Struggling to feel energized in your craft space? It’s likely because your crafting clutter is contributing to a creative clutter. Spring is the perfect time to clear the mind and eliminate the things holding you back from creative success. To help you clear your craft space and create room for yourself, here are seven Spring Organization tips from our creators:
1. Prioritize your most-used space
Corinne Burghardt is a cleaning expert, mom, and an avid crafter. Through her online presence, Slay at Home Mother, Corinne delivers helpful cleaning hacks and organization ideas to help inspire moms in need of a fresh start. Her number one tip for you is to start organizing in the room that you spend the most time in.
“You’re already in there and familiar with what needs to be organized. Getting that first room done, whether it’s your office, living room, kitchen, etc. is so motivating and helps you move on to other areas in your home that also need organizing.”
When it comes to the deep dive (actually decluttering your space), Corinne recommends that you develop a more positive mindset about letting go, both physically and emotionally, of unused items.
“I often get asked how to organize a space that is full of items that most often the person doesn’t use or want, but is holding onto. They still want the space organized and functional, but aren’t willing to let anything go. I'm not saying you have to be a minimalist to make a space functional and organized, but there has to be some willingness to let go of the items you haven’t used in, say, over a year. Even a willingness to move sentimental items out of an already-crowded space to realistically organize a space is a step in the right direction!”
2. Everything should have its own home
Heather Paulsen, known to many online as Heather Handmade, is a seamstress and pattern designer devoted to upcycling clothing for her family. To help you keep your house and craft space in order, her greatest piece of advice is giving everything it’s own designated space.
“Everything should have a place. I will always be able to put something away and find it again if everything has a place. I love that there are so many places to organize in the Dreambox.”
Like Corinne, Heather also emphasizes the importance of removing excess supplies to make more room for creativity and inspiration. “I get overwhelmed and lose my creativity when I have too much. If I clean out and get rid of stuff, I have breathing room to be creative. I only buy stuff when I have a project in mind and time to accomplish that project. Then, I don't ever have too much.”
3. Choose a workflow that aligns with your habits
Rachel Timmerman is a working mom with helpful advice for fellow moms out there who struggle to stay organized. On her website, The Analytical Mommy, Rachel hosts valued resources on motherhood, lifestyle hacks, and DIY crafting tutorials. Her favorite piece of advice for getting organized is to figure out a workflow that aligns with you and your personal habits.
“What works for someone else may not be best for you. So, think through how you use something, how often, from where (sitting, standing, etc), and then pick organization styles and tips that fit your needs.”
4. Avoid bulky bins & stacked boxes
Jennifer Marx, known as Jennifer Maker online, is a professional crafter and mom devoted to helping people craft lifestyles they love. She hands out a variety of tips on DIY crafting, storage solutions, upcycling projects, and Cricut tutorials. Her greatest advice on Spring organization is to start with the basics and assess what items you already have.
“Get all of the excess out of your space, so you can actually SEE what is left in your space to organize and you have a better idea of how much organization space you have to work with. It’s tough to see clearly with a bunch of junk in our way.”
One way she recommends you do this is by grouping your items together so you can take stock of what you have and how much space it takes up. “For example, I have a bunch of paint in little paint bottles. So I’ve put all of my little paint into a group by itself so I can take stock of what I have. You may have more or less than you thought, because before, items were spread out. Now, you can see them in a neat pile.”
After you’ve documented your supplies, Jennifer says the next step is to get yourself the right type of storage that suits your needs. Instead of tossing everything into giant bins that take up space, you can optimize your craft supply storage by giving even your smallest supplies a dedicated spot in a smaller box or drawer:
“Use appropriately sized boxes. Shelves and drawers are great, but they are still pretty large spaces — and many of our craft supplies and tools are small. It’s likely you’re going to need to further organize your drawers and shelves with bins and boxes!”
As a rule of thumb, Jennifer emphasizes accessibility when choosing your new boxes and storage bins. “For this reason, I added a DreamBox to my home craft room. The DreamBox holds all of my supplies in a lot of different types of containers. The drawers and totes come in different sizes — small, medium, large, and extra-large.”
5. Sort your supplies into zones
Layne Dasher from Crafty Life Mom helps women overcome their creative hurdles by giving out inspiring DIY tutorials on crafting and home decor. She loves providing organizational tips and solutions to help moms from all walks of life tackle their cluttered spaces. Her first piece of advice this Spring is to create zones or sections for each of your supplies.
“That way every type or kind of something is in a general location. I do this in my Dreambox, craft room and all around my house. Specifically in the Dreambox, one row of drawers is scrapbook papers, then by color, pattern, etc, another section will be adhesive vinyl by color and type, and I even designate bins for scraps for each type of thing within each zone.”
Secondly (and we truly can’t agree more), Layne emphasizes the importance of making labels. “I know it’s a given, but labels help you not “break the chain” of keeping organized. You wouldn’t put floral picks with scrapbook papers or paint bottles. If you are not labeling, you bound to end up with more miscellaneous bins than you wish. Everyone’s got a junk drawer in the kitchen, but more than one could be risky. Don’t break the chain, and put a label on it.”
6. Utilize clear storage bins & drawers
Lee Sartorti is the face behind CoCo Crochet Lee, a popular site for crocheters and crafters. Her ever growing collection of crochet supplies gives her a valued perspective on yarn organization.
For Lee, clear storage options are essential. “Being able to see what is inside containers and inside boxes really helps to keep things neat and tidy without having to shuffle through things and search for a wanted item.”
From there, Lee keeps her yarn in order by sorting through colors and type so she can remember exactly where everything is.“Start with simple categories and then work into smaller categories from there. So, for example, a main category would be something like 'yarn' but then you could divide the yarn up by color, weight, or brand. It really helps me get started!”
7. Clean up as you go
Katie Clark with Clarks Condensed is a mom of three with uplifting and motivational tips on organization, family living, and DIY tutorials. For her, it’s her mom’s helpful piece of advice that inspires her to keep her craft space organized all year round:
“I always grew up with my mom saying, ‘Clean up as you go!’ as her secret to an organized home and kitchen. While I admit that I am not always the best at this, it really is the tip I go back to over and over again. It is SO much easier to clean up what you don't need as you are working on a project rather than all at the end when you just want to be done.”
So, there you have it! Turning your craft space chaos into calm doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as adding clear drawers to your space or even choosing a workflow that aligns with your daily habits. Whichever method you choose, we hope you can finally achieve that sense of calm with your newly organized space. Happy organizing!
Which techniques will you try out?
Show us your ‘before and after’ photos in our Facebook group with #CreateRoomforSpring!