Fresh Start: Organizing Your Craft Room
10 ways to stash your arts and crafts supplies in style
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According to the Craft & Hobby Association, last year the craft and hobby industry raked in $29 billion. And 56 percent of households are crafting at least once a year — and that's just in the U.S. So, chances are you're either a crafter, or you've indulged in crafting at one time or another. That probably explains the growing trend of having a craft/hobby room at home.
Any crafter can tell you that keeping a workspace organized is critical for success. Scrapbooking, crocheting, jewelry and DIY décor are among the most common hobbies. That adds up to loads of supplies that need to be organized. However, every discerning crafter knows that appearance matters. So, to help keep your space in tip-top shape, here are some storage and organization solutions that are both pretty and practical.
Any crafter can tell you that keeping a workspace organized is critical for success. Scrapbooking, crocheting, jewelry and DIY décor are among the most common hobbies. That adds up to loads of supplies that need to be organized. However, every discerning crafter knows that appearance matters. So, to help keep your space in tip-top shape, here are some storage and organization solutions that are both pretty and practical.
by Monica Ewing
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Don't overlook opportunities for DIY wall units. This option can be very budget-friendly and will allow you to create a system that is specific to your needs. As shown here, hook racks were incorporated into the design of the display unit. This is a nice way to hang scissors, tape and ribbon.
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| In craft spaces, a peg board is one of the most versatile tools for organization. This is a great surface for hanging small buckets, bins and hooks. You can even paint your peg board to add a dose of creative color to the room. |
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| If your craft room includes a wrapping station, then dowels should be your best friend. You can purchase them at your local hardware store and have them cut to fit inside shelving units. Dowels will keep your wrapping paper and ribbon neat, orderly and within arm's reach when you're ready to wrap that perfect gift. |
A small shelving unit with cubbies will provide several areas for storage without taking up too much space. See-through plastic bins are also a great way to keep your supplies organized, and you'll be able to quickly identify your inventory.
Custom storage units with pull-out shelves will provide easy access to your supplies. Instead of using white, go for a fun punch color such as tangerine tango, which is Pantone's 2012 Color of the Year.
by Ish and Chi
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Natural-woven baskets remain a tried and true solution for storage, as seen in this space. Baskets are very textural and will provide an organic feeling to your room. Another great idea shown here is the use of hangers to organize fabric samples.
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by Ish and Chi
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| I love the idea of using simple, inexpensive clipboards to display and organize photos, fabric and paper items. Here, ordinary clip boards were covered with decorative paper which adds color and pattern to the room. |
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| When designing a custom work station, be sure to include plenty of desk space as well as shelving. A corner work station will maximize space in smaller rooms. In addition, a cork wall surface works great as an inspiration board. |
Use stencils to label drawers and pull-out units. This is a fun way to personalize your space and incorporate typography into your overall design.
by Jeanette Lunde
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For a casual feel in your craft room, organize supplies in simple wooden or wire crates. This no-fuss approach will keep your items in order without all of the frou frou.
More: 20 Finds for Your Studio
16 Crafty Ways With Creative Spaces
More: 20 Finds for Your Studio
16 Crafty Ways With Creative Spaces
Comments

Melanie Marinucci Love the ideas but I find these craft room examples way too small in quantity of stuff. I have about 100 chocolate molds I'm trying to organize as well as about 30 spools of ribbons, all the tools of the trade (various size hole punchers, different punches), paper, etc. I'd love to see some real life examples of bigger craft rooms.
18 months ago · Like
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Libby Wilkie at aneyefordetail Another great item for walls is Homasote: do you know it? Can be hard to find. It's a building material, but cuts beautifully for any size, mount a huge piece on a wall, put on some molding, paint it, and it's perfect! Very long lasting, doesn't shred like cork board, and is very sturdy!
18 months ago · Like
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princessfirefly There are some good examples here, but I have found much more inspiration on houzz by searching "studio" or "craft studio". I agree that a true crafter or even artist has many more items to organize than shown here. I find IKEA a great place for inspiration and budget friendly ideas.
18 months ago · Like
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Michelle I am in the process of designing my sewing room in our home. I don't have room for a large cutting table. I have found a couple of examples of people using Ikea bookcases on their side and nailed together. Or one bookcase, put on wheels with a drop leaf attached.
18 months ago · Like
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AlexisAnne Those clipboards are so cute. Don't forget to shop the clearance and dollar areas of your fav stores....I always find great boxes, bins and baskets there!
18 months ago · Like
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laucomenta Me encanta!! me inspira mucho :)
16 months ago · Like

