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Maggie Whitley

joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith & simple living

You are here: Home / blog & handmade advice / {Creative Craft Organizing Ideas}

{Creative Craft Organizing Ideas}

March 4, 2011 · 22 Comments
Filed Under: blog & handmade advice, guest bloggers

Back in December I hosted a Gussy // Grand Rapids, MI meet-up, and that’s where I met today’s guest blogger, Andrea. Andrea *loves* to organize and is here to share some tips on organizing your craft {or blogging} space.

♥

Not all of us are as lucky as Gussy and have an entire room dedicated to our craft supplies…

However, even if your house is bursting at the seams, you can still create a small craft area to keep all your supplies neat, organized, and ready to use when craft time rolls around.

Here are four simple ideas to get you started.

1. Use an armoire for your craft hub.

I absolutely adore old armoires — I used the one below as my craft hub in our old house.

I stored all my sewing supplies, photo albums, paper, gift wrap, and tools inside. I loved that I could simply shut the doors when I wasn’t crafting. {sorry I can’t find a pic of the inside}

If you have space for an armoire in a spare bedroom, a dinning room, or even the corner of your living room, they make excellent storage for craft supplies.

2. Integrate craft supplies into your decor.

I use old baskets, suitcases, trunks, and lots of creative storage ideas to store extra fabric, knitting supplies, and other craft items. They look great and are easily accessible when I’m feeling crafty!

I also use ladders and frames filled with chicken wire to organize and display my magazines, post cards, and inspirational ideas.

Storage ottomans, coffee tables, and end tables are also great ways to integrate your craft supplies into any room of your home. Get creative — you might be surprised at what you come up with!

3. Turn an unused closet into a crafting zone.

I wish I had a tiny, unused closet that I could transform into a craft / office nook like the folks over at Young House Love did in this reader re-design!

I love all the practical storage and the cork boards on the back of the door.

4. Create a craft area inside another room.

Since we moved, I got rid of my craft armoire and am in the process of creating a craft area inside my office. {I’d show you pictures but it’s in the middle of a big renovation!}

If you’re searching for the perfect craft area in your home, consider utilizing part of an office, guest bedroom, garage, or laundry room like this photo from Apartment Therapy.

Even if you just have one spare wall, you can use peg board, floating shelves, wicker baskets, and galvanized bins to create a clean and organized look that’s still 100% functional and user-friendly.

My Favorite Organizing Supplies:

In my new craft area, I’m planning to use magnetic paint, cork boards, lots of baskets, and a few mobile storage containers so I can quickly move them out of the way when guests arrive or when they’re not in use.

And whenever I organize a client’s craft space, I look for items that are both functional and attractive. I almost always end up at IKEA because they have such a great selection of items at really reasonable prices.

These are a few of my favorites…

1. Magazine Storage Boxes — $1.99 for five

2. Slim Box with Lid — $4.99 {great for scrapbooking paper}

3. Green Paper Boxes with Lid — $5.99 for two

4. Wicker Storage Basket — $7.99

5. Red Drawer Unit — $34.99

6. White Drawer Unit — $119.00

I also love shopping at thrift stores and junk yards to find cool old pieces that look great and offer practical storage for my craft supplies.

How do you organized your craft space?

.

A big thanks to Gussy for letting me blab about fun organizing ideas and products!
I hope you found at least one idea to better organize your own craft space.

♥

Andrea Dekker is a professional organizer and founder of Simple Organized Living. Her goal is to motivate and encourage others to create their best life through simplicity and organization. If she’s not working with clients or blogging about clutter, you’ll find her documenting the renovation of their 120-year-old farmhouse over at Farmhouse Love.

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22 Comments
Filed Under: blog & handmade advice, guest bloggers

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Comments

  1. MARY says

    March 4, 2011 at 6:39 am

    This is awesome! I needed a post like this! Organizing my craft space is on the to-do list and is slowly creeping its way up to the top :)

    Reply
  2. Chrissy Farnan says

    March 4, 2011 at 7:03 am

    I love to organize but sometimes my “goodies” get the best of me and are all over and I have to have a crafty clean up to get everything back in it’s place. I love all the ideas posted here.

