Once upon a time, my arts and crafts paraphernalia hid around the house. Because of this, I hadn’t tackled anything remotely crafty in years. I hunted high and low for tools and materials and was worn out before I even started. I needed to organise craft supplies or kiss my creative spirit goodbye.
To begin, I gathered every crafting item into the room I deemed most suited to my art. I had a lot of gear. Piling everything together delivers a great opportunity to analyse, separate, and regroup a stash.
If you’re lucky enough to have an allocated craft room, that’s great! However, for those who are more limited on space, be sure to house your supplies in the room that best serves your hobby. You don’t want the bother of collecting supplies from different places, it’s a nuisance and slows creativity.
Scattered storage spaces make it difficult to tidy up and you’ll likely put it off.
Create a Craft Room Setting
Assess the light in each space that lends itself to daytime crafting. Does sunlight brighten your work area or give you a blinding headache? Brighten shady rooms with a daylight lamp, or a flexible LED floor lamp to maximise your workspace. A cable-free rechargeable desk lamp lets you to move around easily as you work.
Consider if there’s enough space to spread out. The bed in the bedroom gets in the way if you’re likely to be cutting up large pieces of fabric or cardstock, and kitchens are prone to family footfall. If you plan to use noisy crafting equipment, like a sewing machine or staple gun, consider the noise level for sleeping children or spouses (prime crafting time).
I chose our den as my crafting location because it’s in the back of the house. Therefore, if I make a big mess with trimmings late at night then I can shut the door on it. Unexpected guests often drop by when your house is at its worst, so consider where’s best to hide residual crafting mess if you don’t want to get caught on the hop.
Organise Craft Supplies into Storage
Once you’ve settled on a space, find a storage unit in that room that’s big enough to hold and organize craft supplies without overspilling–or fetch in a piece that fits the task. Having all your supplies in one place means you can see at a glance what you have available for each project.
I organise craft supplies in two wall-mounted cupboards (one directly above the other so they view as one space). Here, dangerous items were safely out of reach of the kids when they were younger. The cabinets are filled with tools, paints, inks, glues, and a trove of haberdashery.
All of the kids’ craft supplies are kept right where they can reach them to encourage independent creativity.
Great Storage Solutions
My favourite type of storage solution is a unit with adjustable shelving. You can make incremental adjustments to organize craft supplies in the boxes/baskets/tins you already own with this setup.
Good home organization is about repurposing what you have, not buying fancy new containers.
For example, I reused a toiletries gift tin for inks; a hair care presentation box for card-making items; two old cosmetics cases for paints and tools, and other baskets and boxes from around the home for sundry items. A few of my adjustable shelves are installed close together to separate sketch pads, card stock, cutting mats, and an LED light pad.
I did purchase a few special craft cases to tame smaller bits; ribbon off-cuts and “come-in-handy” randoms were causing too much of a tangle. Clear plastic, gridded craft containers are ideal. Fabrics and cardstock work well stacked free of containers, allowing selections to be made at a glance.
Rotating pencil holders are convenient for keeping stationery at your fingertips, without delving into the back of the cupboard. Stackable craft cases come in clutch for cabinets with fixed shelf positions and allow you to make the most of vertical space. An artists caddy safely stores tools as a portable kit when you don’t have a permanent desk area.
If you have a nook for crafting furniture, make life easier with rolling craft tables and Cricut stations on castors. Fold-away desks lay flat after use in tight spots.
How do you organize your craft supplies?
