I searched the internet high and low to share with you my absolute favorite ways to organize craft supplies! If there are two things that I love more than anything in blogging, it’s craft projects and organizing. Keep all of your craft supplies organized with these craft room organizing ideas.
If your house is overrun with paints, fabric, papers, or other craft supplies, these inventive organization ideas are just what you need. Here’s how to organize your craft supplies in a way that makes crafting relaxing again!
Craft supply organization
We crafters are notoriously messy. Each new craft we take up requires more equipment and supplies, which inevitably end up strewn across our houses, causing a huge mess. It can end up making crafting feel more of a stress than a hobby.
But if your craft supplies are beautifully organized, crafting is a joy. There’s nothing better than stepping into a well organized craft room (or even just opening a tidy closet!), and seeing all your supplies laid out beautifully, ready for you to delve in and create something wonderful.
Inventive craft organization ideas
If your craft supplies are messy and disorganized, you need to try one of these organization solutions! Whatever type of craft you do, and whatever type of storage space you have available, there’s sure to be something here to help transform your craft space into a relaxing, organized space.
1. Label your drawers
Putting craft supplies away in drawers is a great way to keep your space looking clean and tidy. It avoids a lot of visual clutter, and it means you can put everything away easily when you’ve finished crafting.
However, it can be easy for closed cupboards and drawers to end up disorganized. It can be all too tempting to just shove everything in one drawer, and close it up.
Labeled drawers are a great solution, like I did in my own craft room! Everything can stay out of sight, but will still be organized. The labels will help you find exactly what you need, without needing to search through each drawer in turn.
2. Use old wooden crates to create open storage
Another of my favorite features of my own craft room is my open shelving. I created it using wooden crates from the craft store.
You don’t need any sort of woodworking ability to create shelves like these. Literally just stack some old crates in a fun way, and you’re done! I like a combination of vertical and horizontal crates, to create versatile storage options! It’s such a quick and easy way to create additional shelving for all sorts of folders, boxes, papers, etc.
3. Make an upcycled pen organizer for your desk
If you’re a paper-and-pen crafter, your desk is almost certainly scattered with all sorts of stationery. This simple upcycled pen organizer will help you to get your workspace in order, keeping your equipment tidy and leaving you with plenty of space for crafting.
All you need is an empty shoe box and some cardboard tubes. With a bit of creativity, it can be transformed into a practical desk organizer! I upcycled my box with decorative paper, decorative tape, and spray paint, but you can use whatever fun supplies you have available.
4. File your fabric!
Any crafter will know that buying fabric can be additive. When you spot a beautiful fabric, it’s hard to resist buying it.
The issue comes when you realize you need to store all the stuff you’re not using! Big teetering piles of fabric aren’t ideal, and stuffing it all in boxes just means you forget all the fabrics at the bottom of the heap.
If this all sounds familiar, try this genius idea from The Thinking Closet – filing your fabric! Use an old filing cabinet to neatly store your fabrics in a super satisfying way. It keep your fabric tidy and out of sight, and you can easily see what fabrics you have to choose from.
5. Make a versatile organizer from a stool
This versatile craft supply organizer from Muy Ingenioso is made from none other than an old wooden stool! It’s perfect to organize craft supplies.
When it’s turned upside down, the stool provides a perfect area for storing long items like rolls of wrapping paper. The wooden bars are ideal for hanging bags or baskets to store smaller items.
You could adapt this idea to store almost any sort of craft supply, depending on what you choose to hang on the sides!
6. Use clear hanging organizers for smaller items
If your chosen craft requires lots of smaller items – spools of thread, beads, small tools, etc. – these clear hanging organizers are a fantastic storage solution. Fall For DIY uses hers for all sorts of small craft supplies, and the clear pockets make it so easy to see exactly where everything is. Since the organizers can be hung on a wall, it also clears up your floor or cupboard space for other things.
If you’re feeling super organized, you could even label each little pocket with its contents, just to help you make sure everything stays in the right place.
7. Use filing cabinets to organize all sorts of craft supplies
Filing cabinets can be a great storage solution, as they’re so versatile. If you keep the files in place, you can use them to file all sorts of paper supplies (or fabric, as above!). Or, remove the files, and you’ve got wonderfully deep drawers that are perfect for storing balls of yarn or any other bulky craft supplies.