    ~Chrissy

    Reply
  3. MaryBeth says

    March 4, 2011 at 7:28 am

    great post! Andrea’s blog is packed full of wonderful organizational tips! I just cleaned out my closet last week and her blog postings helped me to PURGE! Love it!

    Reply
    • Andrea @ Simple Organized Living says

      March 4, 2011 at 9:47 am

      Awww…thanks MaryBeth!
      Enjoy your newly organized closet :)

      Reply
  4. Evienlizzie says

    March 4, 2011 at 7:35 am

    Much needed advice!
    The best thing I have found lately in organizing my fabric is an over the door shoe rack. I roll up my fabric and stick it where the shoes go… pretty nifty if I do say so myself! Now I am wishing that I had another door to hang more on!

    Reply
  5. Tara says

    March 4, 2011 at 8:05 am

    Love how any space can be turned into a craft nook! Great post!

    Reply
  6. Ms. Megan says

    March 4, 2011 at 9:02 am

    What brilliant space ideas!!! I hope for one day to have a room for my crafting supplies!!! *sigh* :)
    Have a fantastic weekend friend!!!
    xoxo

    Reply
  7. Heather Mullin says

    March 4, 2011 at 9:34 am

    Love your post! I am a photographer but still have even a lot of craft things. I do have a whole room to work with but we just got married last October and I am just trying to get used to married life. I really need to finish painting the trim and do touch ups so I can organize that room for my photography and whatever else. It is an amazing room and I thank you for the inspiration!
    Have a great weekend!
    xoxo

    Reply
  8. Dallas says

    March 4, 2011 at 10:11 am

    The craft room/laundry room is a great idea! I am fortunate enough to have a whole room dedicated to sewing and creating goodies…but if I didn’t craft/laundry room it would be!

    Reply
  9. Mandi says

    March 4, 2011 at 11:41 am

    Very cool ideas. I love the idea of using a laundry room like that. I might actually be more likely to get laundry done if it was like — fold some towels, do some crafting…

    Reply
  10. Midwest Elle says

    March 4, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    Great ideas! I am currently using an antique dresser and it works pretty well. Finding photos of different rooms and choosing different pieces of it that you love and work for you is a good way to start.

    Reply
  11. Sarah-Anne says

    March 4, 2011 at 12:13 pm

    my dad has a office in a huge, huge, huge cabinet we have. he’s totally decked it out, i’ll have to post a pic sometime AND show him this post.
    happy friday, friend!
    Sarah-Anne

    Reply
  12. kirstie@bonhomiejewelry says

    March 4, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    great ideas and very timely for me….i’m hoping to reorganize (read: clean!) my studio area and add some crafty inspiration very soon!

    Reply
  13. Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says

    March 5, 2011 at 1:39 pm

    Another great organization post, Andrea – and to do it with Gussy! How much fun is that?! My parents handed down an entertainment center, kind of armoire-like, to us last summer. It’s really not my style, but I plan to paint it and make it fit into our home. We’ve been using it as a craft center for the kids’ art supplies. I love that they can play and create all day long from a central spot, and then at the end of the day it all goes back in & the doors get shut! I am keeping my eyes out for a garage sale piece for my crafting supplies now.

    Reply
  14. katy reitz (lil' alice) says

    March 5, 2011 at 5:34 pm

    love to see how other people organize. i just finished my sewing room. pics on my site.

    Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. Creative Craft Organizing Ideas « Andrea Dekker says:
    April 12, 2013 at 6:13 am

    […] Today I had the pleasure of writing a guest post for one of my favorite crafty bloggers… the famous Gussy! […]

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ABOUT MAGGIE WHITLEY DESIGNS:
Maggie Whitley weaves her writings around joy in motherhood, homemaking, faith, and simple living. She homeschools her children, enjoys a quiet room while reading, and roars with laughter over the challenges & delights of motherhood. Maggie and her husband, along with their four young children, live in metro-Detroit. She has been writing online since 2008.
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I started writing online (almost 13 years ago) to share the handmade products I was sewing. My shop was called Gussy Sews. ✂️👛I love the community that has grown from sewing & sharing online.

Let’s FFW to today: Zack and I live in Michigan and have four young children (2 boys & 2 girls). I slowly left the handmade industry and walked right into homemaking, homeschooling, and encouraging women through writing. 💕📝

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