Organizing my Craft Room: Part 1

Today is Sale-a-Bration Eve!  Since you’ll OBVIOUSLY be loading up on new supplies tomorrow, I want to help you make sure you’re space is prepared to receive them.

The way you store your stamps, inks and stamping supplies is such a uniquely personal decision.  The methods by which you store your goods depend on the amount of supplies you have and the space where you are able to store them.  We are flexible beings.  Some people have entire floors of their home dedicated to stamping (you know who you are).  Others are able to convert the smallest closet into a well-organized warehouse of supplies.

A very wise man once said:  “Card making is made up of three separate hobbies:

  • collecting stamps, papers, inks and accessories
  • using stamps, papers, inks and accessories
  • organizing stamps, papers, inks and accessories.” 

OK, so I’m the wise man who said it.  It was one of the first blog entries I ever posted.  You can see it here because I know you weren’t following my thoughts and projects then.  It’s a true statement, right?  Some days, I find just as much joy in moving things around in my space as I do creating beautiful things.

Over a couple of different posts, I’m going to share some tips from my most recent “renovation” of my stamping space.  I moved a couple of things around – that qualifies as a renovation in my eyes.  🙂  While your stamping space is likely not walled in by cinderblocks, you might be able to tailor some of these recommendations to your own space.

Here’s a quick shot of my craft room (aka “the basement”, aka “the stampin’ dungeon”, aka “the fungeon”):stampwithbrian.com - craft room.jpg

This picture captures about half of the fungeon.  The other half is home storage and a hot water heater.  I’m only showing you the “good enough” parts.  The door to the basement is in the top, left corner of the above photo.  The right hand side of the picture was originally a big opening in the wall (went through to the crawl space on the other side of the house).  I had the openings closed in to hold stamps and supplies.  This works really well for me.  Here’s a shot of the wall:stampwtihbrian.com - shelves.jpg

I love to see all my things, so I am not happy to hide them away behind cabinet doors (but I understand when people do want to put it all away).  My space isn’t accessible from the house (I walk outside and downstairs to enter the basement), so I don’t ever have to put things away if someone is coming over.  The only people who will see this stuff are guests who are coming over to stamp.  All of my stamps, embellishments, ribbons, dies, accessories and punches are positioned along this wall.  My papers, inks and tools are kept in a different area (another post).  I’ll also show you some close-ups of the above areas, along with some tips that have helped me.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!  More organizing tips to come!

Brian

Sale-a-Bration.  Starts tomorrow!  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].  I’m happy to help you craft your order.

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Valentine’s One-for-One Swap.  It’s not too late to participate in my Valentine’s Day One-for-One swap.  All you have to do is send me a card with a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and you’ll get a beautiful card in return.  Click here for more information.  I look forward to seeing your beautiful card!

25 Comments

  1. Always love to see how other people organise their stash! Looking forward to more…

  2. You’ve made clever use of those niches that used to be the crawl space wall! I appreciate your tidy-ness, everything in it’s place when you’re done!

  3. When I grow up, I’m gonna be organized like you! Have a great week…..I think I entertain my friends when they come over and look at the dining room…….it’s like a musuem of where they may possibly find something NEW ….oh vey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Fabulous space, Brian. I also like to see my things, specially stamp sets because, if I have them in droors out of my sight, I might forget I have them. My craft room was like an office space when we bought this house and it has wonderful wood cabinets with lots of space and a nice, big closset. Thank you for sharing the pictures of your stamping zone and for the tips, I look forward to more of them.

  5. Fabulous basement – how I wish we had basements in the UK houses!!! My craft room is my son’s old bedroom – hope he doesn’t need to return home in a hurry! I do have my goodies out and around, but I would love to be able to do what you do, ie walk away and not have to tidy up at the end of the day!!! Thank you for sharing your space with us – we can all dream!

  6. Brian, I just love your fungeon!! So neat and tidy and easy to find things! I’ll be glad when I can make progress in mine, but it’s taking baby steps to get there! Looking forward to tomorrow’s post! ;D Have a wonderful day!

  7. Great space Brian! Love all the white and how everything’s in one room. Mine’s spread all over the house…..lol!

  8. AWESOME USE of your space Brian! I have WAY TOO MUCH STUFF to have it out and EXPOSED……..so MY METHOD is tucking things in cabinets and drawers. There is something about pegboard that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. You have all your supplies nicely lined up and ready to be grabbed when needed. MANY THANKS for sharing your space with us – Can’t wait to see more!

