The most challenging question I have ever been asked as a scrapbooking instructor is how to organize your craft room. This question is almost surely from the shopaholic in the group. I say gently and humorously, all the crap they can't stop buying is the reason they're asking. After you scrapbook your paper photographs and negatives by theme, what then? Where do you start? How do you organize the whole room? And how to handle challenges? What if the room is small and limited on space? If the closet is small or nonexistent, is shelving the answer? Or armoirs? How do I get to the things I use all the time, like ribbon, glue, markers, scissors, embossing tools, brads, embellishments...

  • Getting started: When you have a lot of crap, stop buying more until you get the crap you do have situated. Low willpower to not shop? Use the Force, Woman, Use the Force! We're doing something magical here. Yoda-fy your shopping impulses on crafts until we get this room situated.
  • How do I get this stuff situated? Which room or wall in your house could accomodate a hobby? Pick a room, wall or space. If there isn't a room or wall that comes to mind, think about ways to rearrange furniture so you free up a space for crafting. Here's one solution: the kids share a bedroom, and you take one of their rooms as your Breathing Room. You can do this. You're allowed to power your life on your own. "You d' Momma."
  • You're hip. You're happening. You're making the move to a fabulous craft room. How many feet is the room? If you don't have a tape measure, get one cheap from Big Lots. While you're there, take note of photo file boxes, shelving ideas, tables, desks, pencil cups, wall hung pictures, and storage bins. Don't buy anything but the tape measure this first visit. Scrap Force rules. Feeling the shopping itch before you go in? Take the Force into your body for a moment before you step into the store. Breath in, breathe out. Imagine your craft room coming together with purpose. Appreciate that higher purpose as you walk through the store. Got it?
  • The rule in measuring is to triple check for accuracy; Measuring each distance three times, then write it down. (Don't you wish babies did this before they tried to fit through the birth canal?)
  • Take the measurements you wrote down and copy it onto another piece of paper. Now you have one copy for the purse, and one for home in case the purse copy gets lost. Before considering this step complete, triple check your rewrite for errors.
  • Consider painting your room. You don't have to get all the shelves, tables, chairs, and organizer bins before picking paint color, but it might help to have an idea what's out there before picking the color. Paint before "forganizing" (filling with furniture). A lot of paint stores have that electronic eye technology that copies any color you bring in. Color wheels and swatches help you match colors together, so if you're anxious about coordinating decorator colors house wide, use a color pallet from the paint store as you go shopping. When I decorated my entire house, I used my favorite color pallette from Close To My Heart (Winter) so the entire house would pretty much coordinate, yet I had 12 colors to splash here and there house-wide
  • Save time and money. Take your measurements into consideration. Check the height, width, and depth of the furniture against the measurements of your allowed space before buying. You can avoid frustration by planning first on grid paper, too.
  • Places like Target and Office Max / Office Depot / Staples carry shelving. IKEA has a tall yet narrow shelf unit for less than $15. Keyword: Lerberg.
    1. Check out classifieds, thrift stores and antique stores for really cool shelves or storage options. 
    2. Don't forget garage sales.
    3. For unique tastes, consider places like Suite Lorraine in Ohio. The entire street is dedicated to antiques, with Suite Lorraine carrying the coolest retro pieces from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. 
    4. At the local discount furniture warehouse, like R. C. Willey, check out style options, like beautiful storage chests and armoirs from Asia. Armoirs and armoir sized computer desks are good for storage, too. All these are popular now and can be found almost anywhere.
    5. And don't forget places like Pier One. Take it from an insider who used to work there, you can ask for the manager and haggle discounts on dented floor models. Even if you don't see a dent, complain that there is one. Store managers keep in mind which pieces they'll have to dent discount. This works on stereo equipment at electronic stores, too, but a lot of the times you have to ask for the discount, so keep this tip in mind. And don't be afraid to haggle. After all, haggling is a custom in many nations, and once you start, you'll find out how fun it is.
    6. If you've searched every store and can't seem to find the furniture you need, consider installing cabinets or shelving. If you like the idea of bins, check out Target and Home Depot or Lowes. These are made for all areas of the home, including bath, bedroom, kitchen, and laundry. Consider all the options before you buy.
    7. While you're in Lowes or your favorite general lumber store, check out the finer woods available for creating a craft table. You can extend the work area of a desk with wood and screws, and don't forget extra leg supports for safety so your updated table doesn't fall over from the extra weight. S-A-F-E-T-Y! Home Depot will cut wood for you, just ask. 
