60+ Ideas for Organizing Your Craft Space

I’ve written here before about the fact that my space for crafting is very small.  Family matters instigated a move in the fall of 2014 and for the time being I’m living with my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.  That means my living, working and crafting space is limited to my normal sized bedroom here.  That’s not much space. And since my long term plan is to build my own tiny cottage in the not so distant future, I’m not ever seeing a time when space isn’t an issue when it comes to a craft/art studio.  That means organization is critical.

My current set-up includes a computer desk with a hutch, a TV stand that doubles as craft supply storage and a combination of Recollection cubes, bookcase and rolling plastic cart storage.   It’s also become painfully obvious this configuration is no longer working for me.  I’m investing more and more time in my mixed media art and other creative endeavors, which of course means the need for more storage space.  Most of all it means I need more than a wooden TV tray table for a work surface.  After thinking long and hard about what I could do in my small space, I believe I’ve come up with a workable solution that I can actually transfer to my little cottage when the time comes.

I’ll be sharing more about my new mini-studio setup in a future post once I’ve pulled it all together.  Today I want to share some fantastic ideas for organizing specific supplies.  I found some great ideas as I was researching limited space solutions and since I found them extremely useful, I thought you might as well. If you’re looking for ways to make the most of your space or even just get one certain supply under control, check out the following ideas and organizational posts by some smart craft bloggers.

First, if your space is so limited that you can’t find room for a desk or table at all, this drop down table idea from Woodworking for Mere Mortals might be the answer.   If you’re not the handy type, you’re in luck, We R Memory Keepers has a Fold Down Craft Table that looks pretty easy to install.

Or, if you have the money to spend on it, the Original Scrapbox Workbox 2.0 is the ultimate combination of craft storage and workspace that can all be folded up and closed, keeping your living space neat and tidy when you’re not working on a project.

I’ve sung my praises for the Recollections craft system, which is what I’ve been using for some of my storage.  If you don’t have a local craft store that carries the Recollections brand, Go-Organize has an identical system, with more choices for modular cubes with specific storage solutions.

Now that we’ve gotten the general crafting space and storage out of the way it’s time to get more specific.

Paper

• Make your own paper storage on the cheap using priority mailing boxes (ahem! Can you say free?)
• Hack an unfinished open cube using spacers, foam core and ribbon to create easy to see color coded storage.
• Choose from the 20 ideas at the Scrap Shoppe Blog that include upcycled pizza boxes and upcycled hanging sweater shelves.

Paint

• Mount some IKEA towel bars to a cabinet or wall for easy to see storage.
• Repurpose a spice rack to hold paints instead of spices.
• How about a free-standing acrylic frame for those little Stickles bottles?
• Or choose from the 28 ideas at Craftaholics Anonymous that include using an old wooden Coca-Cola crate and even a rain gutter mounted on your wall.

Stamps

• Use clear plastic CD holders to store your clear unmounted stamps then store them together in a CD storage tower.
• If you have a lot of wood mounted stamps, how about repurposing a freestanding DVD tower?
• If your unmounted rubber stamp collection isn’t very big, you might even like my method (which I’m quickly outgrowing) of using clear plastic pencil cases and a binder ring.
• Or maybe shoe holder pockets hung from plant holders will do the trick for your collection like it does for Julie at See Julie Stamp.

Pens and Markers

• If you drink Crystal Light, recycle the empty containers into storage for your pens and markers.
• For pens and pencils that you don’t mind storing vertically, recycle some cans and hang them up for some pretty cool looking storage.
• If you love your Copics, Tombows and Spectrums more than you love wine, create storage with an old wine rack and clear plastic cups.
• If you haven’t already used your old CD rack for storing stamps, how about repurposing it to store you markers?

Washi Tape/Ribbon

• I currently have my washi tape stored on the removable handle of one of my baskets I got from thirty-one.
• People are so clever. How about a storage and dispensing solution made from an empty aluminum foil package?
• Maybe you’d prefer to repurpose a jewelry holder? (psst. I bet an old mug tree would work too.)
• Or choose from one of the 20 ideas listed at Brit+Co.

Dies

• An empty CD binder and some magnetic strips can be your solution to storing your wafer thin dies.
• Or if you have some door space, magnetic strips on a door will work too.
• Paper CD envelopes and magnetic knife holders could be your solution.

Other crafty stuff:

• Store your glitter in small salt shakers and not only do you have pretty storage, it’s easy to sprinkle on your projects too.
• If you’re crazy about cutting vinyl on your Cricut or Silhouette machine you probably need some sort of vinyl storage. If you have a door that can be used, this over the door shoe organizer idea may work. Or if you prefer to keep flat sheets you may like this idea using an artist portfolio.
• I love the idea of keeping paint brushes stored in pretty mason jars (or in my case a glass milk bottle!) but this adorable straw dispenser is kind of hard to resist too.
• There are some great ink pad storage units out there are pretty reasonable prices, but if you are looking for more of a DIY route you could make this storage spinner from chipboard or this one from foam core.

If you’re looking for one place with lots of good craft storage ideas, Jennifer McGuire Ink is one of my favorites, with ideas for just about everything I’ve mentioned and more.  And of course, Pinterest is always good for some amazing ideas, although sometimes I find it to be a bit overwhelming.

Organizing your craft space can turn even the smallest space into something usable.  Do you have a unique way of storing your craft supplies or a storage product you just wouldn’t be without?  Please share it with us by leaving a comment below!