  9. You are so right, Brian! Collecting, using, and organizing! Since I have 2 pieces of actual papercrafting furniture in my card room, I had to resort to purchasing a label-maker. I say “resort”, but I do love it now and am ever-so much more efficient. My wood mount sets have been relabeled with my label-maker in larger font and the drawers they reside in have the same labels. I dragged my feet on the label-maker purchase for long time – little post-its were scattered on some drawers previously (blush). I did hate to waste valuable stamping time organizing! Of course, we all know how much more time you do have to stamp when you are ORGANIZED!
    I didn’t realize you have to enter your stamping room from outside, Brian. But I did wonder how you managed such a great space living in the South where basements are uncommon (having lived in Atlanta myself many, many “moons” ago.
    I can HARDLY wait until tomorrow to see your next installment on organizing.
    Thanks for sharing this segment today, Brian!

  10. So this is where creativity resides during card making mania . I always like seeing where people do their cardmaking and designing . Okay so where does Bandit (your Muse cat ) stay in this area.while artistry takes place ? And I`m hoping to see some Baja Breeze (you know the color that makes your heart sing) somewhere in here. Thank you for sharing your “Fungeon” with us. I look forward to more photos .

  11. Timing is perfect as I am going through a craft room organizational storm. I love the way you have everything accessible and your own special space that doesn’t mess up the house! Standing by for part 2, hurry please!

  12. Thanks for sharing! I love to see people’s craft spaces and how they organize their supplies. Happy sale-a-bration eve and Happy Stampin’!

  13. Very cool, Brian. I especially like your pegboard system and how you stand up your punches.

  14. How cool to have an area separate from the actual house for your stamping and stamping friends! I have a Hobby Nook off from our Living Room and Kitchen that I’ve filled with antique office furniture and such to keep the flow of the style of our home. I absolutely love it but what I wouldn’t give for a room (with a door) that I could fill with White items and bright colors and not have to continually keep it clean! I also love how you have your punches! My old style are on a rod but the new style are in a 3-Drawer Sterilite ClearView Storage that will also hold 12×12 papers. When I open the drawers, I can see the images on them and then quickly pick out what I’d like to use. I may have to rethink this and use your idea!!! 🙂 TFS!

  15. Thanks for sharing, Brian. Very clever use of space! You are going to show us how you stood those punches up, right? I was organizing mine yesterday and found out I have more than I realized. Thanks again!

  16. Hi Brian:
    My card making/sewing/knitting/office room is 8 X 10 and every inch is filled. Hubby says I have too many hobbies. As a result of so much “stuff” being “stuffed” into a small space I have to be organized. If I knew how to download a photo here I would share some photos. Now, I said organized but, in the middle of any project boy, I sure do make a mess. I have found one thing though – if you can’t see it, you don’t use it anywhere near what you could. AND, I have found that as I progress in stamping my style changes yet I cannot get myself to get rid of those things I no longer use. So I guess I’m a stamping “hoarder”??? LOL

  17. Love your Craft Room Brian! I love the way you can see everything! What are your punches in? I rearrange my craft things probably once a week. I’m not happy with the way it is. Can’t wait to see tomorrows post. Happy Stamping!

  18. Looking forward to seeing how you organized! Your post on organizing the sponges hooked me! 🙂

  19. Thank you for inviting us into your stamping space. It is very organized and functional. Super! My space is in the family room so that I can work while my husband reads or watches tv. I got rid of the pool table (kids grew up) and replaced it with a big dining table and chairs (when I’m good and put my things away you can actually see the top of it!). I have a large armoir for stamps and supplies and a side console table for the paper cutter and big shot with bins underneath. I have a clear plastic 36 pocket shoe organizer hung on the wall for punches. I glued magnetic sheets inside the cabinet doors for all my framelits dies. I’m looking forward to more organizational tips from you tomorrow.

  20. ooh Brian I love your cave !! well done , can’t Wait to see the rest !!
    hugs frenchie ,

  21. Had to swap cards last half of last week, so very behind on blog updates AGAIN! Your craft room is wonderful – as I would have imagined, totally organized and beautifully done! Wish I had a cave….and can’t believe that you don’t have more product, etc., hiding somewhere else…LOL!

  22. I’d love to read your first blog post – but the link goes to a WP page that requires some kind of password. Is there a different road we can take to view your early journey?

  23. Brian, wow! Awesome and such an inspiration, what is the system for your punches? Looks great but can’t figure out how you have them.

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