Super Organised Craft Room

I have been trying to organise my craft supplies and craft room in general for a while now. It is difficult because my craft room is also the dining room. Trying to balance the two so we can actually use the dining room is difficult, especially as I have a habit of leaving things on the table and I am not very tidy. 

I had most materials in boxes of similar items, such as threads, buttons, lace and ribbon etc. I found this kept getting very messy and it was difficult to find exactly what I wanted, when I wanted it. A new plan was needed.

I tend to work by colour when I am making things and particularly when I am starting a new project. I was inspired by seeing the workspace of designers in Sew Hip and decided to try storing my supplies by colour rather than purpose. If I was going to do this I reasoned that I should really use storage that was clear so I could see all the lovely colours. I tested this out with some glass pasta jars, they looked lovely, but the jars were a little small and heavy. I then had a thought, there is an old fashioned sweet shop in town with big plastic jars to hold the sweets, perhaps they might have some old jars they no longer wanted. I asked and they were really helpful saying they would save them for me until I had as many as I wanted. So far I have used 10 jars.

I now have all my supplies, excluding fabric and yarn, in these jars. It hasn't cost me anything and I have been able to reuse something that would have been thrown away. I am really pleased with the finished result, being able to see these jars full of lovely colours is a bit like being in a sweet shop, but better for your teeth!

I am getting another bookcase soon, one my parents no longer need (recycling again), then I will be able to spread these jars across the two top shelves, making it easy to get at them. This has really set a standard for my storage now and I will have to make sure my fabric, felt and yarn is also stored in such a pretty and useful way. 

It was not possible to get the labels off all the jars so at some point when I have some free time I will cover the labels with some pretty paper in the relevant colours. I may also do something with the lids to make them look more interesting, perhaps covering them with some fabric. 

The other things I like most about my craft room are my craft books. I have filled a whole shelf now, it is great having them all in one place. I have a collection of modern craft books as well as older ones going back as far as the 1950s, I can always find something to inspire me.