Craft Room Organization

A clean craft room is a happy craft room!  I had to take a step back from my nursery project list and from starting on the master bedroom.  My craft room was a mess and I was unmotivated to do any projects.  The disorganization became this giant hurdle to overcome and I put it off until I could not stand it anymore.  Finally, I took the time to clean it up.  I spent the last two Friday evenings restoring my craft haven.

Although my “craft room” is a 10 x 10 ft room, my craft space is limited to about 60″.  The room serves three purposes; craft room, laundry room, and schoolroom for my boys.  When we decided to keep the boys home with a nanny, I cleaned up this space and added the kids arts and crafts storage area for all their supplies.  Because they are in here almost everyday, I have to keep the table clean and accessible.  I can’t leave in progress craft projects laying out.  With all the other functions of this room, I am only left with this 60″ stretch of counter space for my craft supplies.  I never took the time to organize this space, so it quickly became a dumping ground for unfinished craft projects.

The first step to organizing this area was to add storage for my most used craft supplies and tools.  I found two long wire baskets at HomeGoods that are perfect for storing small craft supplies.  They took a brief detour to hold my holiday centerpiece, but now they have moved back into the craft room.  At less than 5″ deep, they were the perfect size for wall storage above the laundry room sink.  They help maximize the storage potential of this space, yet are out of reach of the children.

I mounted the wire storage baskets to the wall using Closetmaid hooks for mounting wire closet shelving.  The best part is the baskets are removable.  I can just lift them up out of the hooks for easier access to supplies or to take them to the table for a project.

Most of the two evenings worth of work was cleaning off the counter next to the sink.  Now that it is clean the whole space feels more spacious.  I am limiting what I keep on the countertop.  My sleek dirt devil vacuum is handy on the counter for quick cleanups.  The red and orange paper flowers are actually my boys handprints.  The nanny cut out the shape of their little hands and then wrapped them around wood stems and pipe cleaners to make flowers.  I am also allowing myself one small bin on the counter.  This will be a spot to contain everything for a current craft project.  Right now it is holding supplies for Valentines.

Above the counter there is a white wire shelf.  It runs the entire length of the wall.  On the other side of the room the shelf is consumed with laundry related storage.  Above the craft counter I use the wire shelf to store my scrapbooking supplies in the blue paper boxes.  The white magazine files hold magazines and books.

The teal wire mesh wastebasket is holding rolled up supplies like contact paper, magnet paper, chalkboard vinyl, and decorative wrapping paper.  The two bamboo utensil holders store all my cutting tools and keep them easy to access.

Under the counter I still have some work to do.  The white skirt is a new addition I whipped up this weekend to conceal the remaining mess.  There is open space under the counter where I keep unpacked boxes of additional craft supplies.  They are still in the original moving box.  I actually go into them often looking for stuff.  I need to add some shelving under the counter to store this stuff.  Until then I have a little skirt to hide the mess.  I will be back tomorrow to share the details for making the under counter box pleat skirt.

So what does this all mean for you?  Well, with a clean craft room and lots of great supplies at my fingertips, you can look forward to more craft and sewing projects.  Hopefully I will be churning out projects a little faster.

UPDATE: Check out the DIY shelving I added to the craft room made from stair treads!

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