    8. Take advantage of tall shelving with a sturdy step stool. I found a Rubbermaid one that has lasted quite awhile.
  • While you're in Target, pick up a shoe organizer for the wall. Clear pockets are great, but sturdy construction is important, so look at options made in canvas, too. Look for metal ring reinforced hanging holes at the top. You want it to have heavy duty features where it will hang for a long time before needing replacement. The clear ones sometimes have reinforced construction, but not all of them do. The perfect wall organizer has clear pockets reinforced with canvas, uses canvas wherever it can except for the pockets you need to see through, and has large rings to hang it from reinforced with metal brads. If the holes are not reinforced, and you have the brad setter, go for it. Craft stores are starting to carry  the larger brads now. I've also seen nice canvas wall hanging organizers with cute plaquards you can label. There should be a way to dye canvas if you want to. Once it's up and hanging, fill it with the little things you use most. The custom-organized somewhat-alphabetical list might look something like this; brads, chipboard, colored staples, corner rounder, cricut extra blades, cricut markers, cricut tools, cricut vinyl roll, Crop-A-Dile, edgers, scissors, embellishments, stickers, embossing marker, embossing pad, embossing powder, embossing tool, eyelets, eyelet hammer, eyelet setter, foam mount circles, adhesive dots, archival double sided tape, photo tape, vellum tape, craft tape, glue gun, craft glue, photo glue, letters and numbers, calligraphy marker, red eye pen, colored pencils, crop pencil, paint (craft paint, fabric paint, watercolor paints), paper (4 by 6 glossy photo paper, 4 by 6 background paper, 6 by 6 background paper), photo corners, punches, ribbon, rubberstamps, rubberstamp cleaner, rubberstamping ink pads, ruler, Scraparatus... If your organizer has large pockets (for boots) then reorganize things to make groupings or put larger tools and craft supplies in the larger pockets. The Container Store has some decent options online for $20 or less.
  • Be creative, and think big bins. I found a planter in the gardening section of Walmart that looks like a huge pink coffee cup. It was $18! It's taller than the largest salad bowl. I could fill it with a roll of paper towels, rubberstamps, pads, and rubberstamp cleaner, or put all my power tools in one spot (embossing gun, glue gun, embossing light). Or maybe I'll put anything adhesive in it, all the types of photo glue and craft glue I have. Or maybe a little bit of everything; the things I use most often.
  • I found a matching pink pillow for my desk chair at a dollar store. It's military camouflage and pink trim, just like my Scrap Force vision. You never know how perfect an item might be in a store til you walk in. Yeah, any store is game when you're decorating a masterpiece, but decorating costs can get out of hand if you don't limit yourself. Make smart purchases and consider the discount stores.
  • Also, outlet malls. But don't go crazy. Check out the home stores for sure, but, as a decorating  exercise, go into a kitchen store, look at every other item, imagining additional uses for storage for each item. Maybe you'll find a cooking utensil crock in tangerine to match your tangerine and green craft room. If you're looking for a specific color, try the more specialty cooking stores like Sur La Table (pronounced sir-la-tahb) or grab a can of spray paint in your favorite accent color for this room, and check out the kitchen and home item shelves at Salvation Army and other thrift stores. You could always prime in white then paint over it with craft paint. And, you paper craft expert you, don't forget about all that wonderful paper you have as a scrapbooker. Get some decoupage glue from Michael's or Garden Ridge and decorate that bad boy you got from Goodwill.      
  • New to the area? And I'm sending you to all these places. Forget the headache and get a GPS unit. Here's what you do. Get your GPS. Google scrapbook stores in a 100 mile radius. When you find a favorite, save it in the address book for a repeat visit. I recommed the Magellan Maestro 4000. She talks to you as you go, and you can save addresses in an address book. Not all GPS models let you save an address book, so research your model carefully before buying. Imagine garage sailing and shopping all day without having to squint at a map. Father's Day and Christmas are good times for sales on GPS units. Imagine getting to the scrapbook expo an hour or more away and many towns over with ease. No more getting lost hunting for obscurely placed fairgrounds.  
  • Consider going digital in your craft room. A laptop, printer, and glossy photo paper are all you need to print photos and design colorful page headings. You also need it to shop my online store! =-) www.scrap4us.com.