Organizing The Craft Room

Yup, organization of the studio/craft room was the plan for Sunday. I didn't quite get the entire studio done but I made really great progress! 

A bit of background on the space. It was our second living room, it's two small rooms that have an arch in the middle (someone added this decades ago so the room resembled more of a double parlor). I took it over as my design studio when I started working from home- but it always had both crafty materials and design stuff. Originally I split the room by "working with your hands" and "working on the computer". The tools, work island, and cutting mats were all in the bigger half of the space, the other side had the computer, printer and paper storage. Later I added a sewing machine to the desk on the computer side.

This weekend I worked on organizing the "working with your hands" side. This is the bigger and the most used side of the room (and was the bigger mess of the two sides). The shelving units with most of the crafting supplies got much needed attention- 

The materials have been separated into bins for a while (I did this back when I first bought the Ikea shelving units) but none of the bins were labeled and lots of the materials ended up mixed-up or on the island. 

This time I labeled each bin so I know what it contains. Most of the supplies I use on a regular basis are in clear bins so I can see what I want- but they even got labels too. 

The top two are for paper punches. On the bottom one bin is filled with wire and string, stickers or other paper embellishments are in the other.

Things that I don't need all that often, like extra scissors and the brayer, live in these white boxes on the top shelf.

You can also see the tin ceiling in this picture- it's the only one left in the entire house and I love it.

Some smaller materials were put into these cute little drawers. 

Small stamps, wax seal plates, ink pen nibs all live here. In the blue toped bins below are the bigger stamps and ink pads.

I put all the sharpies and permanent markers I use most often into Mason jars (and do the same with paint brushes). I think they look pretty even if they are out on the counter and this makes them easy to grab when I want to use one. 

Other gel pens and markers used less often  are in small containers separated by color groups. If I'm looking for a green I just pull out the greens and yellows bin and find the shade I'm looking for.

The most wonderful thing about this weekends organization is that the big island got cleared of all unnecessary projects. This island was cluttered with old projects, work in progress, and tons of crafty supplies. 

This is the most valuable working space in the entire room. It's big enough for wrapping presents, spreading out tons of materials, or seating 8 people for a fun craft night. 

Next up is the Computer side of the room. I have a lot of filing and desk cleaning to do. I also have a few more material organization projects in mind... I really need better ribbon storage.