marissa camacho I love the ideas but these are all too staged and very far from reality. Go to any creative person's house and you will most likely see that the supplies have spilled over from one room to the dining room, living room and even other rooms-floors and tables included!! I sew, knit, crochet, paint, do paper crafts, bead, gift wrap and hammer and there is always something out there that makes it all a lot easier to do. I am sure I am not the only one who has this dilemma of where to put everything but there must be a magic craft room out there with ideas on organizing the chaos of a multi-craft minded person. Crafters are very resourceful and can be very frugal because there is always something they can come up with to do with little bits and pieces left over from projects--and, oh!--don't forget the works in progress. Can someone please give some input on how to maximize a room for varied interests? These ideas have helped a lot and I think we should be able to use an idea from here and another from there.
14 months ago · Like
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cosfordparker Thanks, isangcamacho! Your description of a crafter's home fits perfectly!
11 months ago · Like
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cjhp I have been able to re-purpose various containers from grocery items for great storage in my craft room. Those plastic canisters for Crystal Light powdered drink mixes make great containers for Sharpie markers and Nesquik yellow plastic containers handle shorter decorative scissors well. With the packaging labels easily removed, a uniform look can be achieved. Happy organizing, fellow crafters!
11 months ago · Like
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Adrian Bullock I took old pringle cans, sprayed windex on paper towels to clean them out, then I lined the outside with different scrapbook paper to match my decor of my office/craft room. I use the them to store paint brushes, stamps and colored pencils.
10 months ago · Like
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soozqz I made a craft-sewing room for myself in a spare bedroom of my house, using my daughter's teenage beige formica bedroom furniture (she moved out many years ago), which included a few dressers with book case hutches, a desk with hutch (has my sewing machine on it) and two 6 ft high x 15" wide, 6 drawer tall dressers. I labeled all the drawers with whatever craft supplies are in them, put craft books and magazines on the bookshelves as well as jars and boxes of supplies. The walls have pegboard with tools and scissors hanging from them. My containers for my supplies are repurposed from all sorts of household items, from coffee cans and food packaging/ containers (covered with contact paper or fabric and labeled), baby food jars, spice jars in a spice rack, baskets, cigar boxes, tackle boxes and see thru stackable organizer drawers that you get in Walmart. I LOVE YARD SALES and dollar stores and thrift stores. Someone else's junk, is my treasure and I can always repurpose something to organize my craft room, (or use it in one of my craft projects!)
9 months ago · Like
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soozqz Here's an idea of how I keep track of my huge inventory of fabrics, trims and craft/art supplies. I created a looseleaf binder with pages of swatches of my many fabrics stapled to the pages (with an indication of where it is stored in my craft room)... my drawers or bins with my fabrics are labeled with a letter and number to keep track), like A-1, B-2, etc. I stapled a small swatch or sample of all my laces, trims, and ribbons in the same way. Each page has similar fabric types on it and like colors or patterns. I also take a PHOTO of each fabric and craft item and have it on a CD disk and in my iPad, so I can browse thru to find the right fabric or item for my projects. I have other craft supplies organized this way as well. (I do mosaics, so I have photos of the dishes or tiles that I have collected, or sample chips of the broken china in a container to remind me of what I have.)
9 months ago · Like

Designing Homemaker I used some of the photos on this website for inspiration when I designed my own scrapbooking craft area. I needed something that fit into an apartment, and after many hours of browsing through photos, blogs, product websites, and some hours of old-fashioned shopping in stores I came up with my own space which is perfect for me. Just in case there is someone out there like me who needs a space to work, and doesn't have a lot of room and doesn't want to hire someone to do it for them, I uploaded photos of my space with product tags. Thank you Houzz for the inspiration and a great website where people can share ideas and learn!! This website has been amazing for me.

8 months ago · Like
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blairbec We recently moved from a single family home into a condo and lost lots of storage space. However, I am in love with my 16th floor home studio and have managed, once again, to find a way to fit all my stash into the space using beloved flea market finds I have been hauling around for years. 






4 months ago · Like
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Libby Wilkie at aneyefordetail Blairbec: Oh, those views are to die for! Yes, it was worth giving up some space for this!!
4 months ago · Like
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Ideabook published on Jan. 2, 2012.
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