Many of these problems can be solved through good design and intentional decisions. Let's recap what this room looks like:

The right side of the room consists of two towers with a bench seat in between. The towers help create a cozy spot and make the room feel comfortable and welcoming. A vintage harvest table sits in front, flanked by two metal chairs. The furniture is durable and easy to clean - a necessity in a craft room!

How To Organize A Craft Room

Today I'm sharing my tips for keeping your craft supplies organized, but really, you can use these ideas for most any room in your house. Whether that's a craft work space, a utility room, a home office, or any kind of hobby room or craft closet, here's 7 organization ideas to keep your space functional and neat.

1. Set Up Zones In Your Craft Room Layout

Though we call this space a "craft room", it performs so many functions. It's our sewing room, our gift wrap room, and our utility room. In addition to craft supplies, it also holds our party supplies, some decor items, and household tools. Part of the organization process is to define the different functions of your craft room. 

To keep everything in order, I've maximized our craft room layout by separating items into different categorizes and assigning each category to a designated zone in the room.

The different types of craft supplies stored in this room are:

• gift supplies: gift bags, tissue paper, ribbon, gift tags, and gift wrap
• Cricut supplies: Cricut machine, materials, tools and accessories, and machine mats
• sewing supplies: Sewing machine, fabric, and sewing kit
• household supplies: extra cabinet hardware, garbage bags, batteries, hooks, extra wallpaper
• paint: paint and stain samples (we store gallons and pint containers elsewhere), rags, and brushes
• craft, sewing and decor books
• party supplies: party decor, plates and utensils, napkins
• household tools: often used tools (screwdrivers, hammers, glue gun) and supplies for small touch-ups and fixes
• craft supplies: drawing, painting, and craft items

Craft Room Layout and Furniture

It's essential to start by thinking about your craft room furniture. You can store your items in cabinets or free-standing storage units. Whether you have a small craft corner or dedicated hobby room, you want to think about how to layout your craft room in a way that maximizes use of the space and is logical. It's easier to store (and find) things if you know where in your craft room it's stored. Looking for a flathead screwdriver? It's likely with the household tools. Searching for gift tags? Look near the gift wrap and ribbon. 

Having designated zones and storing similar items together in the same cabinet makes it easier for everyone in the household to know where things go - instead of just mom! I swear 12% of my time is just spent telling everyone where things are in this house, ha! The craft area in our previous house had similar zones, with cabinets dedicated to kid crafts, "my" crafts, office supplies, and toys. Zones work to keep the clutter at bay!

2. Keep Things Visible

Using the right storage container not only keeps your supplies organized but also keeps them visible and encourages you and others to use them more. That saying "out of sight, out of mind" must have been said in relation to a craft room! I know I'll forget what I have in the backs of drawers if I don't see them. Having the right craft room organization bins will make all the difference. 

With our craft room, I intentionally wanted to make the room kid-friendly and a place where my child can work independently. Now, if Chloe is bored and looking for something to do, I can just send her to the craft room and tell her to go be creative and play with her paints or felt or paper. She can see all of her options and can access them too.

What kind of containers should you use for craft room storage?

Craft supplies can be stored in almost any type of container, from mason jars to budget-friendly shoe boxes to plastic bins from the dollar store and IKEA baskets. You can organize your craft room on a budget - you don't need to splurge on fancy bins and containers but ideally, any container you use will be:

• right-sized: large enough to store your supplies and make it easy to pull things out and put them back but not too large that space is wasted
• uniform: easy to stack and store within cabinets or other pieces of furniture
• durable: able to sustain frequent use by kids and adults
• portable: easy to move from the cabinet to the table 

In our previous home, I used metal bins with label holders to store my fabric. In this home, my fabric is stored in a drawer. In both instances, the storage container kept the items visible, neat, and easy to access. Any type of container can be used so long as it performs the function you need it for. You can also make your own DIY containers using old shoe boxes and jars but try to keep things uniform. There will be less wasted space in your cabinets that way!

Having proper containers will also help you to declutter and edit your craft supplies. If the supply doesn't fit in the container, it might be time to purge!

