Are you like me and find yourself reorganizing and cleaning your craft area by accident? I hate when I can’t find something I know I have!! I reorganized my scrapbook area a few weeks ago looking for a collection I wanted to use on a series of photos I was scrapping.
It was functional and though it looks like there’s not a lot of room between my chair and the cube bookcase it was roomy. The bookcase was there because there was a porch chair next to it that spins so I had to configure the furniture around the chair.
My scrapbook space is part of my sunporch which is great for natural light but it poses some problems with paper storage. It also poses critter problems. Yep, apparently these pesky, tiny ants also like the sunporch! Needless to say when I found the ants into everything a major cleaning took place.
This was just part of the mess I created. Everything was pulled out, wiped down and piled up. I ended up moving the chair to the front porch which opened up the rest of the window wall. The cube bookcase and 2 small iris drawer units fit along the windows. They house tools and other things that won’t mind direct light.
The finished area! Everything is easily accessible and within reach. I also like how open it is now which helps with airflow. The porch only has one heat/AC vent and because of the sun it gets hot in the summer and in the winter it can get cold at night, especially on those dark and dreary days. I have found if I keep the door closed and open the windows in the summer it stays cooler. I live in New Jersey by the shore so it gets rather humid here, those days I stay inside and do graphic design work from the comfort of the couch! lol
I couldn’t end this post without giving you some organizing tips that I’ve learned over the years!
- Decide what are the most important, most reached for products and keep them at hand. For me, it’s my date stamps, mini heart punch, corner rounder, Tim Holtz Distress inks and oxides, foam applicators, mixed media items, and sprays. All of which are housed in bright pink baskets that sit on my desk under the wire plate racks I bought years ago when I use to go to weekend crops. They are awesome and allow for vertical storage.
- Organize your photos!! I know this sounds like something that is obvious but it’s not. I can’t tell you how many scrapbooker (beginner and seasoned) have no organizational system in place. I will share my organizational system in an upcoming post
- What kind of shopper are you? Do you shop for specific theme for a project or do you just buy what you like or have seen online? Do you like certain manufacturers or do you pick and choose from different ones? How much space do you have to dedicate to your stash? All of these questions matter because every situation may dictate what types of containers you will need to organize your stash.
- Change your organizational systems as your needs change and your stash grows. Friends, I just didn’t go out and buy all of this at once. My stash has grown over a period of 20 years!!! I first started out with a tiny student folding table (which I still have and use) accordian folder for 12×12 paper, and two huge scrapbook totes. Everything I owned fit into them and only came out of the bags when I was ready to scrapbook.
- Lastly, An organized space is a used space. It wasn’t until I purged the real old stuff so that I could have proper homes for everything else did I finally start to use up my stash and get old and new projects completed!
Thanks for stopping by!
Redheaded Story Keeper