Inspiration and tips for organizing your craft space

The better organized and pretty your craft space, the more you are going to get out of it.  Below are a few tips for getting it back in shape and lots of eye candy full of inspiration. These are coming at you from BHG. My additions are in italics.

Clean Out Clutter.

Test all the craft supplies you own, including paints, markers, and glues. Do the same with tools such as scissors, staplers, and punches. Toss everything that doesn't work. Put similar items in clear plastic containers with handles.

Storage for Small Gear.

Hang a clear vinyl shoe bag inside a closet or behind a door. Slip small parts, supplies, and tools into the pouches. If you have no door/closet in your work space - try a small rolling cart with lots of little drawers.

via Amazon

Hang Fabric.

Drape fabric scraps and swatches over rubber-coated hangers intended for multiple pairs of pants. Hang from hooks on the back of a door. Different fabrics need special treatment - even draping velvet over a hanger can damage it This post from Entirely Smitten has great storage ideas, which includes creating your own little minibolts, to using storage boxes originally intended for CDs and other items.

via Entirely Smitten

Organize Ideas.

Purchase eight to 10 sturdy letter boxes and fill with inspirational materials from books, magazines, photographs, and online searching. Organize and label boxes by topic, source, or project. Stack near a chair or desk and use an extra counter, end table, or resting spot. I organize my inspiration and ideas in binders. I fill the binders with clear page protectors and slip my inspiration in the sleeves. It is a really fast way to literally flip through my inspiration. I have a binder for graphic design, hair and makeup, workouts, packaging design, etc.

Here is some great craft and work spaces for inspiration:

so gorgeous!  But I hate when they take cords out of shots - where is the lamp cord?
 Regardless, the cube shelves provide great storage.

This is a dream space - tons of storage drawers, a cushy window seat!
3 above via BHG

via Curbly

via Ikea

via Pinterest

A cabinet with tons of tiny drawers is great if your projects require lots of small tools and materials.
via Pinterest

Elegant and welcoming entryways...

I don't have an official entryway in my apartment, but if I did, I'd make it look like one of these beauties...

stunning
via Elle Decor

via Rue Magazine

great wallpaper

Love the giant clam shell
2 above via High Gloss

via Pinterest

have a great weekend everyone!

Gorgeous home offices

Working from home, it is VITAL to like your work space. It can't have too many distractions and must a comfortable place to sit for long periods of time.

Here are a few yummy home offices I really like:

via House to Home

A nice space for a seamstress. I can't wait until I have the space for my sewing machine to live permanently. Now I always have to take it out and put it away when I use it.
via Martha Stewart

Love the cubby shelves
via Lyrical Journey via Emily A. Clark

All of the little shelves in this desk are great for stationery enthusiasts
via Real Simple


I ADORE this home office - a desk with generous surface area, and inspiration pinned all around

Cut down on the amount of holes you poke in the wall by just running some string and clipping inspiration to the string
3 images above via Rue Magazine

Such a clever idea - chicken wire is stretched in an empty frame and used as an inspiration board!
via Scandinavian Chic

What office set up makes you most productive?

A month by month plan to get your home storage organized: March is for living room organization

So month three of BHG's month-by-month storage plan is to conquer your living room. This one is pretty easy, I promise. If you missed month one - January, you can see the home office storage plan in my previous post. If you missed February, which was conquering the kitchen, you can read it at this post. You can also read them here on BHG.

March Storage Projects: Living Room

• Personal Storage Bin. Give every family member a spot to stash personal items. Fill a bookcase with similar baskets or bins and label containers with each person's name. Establish a house rule to put away books, magazines, toys, and projects every night.

bins keep clutter under control
via House to Home


• Multifunctional Storage. Overhaul your occasional tables. Replace tables and traditional ottomans with small chests and storage cubes. Add baskets to open spaces. Skirt tables and stash items underneath.

