Today marks the launch of my new craft category Birdz of a Feather ~ Craft Rehab so what better way to kick it off than to organize a craft room?! We’ll still post DIY home & garden reno projects too so be sure to follow us if you don’t want to miss a post!
Since finishing off my craft studio at the end of last year, I’m spending more time on craft projects. To kick off my new focus this year, (and celebrate my new craft studio) I thought I would dedicate this first post to craft room organization.
Ikea Pax
Hubs built an entire wall of storage cabinets for me using Ikea Pax units. Although they’re meant to be used in the bedroom as a wardrobe, the interior options are ideal for a craft studio. I’ve used the interior organizers to full advantage. Here, we’ve installed a pull-out shelf to store one of my sewing machines:
I put a few felt dividers into one of the drawers to corral small items such as my pressing hams:
There’s a ton of room to store both my hanging and tissue patterns, my glass grinder, my tools and even my thread (although I changed my mind about the tread as you’ll see further on).
The clear glass drawer fronts allow me to see everything I have in an instant!
Update: you have to check out this post on how to hang sliding pegboard. We’ve since maximized our craft room storage with a pegboard that you can hide away in this cabinet!
Tool Storage
There’s a flat storage space for my self-healing cutting mats and all of my tools are on on pull out shelves so they are readily accessible. It’s impossible to loose anything when you can simply pull out a drawer to see what you have! The only trick to keeping it organized is making sure to return everything back to where I got it; so far it’s worked like a charm.
I even have a few pullouts to store some closed storage bins:
Check out our pegboard craft organizer and how to hang sliding pegboard for two awesome upcycles using pegboard from my old studio! Pegboard is a great way to organize tools and these two ideas are both creative ways to maximize that when you don’t have the wall space.
You’ll see a link on how to design your space using the Pax planner at the end of this post, along with the rest of the series on how the craft studio came together!
Thread Storage
Instead of hiding my cone threads and yarns in the cabinet, I decided to relocate them to display them in all their glorious colour. The vintage glass oak display cabinet keeps the dust off everything.
The 6-drawer card catalogue resting on top of the cabinet adds additional closed storage. I organized things like tape and fasteners in the drawers.
Want to show off a few of your favourite threads? You have to see this thread holder!
Display Treasured Items
To organize my collection of vintage irons and other cast iron objects, I’ve displayed them on an Ikea Lack shelf. I love being reminded of how far technology has come in the last century.
Mix Old and New
I couldn’t believe it when we found the shabby chic highboy shown below on the side of the road. It was missing its drawers, but it turned out to be perfect to tuck away larger project components so I can clear my work table when I have things in progress and need to move on to another step. It’s so easy to store and grab things from the open shelf space.
My grandmother bought me the industrial pattern table to christen my first studio. Hubs added a shelf onto the bottom of it so I could store some closed bins that are holding my fabrics. My grandmother (and Mom) taught me most of what I know about crafting and I always think of her when I’m looking for some inspiration for my next project!
Upcycle Kitchen Cabinets
My favourite piece (if I had to pick just one) is the kitchen drawer units we repurposed from our kitchen renovation. We faced the front of each drawer with MDF to get a clean slate. I blew up a picture of a VW beetle that hubs restored and attached it to the MDF for a unique storage piece.
There are six large and deep storage drawers as well as a vertical pullout (similar to the pull-out cabinet we built for our new kitchen). I store most of my finished projects in the drawers that are still waiting for their final place in our home (or someone else’s home!).
Check out how we did the VW desk with upcycled kitchen cabinets!
Pull Out Storage
In one half of the pull-out cabinet I’m storing mostly liquid items such as paint, caulk and glue. The shelves are adjustable so that my storage options are totally flexible and I can switch things around whenever I want to:
On the other side of the divide, we installed a perforated metal backer. I can hang some items on the metal, either peg-board style or by magnets. I haven’t organized this spot yet, but will likely store my rulers here.
Hopefully, my work area will one day hold a laptop or desktop computer so I can design and execute in the same space.
See how to upholster an office chair for how we customized this chair for the space.
Above the floating desk, we installed additional wall cabinets to maximize storage space. These used to be in my brother-in-law’s office until he moved out; I designed my craft area around these so I could reuse them.
I’ve got inspirational magazines stored in one of the cabinets, as shown below, and a collection of craft books in the other units.
Lastly, I’ve organized all my smaller items in a vintage card catalogue. Everything is labeled alphabetically so I can easily find it. We have since made this into a mobile card catalogue by adding wheels!
Now that everything is coming together organization-wise, I can fully concentrate on the fun aspects of my new craft studio: creating and making things!
Here are the links to previous blogs in the series of the making of my craft studio:
- The Making of a Craft Studio– Calling All Crafters: Help Me Decide the Best Layout for my New Studio
- The Making of a Craft Studio (II)– Design Your Space Using Ikea’s Pax Planner!
- The Making of a Craft Studio (III) – If You Build It, She Will Come!
- The Making of a Craft Studio (IV) – Progress Report!
- Organize a Craft Room
First Craft Project
Have a look at my very first craft project! There’s a full tutorial and video on how how to make your very own blue jean planter. Isn’t it adorable?
UPDATE: Here’s just a few links to some of the things I’ve since made in my new craft studio!
- Soda Bottle Vertical Garden
- DIY Indoor Water Fountain
- Paint Stick Pallet
- Paint Chip Portrait
- Craft Rebab category to explore more….
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Interested in more DIY organizing ideas in other areas of the home? Check these out from DIY Idea Center.
Do you realize how talented you are! Love your organization! And your crafts!
Thanks for posting such a nice compliment Ginny! I hope I can inspire you to try a craft or two 🙂