Organizing Your Craft Room on a Budget

Good morning friends. 
 Can you believe January is flying by so quickly - here it is the 14th and I still have not started on the organizing I had planned this month.  We are still in holiday mode here as our grand kids are visiting this week. So I thought I would share some organizing tricks I have used in the past that I am still actually using. Organizing ways I have found that cost very little money, are easy to accomplish and make organizing your craft/work area easy. 

I don't know about you but if my work space is cluttered and in disarray I cannot concentrate and get anything accomplished.  I spend most of time searching for the exact item I need or just staring at the mess.  So over the years I have come up with a few very easy and budget friendly ways to corral that clutter and keep those most used items close at hand. 

One of my favorite all time organizing items is a recycled tin can.  I have used them for all kinds of organization from pens to craft tools.  I love to embellish them and make them fit into my decor.  As you can see above I have painted these and used all sorts of vintage trims to make them "pretty" for the space.  You can find more on how to make these here.

Another great storage item that you probably toss after use is the jar.  I love using these for those little items that get lost or you forget you have.  Having them in clear jars makes keeping them close at hand simple and always in your sight.  You can read about these that I embellished to fit into my vintage decor here.  

I also love to use unusual items to corral some of those odd shaped or overly large collections that I have accumulated over the years.  These hat boxes and cheese boxes house all my lace trims and specialty ribbons.  They hold an amazing amount of stuff and the best is they cost around one to two dollars each at thrift stores. You can read all about them here.

I am always on the look out for great items that can be used to organize some of my things when I am out thrift shopping.  These old kitchen canisters make the perfect ribbon storage when the ribbon is wound on clothespins.  You can read more on this here.

I think boxes have to be one of the most universal organizing tools around.  They are abundant and most are free.  This paper organizer sits on my desk and is used daily to house all my ongoing projects and ideas. I used cereal boxes to make it - can't get much more budget friendly than that.  You can read how to make yourself one here.

Another way I love to use boxes is to cover them with wrapping paper to match my decor. The ones I used above are old shoe boxes and cardboard boxes.  I used paper from the dollar store in coordinating prints and solids and then embellished them with vintage trims.  I also placed some labels on them. These house everything from books to faux flowers to scrapbook supplies.  You can read more about how to make these here.

How about old paper back books?  These can be folded to hold business cards, small notes, cards of buttons, or anything that fits between the folds.  Embellish it with vintage trims and you have a custom made addition to your desk.  You can read more about how to make your own here.

Another way to add to your organization is to purchase multi use furniture for your space. I have had this particular piece for a couple of decades - that just shows you how versatile it is.  The multiple little drawers house everything from glue sticks to ink pads to punches.  It can definitely hold a lot of scrapbooking supplies.  So be on the look out at thrift stores for pieces that you can use in many different ways.

This is my craft space.  Most of the furniture was either thrifted or purchased on a budget.  Then I painted everything to match so it has a cohesive look and fits into my vintage decor.  This is actually a corner of my bedroom as that is the space I love to work in.  But because it is organized, uncluttered and done to match the rest of the room it fits in quite well.  I love working here - it is my favorite space in our house.

Do you have a favorite budget friendly organizing tip you'd like to share with us. Tell us about it in the comments below.

Until next time enjoy creating something you love.

I will be linking up to the parties listed on the Where I Party page.  Please be sure to go by and check out all the great creativeness and inspiration found at each one.

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