A few weeks ago, while I was working on making a card, I was totally frustrated with my craft table. It had become so overrun with stuff and mess that I no longer had any space in which to work. Despite the fact that Mr. T was traveling and I NEVER take on projects when I am flying solo, I decided I MUST do something about my creative space and NOW. It didn’t feel creative at all. It simply felt frustrating and a place from which to flee!
Look at that before…yuck! Granted it was after I finished working on a project and hadn’t put anything away, but can you see how there is no room for me to work? There was only a small 6 inch space in front of my cricut. It was a pain! The drawers were crammed full. Which made it hard to find and use things.
In my opinion, the first step in any organization project is to clear the space. That way you know what you are dealing with. You can sort through things before you put them back and you have a clean slate with which to work.
All cleaned off and ready for me to put things back.
My goal in any re-organization is to purge and to see if there is a different way to do things that will function better for me. Once I got everything cleared. I sorted through everything. This organization project didn’t cost me anything. I used what I had or made what I needed.
My main objective was to make the space feel clean and to have space to work. I will show you via pictures what I did to accomplish this.
I moved our Ooma phone system and wireless router up to the top of the cabinet you can see on the right of this picture. The only thing that couldn’t move that far was our router. It is behind the basked with my cricut cartridges. That saved me some valuable space. As you can also see, I moved my Cricut out of my valuable work space and off to the side. Yes, it now takes a few steps to set it up and plug it in. I am OK with that, because I don’t use it every time I use this area and it saves me soo much space that way.
Let’s look closer at the right side of my table.
The metal basked was a new addition to this area. I won it a few months ago and hadn’t found a use for it. It fits my cricut cartridges and my Adhesive ‘gun’ really well. Behind that metal basket is my router. Mr. T had cleaned and saved the glass jar for me. It had a Yankee Candle in it at one time. When it was used up, he thought I might find a use for it some day. He is such a smart man! I really like having all my frequently used tools out and easy to reach. Someday, I will come up with a cute idea and decorate the glass jar, but for now it is clean and simple.
All of these items used to be crammed into my white drawers. This is prettier and much for functional. In addition to that, it makes it easier to find the things I access the most.
Now let’s look at the other side of myĀ illustriousĀ craft table.
As I mentioned before, I moved my cricut to the corner. No it is not in time out….just moving it to give me space to work. I have my file with the cardstock I use for cards and crafts. (I have a whole other stash of paper I use for scrapbooking.) As you can see, I have my white drawers here. On top of those drawers, I put my books and folder filled with inspiration and ideas. In front of that, I used a desk accessory I had that is designed to hold paper. I put all of my stamps on display in this accessory. They also used to be crammed into my drawer organizer. Once again, I think it looks pretty and it makes it easy to get to something I use frequently.Ā
Do you see that cute ribbon holder on the right in the picture? I made it from things I had on hand. It may not be the fanciest ribbon holder, but it works, it was free for me, and I think it is cute. I will show you how I made it another post.
As you have seen, I found other places to display my most frequently used items. This and my purging of things, left me with beautiful, clean, and organized drawers. It makes it so easy to find what I want.Ā
In one drawer, I have my basic shape makers. (I store my other shape makers in my scrapbook bag. I take it with me when I go to crops.) Also in that same drawer, I have my border maker.Ā
Another Drawer stores my acrylic bases for my stamps, ink and stamp cleaning pad.
The final drawer has some of theĀ embellishmentsĀ I use in making cards, refills, and some miscellaneous items.
I have added the power cord and computer cord for my cricut into the stamp drawer. It doesn’t look as pretty, but it is easy to find it and there was easily room.Ā
No because I am aĀ WYSIWYGĀ girl. (A lot of you who are younger than me probably never dealt with WYSIWYG…I’m showing my 40 years now!) Here is what is left from my re-do. A few of these items weren’t on the craft table, but still need a home. The wine bottles and the black box on the left were on the craft table. I am saving the things on the right for projects I want to make. I just haven’t gotten to them. I still need to find a place for them. The pile on the left also needs to find a home. There are a couple of items that I need to figure out what to do with. The rest need to find a home. This is all still sitting on the floor of the office.Ā
I will be doing a whole bunch of organizing at the beginning of August, so I will take care of the rest of this then. This was,Ā after all, a project I took on while Mr. T was out of town. Normally crazy talk for me, but I was desperate enough to go for it.
My happy place! š
Have a great day! Come back on Friday, when I will show you how I made my ribbon holder.
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Ā© 2011-2013Ā The Real Thing with the Coake Family.Ā ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Ā© 2011-2013Ā The Real Thing with the Coake Family.Ā ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
So nice! I love having my craft space clean.. it makes me want to get in there and tackle stuff, vs. having to think about cleaning it up before I could even start the project.
Your new space looks great and you have some wonderful organizing tips in there!
Looks great! I think I need to have you come over to my house and help me get organized! š Thanks for the inspiration!
Great job with the organization! I am really struggling getting (and keeping) my craft space organized.
Would you consider linking this up at my Pinworthy Projects Party? I hope to see you there!
@Kristen You are welcome! Keep going! You can do it. You are going to love your new space when you get it all finished and organized. I know sometimes in the middle of it, it feels overwhelming and as though it won’t end…but it does and you will love the end result. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for the inspiration! I’m in the middle of turning my office into a shared space with my craft stuff and it’s a little frustrating. Glad to see organization is possible.
@ca4ole Thanks so much!
As I look at my messy desk I am in awe of you!
I found you on Live.Laugh.Rowe’s linky party. I linked in bacon and scrambled egg rolls. Have a super week.
@Carol Thanks Mom! <3
I am always learning from you. Thanks for sharing your steps to clean and organize.
Feels so GREAT, right!!! Love it! XO, Aimee
Looks great! Thanks sharing on Saturday Show and Tell. I hope you’ll be back this week with more great stuff!
-Mackenzie
https://www.cheeriosandlattes.com
Thanks Mackenzie! Thanks for your great link party. I did link up again this week. Have a great week!
This is a great re-organization project! I used to think I could function with my own style of organization or the lack there of, but when you do a lot of crafts, it really is more productive to be organized. Plus, I think it helps you be more creative because the clean space helps you think or execute your ideas more quickly. Great post!
* Thanks for stopping by my blog. š
Lovely job! Thanks for stopping by to link up to Project Purge!
Thanks so much!