The urge to spring clean our apartment has been difficult to resist lately, and my craft room has been especially in need of a good reorganization. I probably should have taken a "before" photo, but I would have been too embarrassed to share it on my blog - that's how disorganized it was!
I've been scouring pinterest for inspiration for organizing my craft room lately, but what really started the ball rolling was a flash sale from Thirty-One, where I was able to snag three roomy collapsible storage bins for 50% off!
I realized that they would be a great way to make the most of the ginormous armoire in the corner of the room, and that my spinning fiber would be much happier if it wasn't shut inside a plastic bin. As you can see, the first two bins are filled with fiber; though you can't tell in the above photo, the third bin is stuffed with my finished handspun skeins! I have plenty of cedar sachets and blocks placed throughout the armoire (including a block at the bottom of each bin) to protect against pests, and there is also room for my hand cards.
To the right of the fiber bins, I've stashed my bin of design samples as well as the bin of socks needing to be darned (which is shamefully full at the moment). On the bottom shelf, you'll see my collection of project bags, most of which are all filled with yarn and patterns so that I can grab one whenever I'm ready to start something new. This is an idea I got from my friend Sam back in the days when we worked at Lorna's Laces, and I've been doing it ever since! The topmost shelf is filled with household linen storage, which probably isn't of much interest to you, and the storage drawers below are filled with purse handles and other hardware for finishing projects.
When closed, the armoire has two full-length mirrors (you can just barely see the table with the sewing machine reflected in one of the mirrors). My dyeing crockpot is sitting on the floor in front of the armoire, and you may notice a random collection of items waaaaaay on the top of it: this is where my husband's home brewing equipment is stored when not in use, plus I also have a spare bag of poly-fil and some posters waiting their turn to be framed.
The rest of the wall is still more craft storage: the largest bins contain my sock yarn (on the top), worsted weight yarn (in the middle), and bulky/chunky weight yarn (on the bottom), and I have all of my plastic sock blockers stacked on top and ready for action. The smaller green bins contain leftover oddballs of yarn as well as my small collection of sport and dk-weight yarn, upon which my blocking mats are stored when not in use.
Finally, the bookcase contains a collection of all of my other craft-related items: craft magazines, pieces of fabric and felt, pipecleaners, paints and paintbrushes, a hot glue gun, an iron, mod podge, etc. In the unattractive cardboard box you'll find the cat's fluids; I tried to make it cuter with a few bird clothespins from CB2, but I should really just get a nice-looking storage bin where they can live.
My favorite wooden sock blockers are hanging on the wall along with a vintage sock blocker which used to be in my grandparents' basement; I remembered it from my childhood and couldn't believe it was still there when I went looking for it a few years back!
The walls could use a little dressing up; I was thinking of finding an embroidery hoop large enough to hang this odd piece of embroidery I found amongst my great-grandparent's linens, which I inherited when my grandfather passed away a few years ago. I have no idea which person in my family embroidered it, but I think it would be fun to hang it on the wall after it's been in storage for all of these years.
I wish I could say I spent more time actually crafting in my craft room, but it's just not the case: my preferred spot to work is in the living room, which is another area I'm working on organizing as part of my spring cleaning efforts (and will be sharing with you on this blog soon!).
I hope you enjoyed this peek into my craft room, I would love to hear your tips for keeping yarn and other craft supplies organized!
I've been scouring pinterest for inspiration for organizing my craft room lately, but what really started the ball rolling was a flash sale from Thirty-One, where I was able to snag three roomy collapsible storage bins for 50% off!
My favorite wooden sock blockers are hanging on the wall along with a vintage sock blocker which used to be in my grandparents' basement; I remembered it from my childhood and couldn't believe it was still there when I went looking for it a few years back!
I wish I could say I spent more time actually crafting in my craft room, but it's just not the case: my preferred spot to work is in the living room, which is another area I'm working on organizing as part of my spring cleaning efforts (and will be sharing with you on this blog soon!).
I hope you enjoyed this peek into my craft room, I would love to hear your tips for keeping yarn and other craft supplies organized!
Nice work! I love a newly-organized room. I need to put some time into mine as well. I did a big reorganizing a couple of months ago but items always seem to migrate out of their proper places!
ReplyDeleteAh yes - I have the same problem! I'm guessing this will last all of two week, tops!
DeleteI do love seeing other people's craft rooms! My personal yarn crafts are not that organized any more. Florida is crazy bug-happy, no matter how insulated your house is, so all my yarn is in ziploc bags, inside sealed plastic bins, stacked under a big window in my office - makes it look like a big, if totally not sturdy, window seat.
ReplyDeleteOur grocery store has reusable wine bags (they're like the reusable grocery bags but with four pockets; if your store doesn't have them and you're curious, I can send you a picture. They'd probably be easy to sew.) and I use that for my current sock projects (four pockets, four socks - one complicated pair and one easy pair). I keep it in or next to my knitting bag, depending on what size project is also in there at the moment... I'm not very project monogamous. I keep most of my daily use tools either in my knitting bag or in a mug next to where I sit on the couch.
My sewing machine, spinning wheel, and loom are all in one room. Occasionally I can even see the floor in that room, and use them!
Huh. I guess I didn't exactly give you a ton of tips, did I .....