Craft Storage Closet
The importance of starting with a blank slate; Questions to consider to better assess your space; Which organizing tools I used and why; Using what you already have; Personalizing your closet.
Do you have a room in your home that houses items from different types of categories? For instance, a guest bedroom that also serves as a home office? If you have this type of a room, you know that it can be challenging to store all of its “stuff” and keep it neat.
These multifunctional rooms are always a little more particular to organize. For that reason, I decided to share the process I went through to organize my craft storage closet in my craft room/home office/guest bedroom.
Having a blank slate
Like any other organization project, starting with a blank slate is key. It gives you space to breath and to better assess what you want for the space as well as what the space can offer you. Make sure you take everything out and leave only what you have to and can’t remove (such as attached shelving for instance).
In my case, not only did I have a blank slate, it was a brand spanking “new” slate which I had recently stenciled. Here is the link to my blog post if you are interested in learning how to stencil a wall.
I know and have been there where having a clean and empty space can be just as overwhelming (if not more) than having to deal or plan around what you already have. For that reason, I recommend for you to take the time and really assess your needs for the space you are wanting to organize. Do your best to plan what you want your space to hold especially if your are in the situation where you are starting from scratch (like me).
I realize that at some point, the content of your space may change, and that’s perfectly fine and normal for that matter. But for now, we will assess its needs for the moment and for the near future.
Questions to consider
When you are looking at your empty space, here are some questions you should consider to help you determine what its needs and purpose will be:
- What kind of items will be going in this space?
- What do the Pinterest pins you have with regards to this space have in common?
- What kind of space does or will your items need to be stored? Open baskets or closed containers?
- What is the look and feel you are aiming for? Clear containers or colorful ones?
Answering these questions should guide you in knowing what you need and want for your area.
My requirements
Here is the thought process I went through when I organized my craft storage closet. I knew I wanted a place where I could park my IKEA Utility cart as well as a place where I could hang my stencils. For that reason, I knew that I needed at least two sections of my closet without shelves. Other than that, it didn’t really matter to me what the rest looked like.
Pssst! Here is another utility cart I found for a reasonable price at The Container Store.
With those requirements in mind, I knew that this wire shelving unit (that was on sale) at Canadian Tire would work best for my closet. Thanks to my fabulous husband, we were able to set up the shelves differently than what they were intended for and make it work for what I wanted. This is how we ended up setting up the shelves. Once that was done, I couldn’t wait to start setting everything up! First I had to group my like items together.
Grouping
Grouping your like items together does so much more than you think when you are organizing.
- It makes you go through all of your things and determine what you will keep and what you will toss. If you haven’t used it in a while and/or didn’t know you had it, just toss it!
- It gives you a visual of how many things you have in one grouping. Seeing it with your own eyes will most likely make you question if you really need it all or not. This will give you the opportunity to either slim down your inventory or add more to it.
- The visual effect that “grouping” has also lets you see how you would like your items to be stored; either horizontally or vertically for instance.
Categories
Once the “grouping” step is done, you can move on to categories. In my case, I knew I would have three general categories in my craft storage closet:
- craft supplies
- office supplies
- gift wrapping supplies
Knowing that I would have three different types of items to store, I knew I had to be smart about the organization. The best way to maximize a space is to stack (without going to high, or else it will just fall on you) and use the vertical space available.
The tools I bought
With the items related to craft or office supplies, it is somewhat easy to store and stack them as long as you are using the right tools. Here is what I used.
Clippy Storage Box – $4/each
The ones I got are from Dollorama and are 5L (169 oz) ones which I thought were great for storing paper, enveloppes, etc. Since they are stackable, I was able to maximize the space on my shelf and stack four of them.
Stackable Omni Box – $3.50 & 5@ $11.99
I got the 9L ones at Dollorama and the 6L ones at Home Hardware. I know that Dollorama also carries the 6L bins, but they didn’t have them on hand at the store I was at that day. I’ve mainly used these bins in my craft storage closet because they are clear which makes it really easy to see what’s in them. They also stack very well which gave me yet another opportunity to maximize my craft storage closet space vertically.
There are plenty of different sizes available for these bins. If you plan on using them, make sure to measure your space so that you know which ones will fit best. As you can see in my craft storage closet, I had to store some lenght-wise while the other ones I was able to store width-wise.
Quick Tip: Once you’ve played Tetris with your bins and that you know which ones you will be keeping, do me a favour and take the tags and stickers off. Nothing looks as unfinished in a space than bins and containers with their store labels and stickers still on.
S-Shaped hooks
I also purchased these S shaped hooks knowing that I would hang my stencils with them. What I initially didn’t plan on doing with them was hang my inventory of gift bags. More about that later on.
The things I already had and used
Larger container
I had this plastic bin (Sterilite brand I believe) that has been following us for years . It seemed to be the perfect fit for my cleaning supplies so I decided to use it in this space.
Magazine holder
I also had this magazine holder which I’ve had for years now but it was stored as I was not using it. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it until I realized that I no longer liked our gift wrapping paper holder. I decided to use my magazine holder instead.
Funny Story: When my husband saw that I was going through our inventory of wrapping paper and gift bags he came snooping around… I was sorting and getting rid of the ones that I didn’t think I was going to use. What is it with husbands suddenly appearing when we are decluttering and/or organizing? Lol I’m glad he was around though because he gave me the idea of hanging our gift bag inventory on s-shaped hooks with my stencils.
Command hook
I also used a command hook to hang my painting apron on. I love to have those hooks on hand around the house, they’re so practical. I could have easily hung my stencils on a couple of these hooks as well but chose to use the S-hooks instead. The convenience of command strips and their multiple uses is limitless. If you can keep a small inventory of these in your home, I strongly suggest you do so!
Final Look
Here is what the end result looks like. I can see everything at a glance and quickly find what I’m looking for. What’s also great is that I can send my husband to go get something in my craft storage closet and he can find it.
As you can see, I decided to label all of my storage bins. You don’t have to if you choose to use clear bins and containers since you can see their content. I personally choose to label them to make is easy for anyone to find what they are looking for in my craft storage closet. The perk of using clear bins is that you not only can see through them but they also let the closet light come through them.
I hope this blog post gave you clarity on how to tackle a multipurpose closet so that it can hold everything you need it to. As you can see, breaking down the process is the way to go. Tell me, have you ever undertaken the organization of a multipurpose closet? Let me know in the comments below.
