Clever Ways to Organize Your Crafts on a Budget

I am so excited that you are here for this year's craft room tour!! It's been almost a year since I did a tour of my craft room and wow, have things really changed.

Are you organizing your space? Maybe you're purging, down sizing, just looking for ways to organize all of the craft supplies that you really LOVE?

You are in the right place!!!

Not only is this post about MY craft room, it is part of a tour with The Country Chic Cottage, featuring the craft rooms of some of your favorite crafters!

My space has changed A LOT of the years.  I have moved from 3 apartments and 3 homes since I started my journey crafting as a job and my collection of craft supplies has grown and shrunk as my craft interests have changed. That's 6 room designs ALONE, plus all the times I have rearranged my space over the years.

Have you gone through the same thing? One year you try jewelry, another year you add crochet to the mix, and maybe now you started sewing. How can you store all of that in ONE ROOM!?

RELATED ARTICLE: BEST Ikea Craft Room Ideas

The struggle is real, my friends.

I am going to share some of my BEST storage solutions to make your space functional, beautiful, and inspiring all at the same time. Are you ready to make your craft room look AMAZING?!

It all started in 2003 but 2013 is what really rocked my world and my craft space. If you are struggling to organize what you have, struggling to get rid of things you no longer love, and frustrated with the whole process, YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. Keep reading to see my journey … I bet you've thought many of the same things about your own craft space!

The evolution of my craft space:

A little over two years ago I went through a HUGE change in how I craft and how I view my stash. I actually went through a period of time where I almost threw away my stash. WHAT?! Yes, I did! You can see more about that journey here:

• Part One: Why I Almost Threw All Of My Craft Supplies Away
• Part Two: How I Stopped Being a Craft Hoarder
• Part Three: A New Mantra: Make Enjoy Buy Repeat

It took a lot of time for me to fall in love with crafting and my space again. Crafting is forever changed for me now that I have a totally different relationship with craft supplies and how I shop for them.

In that same time period, I inherited my grandmother's ridiculously large craft stash. She and my aunt had gone through and purged so much but there was still a great mass of product and sewing machines and half finished quilts that it nearly took up my ENTIRE three car garage. I am still working through tubs of stuff from grandma's house and my mom just “gifted” me with two more tubs she found in her closet.  Lord, help us when our parents send over BOXES!

Seeing my grandma's huge stash, going through my own, coping with all the things I needed to cope with in that time all led me to further refine my evolving philosophy about crafts and craft supplies. We don't need to keep it all.

Streamline your space and be a happier crafter

My current space is more streamlined than ever and I have what I feel is a very healthy relationship with my craft supplies. If I don't use it, it has to go! Can you imagine this room USED to be stacked floor to ceiling with supplies? Yeah, it looks FULL-ish right now but this is NOTHING compared to 2010!

I spent all day yesterday cleaning the space to get it ready for this tour. I had some help from Xaver and Katie too. In the past it would have taken us weeks to clean the space because there was that much stuff. Or I would have piled the excess in the garage to hide it. The only things that went to the garage this time were items going to the school or being donated! I will confess, I do have three cabinets and a shelving unit in the garage full of product, mostly for design teams where the product is big, like Smoothfoam or bolts of Kunin felt that I am making larger projects with.

I just gotta be totally honest with ya on this! Even so, the amount of stuff I have is so much more manageable now. It is likely less than an eighth of what I had six years ago when I started doing room tours on my blog. My friend Aprile gasped when she came over here right before CHA and saw how empty my drawers were! Use it or lose it, I say!

My current craft space or studio or scrapbook room … whatever you'd call it!

Everything I have in my craft space must have a use. It must be practical.

All the storage and supplies have one purpose – to help me get craft done. I used to teach a class on organizing craft rooms. One of the main tenets of that class was that you needed to make it easy to use the things you want to use the most, creating a space that supports you crafting.

Alot of us have spaces that hinder us from crafting.

Think about it. If you have to move a box and pull your Cricut off the shelf to use it, then it is harder to use than if it were table top.

Not everyone has the space to keep their most used tools on the table. But if you can make it as easy as possible to get to and use that tool, then you will surely use it more! And using it more takes away the guilt and regret of buying it, makes you feel more fulfilled, and helps you get crafty.

Make your space pretty. Treat yourself!

On top of having a functional space, a craft room needs to relaxing, inspiring, and enjoyable. The walls of this room are painted a pretty blue that is soothing, calming, and a color I love.

Paint your space a color that you LOVE!

A color that fulfills whatever need you have in order to get your creativity flowing, whether that is a vibrant, saturated color for an energetic space, a pastel color for a calm space, or a bright color for a happy space.

What color would your ultimate craft space be painted? Do you want wallpaper?! 

Don't be afraid to dream of what the ULTIMATE space would look like!

Another way to make your space YOUR OWN is to add pieces that inspire you, pieces that you simply LOVE. 

