so I’ll use them
Put “like with like” so the next time I start a project, I don’t have to dig through 8 different boxes to find what I need

We picked up three Varde wall shelves on our Ikea trip along with a few other organizing goodies. And ever since New Years, I’ve been on a mission to get that room organized.

The afters (click for larger):

The shelves are a godsend – everything is out in the open where I can see it, which keeps me inspired and stops me from buying something I already have “in stock”. We got rid of one dresser and a corner cabinet and still ended up with MORE storage space than before. I pulled additional supplies out of storage to fill it ;)

Most of the work went into sorting and labeling my stuff, which made a huge difference in how quickly I can jump into a craft project. I picked up two cheap towel bars for hanging my bigger cuts of fabrics. And the sewing machine is on a small table that we added casters to. I can roll it out wherever I need it. Big improvement!

But my favorite addition to the room is the buckets-o-markers, another affordable Ikea purchase. It’s cute and very functional.

Posted by Mindy on 01.13.06
25 Comments | Permalink
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Comments, Thoughts, and Feedback

Heidi had this to say on 01.13.06:

Nicely done! I may have to steal some of those ideas, like the hanging buckets–excellent!

amanda had this to say on 01.13.06:

I am in complete craft-envy! What a wonderful way to leave everything accessible and yet still have an attractive display. I have to save this post for when we get further along with the basement remodel. One for one day, when I actually get a sewing room!

Mandaliet had this to say on 01.13.06:

oooh, this gets me all inspired to finish my studio. I love the towel bar idea, it would be great for draping paper over. Much cheaper than those flat file thingies.

Trissa had this to say on 01.13.06:

I love the buckets-o-markers. I also have a ton of markers and some are in drawers, some in a holder, some in jars, etc… That looks much easier. Maybe I’ll work on organizing during my spring break! The after picture looks great and very usuable!

Patricia W. had this to say on 01.14.06:

It looks great Mindy! What an improvement. They are supposed to be building an IKEA about 50 miles from me next summer. I can hardly wait!

mindy had this to say on 01.14.06:

Thanks, girls! I’m definitely loving the reorganization. Here are a few more ideas for organizing craft stuff on the cheap:

– pick up a few of those round “spice containers” with 6 seperate slots in them, they’re perfect for organizing beads, fasteners, etc.

– 3-ring binders with the baseball card page protectors are perfect for keeping stickers and scrappy stuff organized

– Sign up for the JoAnn Fabrics mailing list (if you’ve got one around you) and they’ll send you 50% off coupons about every 2 weeks. I signed both Teague and I up, so we get twice the coupons. Then when you need something special (like the thread organizer, which would have been $16.00 full price) you’ll be all set. The coupons are also good for fabric cuts (up to ten yards), home decor stuff, and just about anything else in the store. Even if you’re not a crafter, it’d be worthwhile.

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Kristin had this to say on 01.18.06:

Love the towel bar idea! My office/craft room is in terrible disarray.

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