Organizing my craft room

I have always been interested in crafts and projects from painting, to scrapbooking to jewelry-making.   Over the years, I have struggled with what to do with all the "stuff" that amassed out of my hobbies.   In my first small apartment, I kept it in rolling underbed boxes (Rubbermaid of course), but it still required a bit of effort to pull all of my supplies out to get started.  In turn, I found I worked on my paintings and crafts less because I didn’t want the hassle of pulling all the supplies out.

One of the big selling points in my new home was an extra bedroom that was an ideal space for a "project room". How exciting to  finally have a space where I could work on things bit-by-bit and have a home for my stuff!!

The first step was a large project table.  My stepfather built a simple table out of an old door that works beautifully.   Next, I built custom bookshelves to keep my day to day items close to the project table.

Another idea I saw in a magazine was to take an old shutter to organize paperwork.  It has been easy to keep up with wedding invitations, tickets for upcoming show, etc. in a quick and easy place.

Because the room had a larger walk-in clothes closet, I converted the space once used for hanging clothes to a supply room.

Clear drawers became a dresser to organize larger "projects" .  Painting simple designs on foam board created a more fun feel and the labels made everything easier to find.

In the remaining part of the closet, I used Rubbermaid Homefree Closet system to create rows of shelving to house my favorite size Rubbermaid totes – the mini 3 gallon.   Homefree is really easy to install and change based on your needs so I was pleased with how I could customize the spacing for my totes.  Also, when I am selling the house, it will be easy to convert it back to a clothes closet (not sure if the new homeowners will be wild about art as I am).

All in all, it has been great to have everything in once place and I have found myself more inspired to pull out projects on a random Saturday or to finish things quickly!  If anyone has any idea for other ways I can organize, just let me know!