A few years ago I splurged on a couple of shelves and decor pieces from room, like the yellow shelf from Pier One that I hang my ribbons from on the upper left in this photo. It was pricey but I just love it!

What piece have you been eyeing for your craft space?

Imagine how you can use to store your supplies or support your room. If it can do the job, get it!

Watch this video tour of my space with all of this in mind. Everything has a purpose: to help me craft as quickly and easily as possible. If I can make the space happy and pretty at the same time, that's just a bonus!

This post contains affiliate links.

Here's run-down of all the goodies in my space and where to get them:

White Wire Bulletin Board – I got this at Collective Journey, a gift shop in Redlands, CA now called Crackerjack Gift Co. Find a similar one online here: Shabby Chic Chic Organizer

Big Vintage Desk – this was my grandma's. Check thrift shops and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for similar desks. I found this great Teacher's Desk on amazon that is really similar to mine. Yeah, that's my breakfast. I try to avoid eating in my craft room at all but sometimes, duty calls and well, I gotta eat! It's paleo (except for the OJ): eggs, nitrate free bacon, sauteed spinach.

White Frame Shelves – I got these at Ikea. They discontinued the original ones  (RIBBA Picture Ledge is still available on Amazon!) I had so I used those for the 3 rows on the top. The lower two rows are with the new January 2016 frame shelves called MOSSLANDA Frame Ledges. the are slightly deeper with a groove for plates but the same width as the previous models. I mounted these side by side for a 90″ long shelf for my paints and stamps.

Raskog Cart – the infamous Raskog cart from Ikea with 6 cups on the sides for glue sticks and glue guns. I park this cart in the  space between my desk and the die cut bar when I am not using it. I slip my craft mats behind the bar to hide them but still keep them handy.

Wood Die Cut Center – Another Ikea find. This is a bar or counter from their kitchen series. I could not find it online but I found a similar one: Kitchen Island

Die Boxes – I got these perfect-for-Sizzix boxes at Target but they have similar ones in the basket area at Hobby Lobby. These Rubbermaid bento boxes are similar.

Chippy paint shelf – I was gifted this by another vendor at a craft fair I was at. Check vintage and thrift shops for similar shelves or get this one: SHABBY SHELF

Thread Racks – these are two June Taylor thread stands that we bolted to the wall.

Faux Library or Apothecary Cabinets – I got these at hobby Lobby. They still have them from time to time. they were NOT cheap but they do hold a lot of stuff. I found a similar unit on Amazon: Apothecary Library File Cabinet

Art Bins – I have Art Bins in all shapes and sizes, but mostly I have Super Satchels. I also have some of the bead Art Bins and Semi-Satchels. These are great for organizing and taking projects with you on the go.

Ink Spinner – I got the spinning hardware storage at Harbor Freight and spray painted it white. This thing is NUTS to put together (thank goodness Xaver did it for me) but it is super cheap at $19. Larger Revolving Storage Bin

Spray ink storage – I use a Quickutz MagPie Tin Storage box. Totally discontinued. Sorry! I have looked for them online but found this similar one I like even better.

Ikea Expedit – I have the largest Expedit bookcase in my scrap room. I have two more in other places in my house. One of the best purchases ever! They have replaced this with a newer, lighter version called Kallax I believe.

Green Boxes – I got these at Ikea this month so they are new! they also come in white and bubblegum pink. I like when everything matches and I think this green makes the room feel richer and more grownup.

Fabric and Wire Bins – these are across the bottom of the Expedit – all are clearance purchases from Target over the years. Wire Locker Basket

White Rolling Drawer Units – Another Ikea purchase: IKEA ALEX. I know I got at least one of them in the As-Is section because I do not like to pay full price for this kind of stuff. I love the shallow drawers for being able to see everything all at a glance. here's a much more affordable version: rel=”nofollow”Winsome Drawer Unit

Yellow Shelf –  This was a splurge at Pier1 a couple of years ago. I hang my ribbons from the rings. I have thinned those ribbons out ALOT. I feel like this is not the most efficient use of space but it looks cute.

Embellishment Storage – I store all of my small embellies in DotBoxes. These save a TON of space. I have everything sorted by color so it is easy to find embellishments to match any project. I use the SMALL Dot Boxes by Cottage Mills but they have larger sizes available (see links below).

Sewing Machines – I have my grandma's old Pfaff in the wood sewing table. And then I also have her old 1980s Juki serger and my Baby Lock sewing machine. I have another Pfaff in my bedroom that I need to clean up! Some day I will sew more.

See even more organizing ideas in my past room tours!

I have been doing room tours for almost 10 years now! Check out some of my past craft spaces (back before I had a room or rooms) and see how the space has evolved from apartment to house to house and get ideas for your space. Many of these posts include the links to where I got the products I used to organize my space. I also included more posts with organizing ideas here as well:

Continue on the hop to see more room tours here:

What's your favorite part about your craft space?

What would you change or improve? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks again for stopping by.