It has been a loud, messy couple of weeks in our loft as the remodeling work moves forward. (My craft room is just one part of the project.) As with most projects, things are going a little slower than hoped. Just getting the old threshold that was glued between my craft room and the main living area up took half a day. The biggest setback has been the doors for the craft room. They had to be custom made and everyone had the right measurements, but for some reason the person making them made them a foot short. So, that means it’ll be September before the doors will be finished and installed.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel though. The nasty carpet is gone and the new wood floors are in!
The last coat of varnish is dry, so I can actually walk in there again. I don’t want to start setting anything up yet as the millwork around putting the door in will create lots of sawdust, but I am starting to think about the best way to organize things.
As I mentioned before, the room isn’t big, but I definitely need more storage than just the desk and shelves. So, I have purchased a Pax Waredrobe from Ikea and shelves to go it it.
We have two of these in our pantry/laundry room and they are great. The are deep and tall, using the height almost to our ceiling. My plan is to use this for yarn and fabric storage mainly. Fabric will probably just be folded and stacked, but I am still thinking about the best way to store the yarn. I plan on leaving space in here to put my sewing machine when it is not in use and anything else that is on the bigger side.
Then there are the drawers and shelves of the built in desk. I was not using this area to make the best of the space before, mainly just a few baskets and decorative items. The shelves will house my books still, but for those I only really need two. For the rest I want to find ways to organize things so they are close at hand and easy to see. For example, I have a lot of bottles of acrylic paint, I am thinking a tiered kitchen organizer like you would use for spices would be perfect.
I’m also thinking I need to get things like kitchen drawer organizers to keep small things and tools in the drawers.
I also plan on using the walls for things. I think the area in front of the desk may get some cork, for hanging pictures and inspirations. I have two thread spool racks that my husband turned into hanging racks for me which will go on the wall.
I like that the dowels for the spools are long enough that I can put the thread and the bobbin with the matching thread on the same one.
I’d love to hear if you have found any brilliant solutions for organizing you craft supplies. I have so many bits and bobs, from beads to styrofoam shapes to feathers, that it is a bit overwhelming trying to figure out the best way to make everything neat, tidy and easy to find.
© 2005 – 2015 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
I bought some of these from IKEA to organise craft bits and pieces in a drawer: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70263615/ I don’t use the lid, just the boxes with compartments. It works really well for bits of lace and elastic, tailors chalk, and I use them for my acrylic paints too.
I have a 2m wide Pax in my bedroom which is now more or less clothes, but until recently I used half of it for craft things. I have three drawers and three shelves. On the shelves I like to use deep IKEA boxes, divided by craft. I have one with embroidery fabric and hoops in it; one with paints, brushes, palettes etc in it. I’ve also used these for yarn in the past. I used the drawers for fabric.
But now I have (almost) all my yarn and fabric in a 2×4 Expedit, in Drona boxes. Two of the compartments are for oversized craft books.
Also in my new craft zone, I have two IKEA spice racks with embroidery threads stored by colour in the little jars: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40070185/ I also have a set of hooks for hanging scissors and tape measures and things from. And my very favourite new thing is a wall-mounted pincushion. It’s just an old photo frame, which I have covered with fabric, stuffed tight with wadding, and then glued some pompom trim around. It’s easy to take off the wall if I want it somewhere else, but it’s so handy when I’m using the sewing machine.
I thought I’d taken photos but I can’t find them. Will do in a minute!
Thanks for all the great ideas Ros. I’m on vacation right now, so I’m going to look at all of these closer when I get back. LOVE the pin cushion idea!
Oh, I forgot the best thing! I made a circular needle storage holder from old cotton reels. It’s brilliant, except for the very biggest ones which don’t fit through the holes. Here: https://flic.kr/p/wWc7sn
More of the rest of my craft zone now on flickr.