• Don't Overdo with Collectibles. Edit a collection to 12 or a fewer outstanding items. Display on a single shelf for maximum impact. Store other items in the collection in one location. Introduce three or four new items--and remove and store the same number--every season.
via BHG

• Create a Space for Entertainment Supplies. Designate one easily accessible drawer for entertaining supplies. Fill the drawer with coasters, napkins, and snack bowls or plates. Include a basket of favorite snacks, a roll of paper towels, and a mini trash receptacle.

via BHG

Some living room inspiration

via Real Simple

via KML Design




3 above via House to Home

A month by month plan to get your home storage organized

Better Homes and Gardens released this storage organization guide recently and I thought it'd be a good thing to share. I should have posted it early, and from now on I'll post each month's schedule withing the first week of the month. To read the whole storage plan on BHG, click here.

Click on the image for a larger view

January is all about the home office. Here is what they suggest doing:

•Create a Mail Station. Set up mailboxes on a desk, wall, or bulletin board. Or give each member of your family his or her own labeled box, bin, or slot.

•Stay on Schedule. Hang a large monthly calendar in a spot everyone can see and use it. Choose a paper calendar or dry-erase version, and encourage everyone to write important events, deadlines, and reminders.

•Organize Office Supplies. Outfit a desk drawer near your main working area with a divided tray or multiple small bins. Limit the number of office supplies in each compartment. Label each compartment with an adhesive label.

•Get Rid of Junk. Test all writing utensils. Toss everything that doesn't work perfectly. Group similar items (pens, pencils, markers, etc) in canisters for easy access.

Of course, you can always go way more in detail, but I think their suggestions are a nice starting point.


I adore this choclate office, and I'm a huge fan of baskets.
via Southern Living


The modular desk systems and home office styling ideas from Pottery Barn are an organization junkies dream. ...one day...
via Pottery Barn

love me an inspiration board
via Traditional Home

A super glam office

A Herman-Miller studio.

Beautiful entryways you haven't seen before

well...I hope these are new to you...





A close up of the hall above

Great magazine display!



via Casa Diez

A post-holiday orgainzation special: Those new electronics=more cords. How to manage them

Here's a DIY for you. When I saw the cord explosion behind my parent's entertainment center - all I could think was - "project!" Especially since I had it on good authority that the holidays would bring a couple of more cords into the mix, it was time to find a system to manage them. I'm sure everyone here can relate to this in some way, and this DIY costs $0 - not a penny.

Before - Here is the mess

Pretty bad huh?

Get yourself a dusting cloth, or electronic wipes, and your vacuum cleaner. Take this opportunity to wipe of the cords, consoles, and equipment while you're back there anyway. When you unplug cords or cables LABEL THEM so you know where they came from and what they go to. I used blank adhesive address labels and folded them around the cord at each end. Each end would be labeled with the name of the hole or device it goes into. You'll see this in the example below.

The end of each cable is labeled with the corresponding hole, i.e. " AV 1" or "Front Speaker - Left" You may find a labeling solution that works better for you based on your equipment.


In the middle of the project - don't worry - things might look worse before they look better.


Analyze if anything is hindering you from keeping the space organized and easy to maintain. For example, on the back of my dad's entertainment console, there were only two small holes for cords to be fed through. This made it really hard to ad a new device or change the settings on something.

So...being that the backing of the console was only fiber board, I traced a rectangle with a pencil and cut a much larger opening with a hacksaw. This allows easy access to the back of equipment, and provides better ventilation.

After cleaning and wiping everything, and labeling the cords, I put all the equipment back in the cabinet, rewired everything, and utilized regular household twisty ties to bundle the cords.

Labeled cords coming out of their respective equipment...


Cords bundled with twisty ties, with excess slack coiled up, and plugged back in. Using a power strip makes it easy to turn off everything in one easy action.

Labeled cables going into the back of the TV

The finished view from the front.

So what do you think? Do you have a mess of cords you've been wanting to organize in your house? Any good tips for managing cords?

For more cord management and electronic tips, check out last week's interview with Apartment Therapy's Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan on Techorating.