My personal preference is to use clear containers for craft room storage so that I can see what's inside without having to pull the container out or move other items aside. I also like to have lids on containers that need to be moved (like a box of ribbons or a container of craft paint), and on kid's supplies. You don't want to be cleaning up a box of spilled crayons every time your child wants to colour at the table ;)

3. Store Like With Like

One of the easiest tips to staying organized is to put things that are the same all in one spot. Within each zone, I've broken our organization further into "subcategories".  Take Chloe's craft zone. She's got specific boxes for markers/crayons/glue, a drawer for decorative papers, and a few cabinets for paint and art supplies. This systems ensures Chloe knows where everything goes which makes keeping the area organized much easier.



Another added benefit of organizing like with like is that if things are visible, you know exactly what you have and you WON'T over buy and purchase duplicates of what you already have. There was a time when I kept buying Scotch tape because I wasn't quite sure if we had one when I needed it. It's not a problem anymore!

4. Label Everything

Even if you have clear, see-through containers, it's good practice to label your craft supplies. With labels, you can see where things are the moment you open the cabinet door. I like to use Chalk board markers for labelling. I'll either write on a removable chalk label, or directly on the plastic container. 

Chalkboard markers are what I'd call semi-permanent; they won't rub off if you brush up against the writing but can be wiped off with a wet cloth if you need to re-label the container. For things like baskets, use a hanging tag to keep the label visible.

5. Size Your Storage To Fit Your Supplies

To maximize your cabinetry, you'll want to use storage that is just right for the job. It's neither too big (and prevents you from storing more in the same cabinet), nor too small (and lids don't close and you don't have room to add items). For small items that you like to keep handy like paper clips or nails or scissors, use a cutlery or storage tray. This will keep the small items separated and organized and prevent them from getting lost inside drawers.


For other items, you'll need to select your storage container based on size of the items, weight, and how often you'll be accessing the supplies. For heavy items like paint sample cans, you'll want deep containers with handles so you can move the items in and out with ease. For things that are used often like batteries or hooks and nails, keep them in open storage pails with handles.

And don't think that you need to buy containers. Get creative with your DIY storage. Here's some of my favourite DIY craft storage ideas:

• A large reusable plastic tote to hold all of my gift bags upright
• A peg board to hold twine and scissors (and hide an electrical panel at the same time!)
• A shoe box with holes punched on the sides to store baker's twine and string
• Old food jars to hold paint brushes
• A tackle box as a sewing kit

6. Plan Your Cabinetry Around Your Needs

Just like with any storage room - kitchen, laundry, garage - if you're planning on cabinetry or shelving, it's good to know the quantity and size of what you need to store. Take an inventory of things that are going in the room. Are there large or tall items that need to be stowed away? Make sure you'll have a cabinet that fits! Are there heavy items that need to be accessible? Have a space for them at chest level or below so you're not holding heavy objects over your head.



One thing I was sure to do for this room was plan for my long gift wrap paper. Gift wrap storage can be tricky! I wanted to store the gift wrap tubes under the bench seating so, I measured a tube and made sure my cabinet was longer than that measurement. These under bench cabinets hold gift wrap on one side and fabric bolts on the other.

7. Pretty Craft Room Decor

My last tip for keeping your craft room or any space organized? Make it pretty! I firmly believe if a room is pretty and makes you happy, you'll want to keep it that way! So, this room was planned not only to be functional but to have a fun, coastal look. Sure I could have chosen plain white cabinet doors. I didn't have to have shiplap on the walls. And a basic light overhead would have worked just as well. But I'll tell you, the decor and accessories keep me motivated to keep this room looking neat.



I love the look of the black cabinets, all closed and uniform. It makes me smile when my apron is hung on the hook, the bench cushions are fluffed, and the table is clean. And that blue door with the glass pane? You can bet that the idea of people seeing my mess through that window is enough to make me keep things organized!
I hope you've enjoyed this tour. Let me know if you have any other craft room organization tips I might not have thought of!

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