Fabulous Craft Room Storage Ideas That Will Inspire You

If you’re buried under the bits and bobs of a thousand different projects, try out some of these handy craft room storage ideas. Sure, someday you’ll get back to that cross-stitch baby blanket. You may even finish it before that baby graduates from high school. But if you can’t find all your floss or your Aida turns yellow, you’ll never be able to create the work of art you envisioned.

Getting and keeping organized is vital to preserving your craft supplies so they’ll be easy to find and still in good shape when you return to them. But finding room for all your fabrics, yarns, and floss, not to mention needles and pins, can be a daunting task. That’s when it’s time to borrow from the best craft room storage ideas so you don’t lose or have to replace anything.

Getting Started with Craft Room Organization

The first step is defining your crafting space. You may not have a whole room to yourself to devote to crafts. That’s when an array of craft room storage ideas are essential for making the most of the space you have.

Once you have an idea of the square footage of your crafting room, think about volume, too. How high are your ceilings? Are the walls sturdy enough for hanging extra cabinets or organizers? Make sure you give yourself plenty of headspace. However, if you’re on the shorter side, you may need to make sure you keep a footstool handy.

When you are considering your craft space, you have to realize that you will need to get a little “crafty” to make the most out of what you have. One of the best ways to make your craft space work for you is by thinking about storage creatively. We will get into that a little more in just a moment, but be sure to keep that in the forefront of your thinking when you get started with defining your space. 

Assessing the extent of your craft supplies

The second step in craft room organization is evaluating how many supplies you have before you decide on what storage solutions are best for you. Are there easy ways to fold or disassemble certain items, so they take up less room?

For example, if you have a knitting machine, does it take up less room when it’s in the box? Or do you use it so often that putting it away would be more inconvenient than the space it takes?

You will also want to consider whether or not you are storing like items together. If you don’t already, you may have noticed that keeping things stored where they may fall is a great way to waste otherwise beneficial space. 

Keeping your supplies in good condition

Thirdly, think about the nature of the supplies you’re using. Do they need temperature or humidity control? Should they be sealed to preserve fragrance? Fabric crafts sometimes require acid-free paper wrap to protect them. In contrast, wood-working crafts may need extra outlets or grounded plugs.

As you go through your supplies, you may find that you have some supplies that may need to be discarded. For example, paint bottles and dry and brittle paintbrushes will be of no use to you any longer, so you are better off tossing them. 

Craft Room Storage Ideas for Small Spaces

If you only have an empty corner to work with, you’ll need storage solutions that are easy to access but make the most of very little space.

Think in all three dimensions. For small items, hang stackable storage drawers on the walls using brackets. If you have large, bulky items, floor-to-ceiling shelving units will keep them out of the way.

You can also use a pegboard to hang tools you use all the time. Use hooks to hang baskets on your board for larger items. Vertical storage has two distinct advantages. First, it takes up less floor or desk space than cabinet storage. Second, and best of all, it’s effortless to find anything you need.

Another great befit of vertical storage is the fact that you can compartmentalize so that you have more space to store your belongings. One way to compartmentalize is by using plenty of baskets. 

If pressed for space, start thinking in four dimensions: time. If you’re stuck crafting in the family room or kitchen table, think of ways to make your craft supplies portable. Rolling tables with drawers can be heaven sent in homes with small children. You can close them up and roll them away when you need to clear the room.

Craft Room Storage Ideas for Large Spaces

In-built shelves and drawers are wonderful but expensive. Just remember that you can bolt big box store shelving units to your wall studs to create the same look. Solid wood is the best quality with the longest durability. However, this may be the time to fall on the cheap side with laminated pressboard. It’s a lot lighter and easier to hang.

Another option is coated metal shelving. Most big box stores carry a range of lengths along with all the accessories needed to hang them. Check the household goods section of your local stores.