Design Improvised went one step further with this chalkboard filing cabinet. It’s been upcycled with chalkboard paint, so not only is it a handy storage solution for craft supplies, but it also doubles as a wipe-clean chalkboard calendar!
8. Make a simple rack for your twine
Twine, yarn and thread are all tricky to store – how do you make sure everything is accessible and organized, without risking any tangles or knots?
This super simple twine rack from Damask Love is a great storage solution. Simply arrange your balls of twine on wooden spindles, and hang them inside a beautiful frame. You could easily make a larger version, too.
This creative twine rack means you can just pull the loose end of whichever string you need, cut off a length, and the rest of the ball remains neatly in place. Perfect!
9. Repurpose wooden crates into paint storage shelves
If you have a big pile of scrap wood in your garage, why not use some of it to create shelving for your craft supplies? These wooden shelves from Remodela Casa were made from old wine crates, and are perfect to store paint bottles. If you make the shelves yourself, you can measure them to fit your bottles perfectly.
Storing the paint bottles on their sides makes the whole thing look really stunning, and allows you to see exactly what colors you have available. Even better if you arrange them in rainbow order!
10. Organize balls of yarn in wine racks
How beautiful is this yarn storage idea from Repeat Crafter Me! Even if you only have a fairly small area of wall available, you can make great use of the space by storing your yarn in a wooden wine rack.
The diagonal shelves look really beautiful, and if you organize your yarn by color, you’ll not only be keeping your craft supplies tidy and accessible, you’ll also be creating a stunning piece of artwork for your craft room!
11. Store ribbon in Tic Tac boxes!
It might sound a little strange, but Tic Tac boxes are perfect for storing small rolls of ribbon or lace, according to Craft and Creativity. You’ll need to eat a fair few mints to collect enough empty boxes to organize your whole ribbon collection, but it’ll be worth it.
Just place a small roll of ribbon in the empty box, replace the lid, and your ribbon will be kept neat and tidy. It’s easy to see the color and design of the ribbon through the clear box, and the pop-up lids mean you can simply pull a length of ribbon out, cut off however much you need, then close the box again.
12. Store washi tape on a pipe
Alternatively, if it’s rolls of washi tape that you want to store, Something Turquoise uses a copper pipe! Just place your rolls of tape over an upright pipe, so they’re easily accessible, and look really visually appealing.
The copper pipe will give a stunning industrial vibe to your craft room – but of course, if you prefer, any other kind of tube or pipe will work just as well! Just use whatever matches your aesthetic.
13. Trash bag holders are great for storing rolls of vinyl!
Isn’t it amazing how the simplest and most humble of objects can be used in a really creative way! Sweet Red Poppy uses none other than an Ikea trash bag holder to store her rolls of Cricut vinyl!
Luckily, nobody would guess your beloved craft supplies were being stored in a trash bag holder – it actually looks really beautiful, as it’s simply made from white plastic.
You could use the same holder to store small rolls of wrapping paper, too!
14. Use a cart on wheels for regularly used supplies
A bright teal cart is a really eye-catching feature of this craft room on Hey, Let’s Make Stuff! It’s an easy way to organize craft supplies that you use regularly, and makes great use of space.
The fact that it’s on wheels also means you can easily move your supplies around. For example, if you’re working on a large project on the floor, or out in the garage, you can easily wheel your supplies to wherever you need them.
Don’t forget to PIN these craft supply organization ideas for later:
If you enjoyed these Genius Ways to Organize Craft Supplies, you can find more organizing inspiration in my Organize Archive.
And if you want to get your kids arts and crafts supplies organized, read this post all about How to Organize Kids Craft Supplies with real life tips and inexpensive tricks!
More Ways to Organize your Craft Supplies:
- Tired of stuffed and disorganized storage in your craft room? Get some yarn storage ideas here so you can make storing your yarn more efficient.
- If your craft room is being overtaken by too much paper, then you’ll love these 12×12 scrapbook paper storage ideas.
- These Cricut vinyl storage ideas may be just the thing you’re looking for if vinyl is taking over your craft space.
Ha! I’ve never considered using old bar stools as ways to organize stocked up wrapping paper! I was just talking about this the other evening with my husband attempting to find a better solution than the spare bedroom closet.