Are you drowning in craft supplies? Do you have an overflowing stash of upcycle projects? Check out my rules to purge and organize your craft room! #CraftRoomChallenge
Being overwhelmed with craft supplies is pretty common among creative types. I think we tend to hoard by nature! I’m fortunate to have a dedicated office space in our house that doubles as my craft room, complete with built in cabinets. However, that never stopped me from just stuffing them with all my crafty crap and letting it spill out of my open shelves. So I was thrilled to join in on the #CraftRoomChallenge, which is 5 weeks of projects designed to get your craft room in shape!
Welcome to the 2018 Craft Room Challenge! From January 3rd through January 31st, 14 crafty bloggers will be sorting, organizing, cleaning, and decorating their craft spaces. Each of us has a very different craft space to tackle, so chances are you will find one similar to yours. We’d love for you to join in on the fun challenge and clean right alongside us. Follow along and join in on social media by using #craftroomchallenge and #confessyourmess. You can also find us and the challenge via our social media accounts you’ll see listed on each of our sites. We’ll also have 15-minute mini daily challenges for you in case you have limited time to dedicate to the challenge. We hope you share your messy spaces and progress with us so we don’t feel alone this month!
Given the state of my craft room disaster, I actually DIDN’T GET MY POST DONE last week. :/ I was overwhelmed with the “Purge and Sort” portion that was the plan, as well as a few family and work matters, so I combined last week’s work with this week’s “Organize Supplies”
. . . and I was still late. Oops.
See the original state of my craft room, plus my overhauled workspaces.
Two places I definitely needed to purge were my ribbon storage as well as my “Stuff to Use” spaces. By that, I mean I’ve collected clearance canvas, salvaged wooden letters and things from old broken projects, and so many other random items. Having cabinets is nice because I can hide the clutter and stuff things in hidden places, but it is still there. So I got busy.
5 Rules to Purge & Organize Your Craft Room
1. Take Stock of What You Have
I ended up pulling open all of my cabinets and pulling things out that I wanted to evaluate. That picture below is just the TIP of the iceberg for what I uncovered.
2. Be Ruthless in Deciding What to Dump
As I looked over odds and ends piling up on my desk, I had to come to grips with how many of them I hadn’t seen in over a year! Time to purge, for sure, and many old, ugly projects that I figured I’d remake one day ended up in the trash.
3. If You Don’t Have a Plan For It, Either Keep It in View or Trash It
Some of my trash items were quick calls, others were harder. As a creative person, it REALLY CAN BE HARD to part with a plain glass vase or chipped candle holder. You KNOW you can make something fun out of it! But it is time to get serious. I ended up pulling out a box full of stamping ink pads that I basically forgot I owned, since they were stuffed in a corner, out of site. I KNOW I have ribbon, anytime I need it. I decided to swap the two so I’d be inspired to use them again!
4. Make the Visual Spaces the Most Organized
Once I swapped the ink pads, beautifully stacked, neat and tidy, my craft room was given an instant face lift! The craft cubby is intended for ribbon storage, but honestly, I like it so much better this way. Messy half full ribbon spools were then re-rolled, taped, and put in boxes where I could easily find them when needed. I also tried to make sure any open shelving utilized pretty boxes, neat stacking, and varied arrangements.
5. Label It!
I already had several labels on things from my old Kidecals organization post years ago, but you can easily add new labels with sticker paper, chalkboard sheets, or pre-made labels. You don’t have to label EVERYTHING, but it will definitely help organize your craft room to have as many things labeled as you can.
Before you see the rest of the crafty spaces, please meet our lovely hosts:
Marie & Aleisha from The Inspiration Vault • Pam from P.S. I Love You Crafts
Yami from The Latina Next Door • Jolene from Create Pray Love
Habiba from Craftify My Love • Lyne from The Paper Addict
Megan from C’Mon Get Crafty • Erlene from My Pinterventures
Shirley from Intelligent Domestications • Valerie from Val Event Gal
Michelle from Our Crafty Mom • Rebecca from The Moments at Home
Stephanie from Crafty Ladybug Creations
Now, let’s take a look at their craft rooms and spaces!
Oh, goodness, my craft room is currently a disaster! It was so nicely organized about two years ago… I especially need to get rid of those unfinished projects that I’ll probably never come back to! I agree that labeling is important – the few things I have that are still nicely organized are in nicely labeled containers that I felt compelled to keep organized since I’d gone to the trouble of labeling them!
At first I thought the Little box with all your ink pads was a big shelve and I thought “wow, she has a lot of Card stock and crafting paper!”, lol. I think the color coordinated storage looks absolutely stunning. And I absolutely share your opinion of makeing the visible parts the most organized. Especially since my crafty space has to share a room with my bed. I ended up putting all my ribbon in IKEA boxes and left overs in a big jar and hid it in a closet.
My craft room is a mess. I cannot wait to implement some of these ideas!
I totally should have joined this challenge! I need to purge. I have such a hard time giving things up! I can’t wait to see the finished room! #MM Pinned!
Kim