19 Jan 22

Craft Room Organization & Storage Ideas

I put some shelves just above my sewing table to store my sewing essentials, like scissors, thread, needles, and many other accessories..... Love it!!!!
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I put some shelves just above my sewing table to store my sewing essentials, like scissors, thread, needles, and many other accessories..... Love it!!!!

Picture 1 of 5 (Click arrow for more pictures)

Due to my sluggishness in housekeeping and bad time-management, I seldom cleaned up my craft room after each project. Also, I always start a new project immediately after one, and most of the time I am on several projects simultaneously. My hands work slower than my brain, this is the major one to blame! With so many things to do at one time, all my craft materials are all over my working space, on the table, in the drawers, on the floor and some even still in the bags of the craft store where I bought them from….. one word, MESSY!!! I spent more time searching and digging out craft materials than the actual crafting time. Out of sight out of mind, majority of the time, I don’t even remember I have bought certain materials and have to buy again, opppssss… the materials pop up in front of me when I am not searching for them (I think this happened to many of you too… :D ). It is time to change this bad habit, I need a neat craft room so that I knew where I keep my things and create more spaces so that I have more room to work on. Knowing where they are, seeing how they look give me better inspiration to create and design.

My craft room is very small and I am sharing it with other storage of the house…. should I say my craft room is inside the store room :p ? Due to space constraint, I made use of the wall for extra storage spaces. Shelves are the best solution for me… I have used up almost all the walls in my craft room (ahem… or store room?) for the shelving. I tried to put everything vertically to reduce the foot print so I have more room to walk around. My ideal craft room would have an island table, but again, struggling for spacious room, I have to set my working table near to the wall. May be next time, when I have a new craft room, I want it to be double the size of this one so that I can have my dream islander…. hubby, do you hear me?

Label, label, label on the boxes and drawers!!!! It is important so that you know where you keep your things, especially in the early stage of your craft room re-organization, also good for house keeping after each project.

Small sewing accessories like buttons are best store in transparent containers. I like the small multi-level containers (see picture 1), each level for each different type of buttons. Since I like to sew bags, I used glass jar with lid to store my others bags notions.

Fabric storage (picture 2) is the main concern for may of you who sew and quilt. For big yardage, I fold them and stack them up according to fabric type in a hanging shelf inside the wardrobe to keep away dust and damages caused by UV ray. For stashes and fat quarters, I fold them into smaller pieces, sort them according to color type, then slot them into an airy stackable container. Ideally, 1 container for 1 color, I took this picture before I managed to get another 4 container of the same types. For those who live in Malaysia, go to Popular book store to buy it, for limited time only. If you have bulky fabric, like fleece, microfiber, towel etc, use vacuum storage bag to reduce the occupancy space.

As you may notice, I also made use of all possible places to hang my tools, like embroidery hoop, quilting rulers, dress maker ruler etc….

Followings are some photos of my new craft room arrangement. Just an idea of my way, it may not be the perfect one for you. I spent many days to prepare these pictures and I hope you will take a look on them. [Browse through the above album for bigger pictures.]

Now, you have reorganized and kept your material in proper place which is easy to access…. can you maintain the tidiness?

Tips on how to maintain a tidy craft room:

1. Stow away stashes and left over materials back to their original place immediately after each and every project.

2. Labeling on boxes and drawers helps a lot in faster house-keeping.

3. Keep working table empty to spare space for the next session & project.

4. Keep tools back to their original storage end of every session.

5. I find that non-carpet flooring is much easier for cleaning up. Vacuum cleaner makes clean-up of threads, lints, and many other small particles easier and faster.

6. Spare a box or container to keep small pieces of fabric stashes. I won’t throw them if they were more than 1″ square. Keep them for other projects especially small applique & embellishment.

I think that’s all for now for the craft room….. It is more time consuming than I anticipated to write this post and get the photos well presented. I hope you find it useful :)

More sewing projects coming up!!!!!

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22 comments... read them below or add one

  1. Gargi says:January 20, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    Great! You did a fantastic job!! I have taken some notes to apply to my craft room oops corner(have very little items and space) :)

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  2. Alice says:January 20, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    OMG!!! You really have a complete set of craft room… and so professionally done! Envy! Envy!.. keep up the good job!

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  3. Lois Grebowski says:January 20, 2011 at 10:18 pm

    I love this post! I really try to clean my work table after each project. My challenge is that I’m an “if I see it, it exists” type of organzier, so lends to a lot of stuff hanging around. Clutter is easy.

    Thanks for the tips! I might institute a few.

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  4. June (planetjune) says:January 21, 2011 at 7:32 am

    Wow, your photos (and your craft area) are amazing! Very inspiring. I try to be organized with my craft supplies, but I always have too many odd bits and pieces that don’t fit into any of my labelled boxes or drawers, so my work surfaces are always cluttered within hours of tidying up. I can only hope that one day I’ll be able to keep things looking as beautifully tidy as you do!

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  5. marianne says:March 11, 2011 at 9:51 am

    Great, and lovely to look at!
    I am the same ‘creative mess. In addition to little containers and shelves and boxes, I found plastic see-through pocket hangers, like the ones for stockings or shoes, to be fantastic. ( quality ones: I tug and dig all the time)
    Takes one nail and one second to hang up. I keep one pocket just for glues, another ribbons, a third one cutters and another brushes and big ones for bigger items that are odd-shaped or fall apart easily. I can see through so dig only when
    I know where to dig! They should be well under $10, have at least 15-20 pockets and sewn-on edging.

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  6. Kathy Endicott says:March 18, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Thank you so much for taking the time to put this post together. It’s great! Can you tell me where you got the wooden shelves? I can tell that the top plastic bins fit into slots so that it does not rest on the bottom bin. Thanks so much!

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  8. Jackie says:July 13, 2011 at 1:28 am

    Thanks for the tips! My craft room is soon to be taken over by our first baby, which is a great thing. The not-so-great part is that I have to move all of my clutter somewhere else. These are some great tips though to keep everything organized and I will definitely be putting them into action.

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  10. Pam Shultz says:September 14, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    Thanks for posting organizational techniques for sewing items! I am getting ready to get my stuff all organized and love the way you have organized your fabric! I wouldn’t have even thought of that!!! Much better than storing it all in plastic totes, as they end up having a plastic smell to them! Thanks again!!!

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  11. Dan @ Furniture Stores in Los Angeles says:October 7, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    These are fantastic storage ideas and very creative too. Keep posting.

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  12. Mary says:November 27, 2011 at 7:09 am

    Perfect ideas for the new home I just purchased. Thanks for the the help with organizing my sewing supplies!

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  14. Faith says:October 19, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    You and I work so alike Joanne, I finish one project and move on to the next – I am constantly pushing stuff on my work table. My floor always has scraps of thread and bits of fabric. How I organized my fabrics is – I got a a book shelf and put wheels under it, it sat right in front of my work table so I can see what I have. I have since moved it and it is behind me against the wall. The wall helps the fabric to not fall out. Enjoy your new work space.

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