For craft room organization using shelving units, add cloth, wicker, or plastic baskets to keep like items together and dust free. Your local dollar store likely has a huge selection of seasonal plastic baskets and buckets in a wide range of colors.

Storage cubes from big box stores make handy cubby holes for yarn. Sort by color or weight, or create a pattern. The best part is that you can stack them as high as you need, as long as you have plenty of wall space and make sure to bolt them securely to the wall studs.

Craft Room Storage Ideas on a Budget

If you’re just getting started on your own craft space and have a tight budget, consider thrift stores or secondhand shops. You can find old desks or sewing tables at your local charity shop that need nothing more than a coat of paint. And who better to do the makeover than a creative crafter?

To store small items on your work surfaces, try inexpensive makeup or jewelry organizers from your local discount stores or dollar stores.

You never know what you’ll find on sale that will be just the right size for all the colors of thread you have. So, make sure you keep an eye out.

This cute craft caddy is super easy and super cheap to put together for less than $5. You can place it on your work table, carry it around the house, or even hang it in a closet to keep it out of the way.

Decorative Craft Room Storage Ideas

Creating storage can be a craft all by itself: Make a fabric-covered foam board and use large push pins to hang scissors, pin cushions, and other notions. If you have some spare fabric you love, you can show it off by loosely covering a corkboard with it.If you’re a quilter, put together some spare squares to section off your corkboard for different types of items.

This crafter crocheted her own storage pocket out of twine for attractive, rustic-looking craft room organization.

You can also use up leftover yarn to crochet these cute hanging bowls for storage. Just pin them to your cork or fabric board once finished.

Along with making decorations for your craft room, make your supplies part of the décor. Check out this cute wreath that also serves as handy storage for your ribbon spools. Use an embroidery hoop to form the circle. You could also use some craft wire and store your sewing thread or wound bobbins the same way.

This wall storage organizer for paint pens is made from PVC, and makes a cheerful wall decoration as well as keeping craft supplies organized and close to hand.

Sustainable Craft Room Storage Ideas

Reduce, reuse, recycle: that’s not an unfamiliar concept for crafters. In fact, upcycling is a whole field of crafting by itself. It’s a pure joy to take some old beat-up item and return it to useful service by refurbishing it. You can also find storage solutions secondhand. If you’re lucky, you can even find donated store display fixtures that make it even easier to find your craft supplies.

Even more fun is finding a whole new use for some weird or obsolete everyday item that no one has used for decades. For example, this Lazy Susan makes an adorable display for fabric paints. It’s not just cute all by itself; it also makes it easy to find the exact color you need.

What other out-of-date or obsolete household items would make great craft storage ideas?

These old mayonnaise jars were repurposed to hold buttons and other craft supplies instead of taking up space in a landfill.

If you don’t have room on shelves or desk for the jars, attach the lids to the underside of your shelves and screw on your button and notions jars to preserve workspace on flat surfaces.

There are thousands of ways to reuse old materials to help organize and store your crafting supplies.

Craft Room Organization Can Be a Blast

Whether you’re on a budget, or you are ready to splurge on your very first craft room, organizing and decorating your workspace can be a lot of fun. You get a chance to treasure and store all your craft supplies, and you also get an opportunity to be as creative as you like. Integrate storage with décor by making your extra supplies like ribbon, paint, and fabric part of the design.

You may want to go for a sleek look, with smooth-fronted cabinets with neatly typed labels and all clutter stored away. With other projects out of your mind and line of sight, you can easily concentrate on the project in front of you.

Get Organized Inexpensively

Remember that along with defining a space for crafting, you’re also finding storage solutions that will preserve your materials. Crafting supplies can be expensive. Fabric fades, lace yellows, and paint dries as they age. Make sure you protect your investment with craft room storage ideas that keep your supplies dry and undamaged.

Are you facing a huge hot mess in your craft room? Check out this video from ClutterBug for inspiration.

Featured Image: CC0, by rawpixel, via Pixabay