| Organization Solutions for Your Scrapbook Stash |
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Products that Make Finding and Using Your Supplies Easier |
You've been buying supplies left and right, where are you going to put it all?? All scrapbookers will benefit from having an organized, dedicated scrap space. There are many new storage options available so that's it's easier than ever to carve out your own space, whether you have a full room, a corner of the family room, or tuck it away in a closet.
When your supplies have a home, you can work for just a few minutes here and there, and the pages will add up quickly! Before I created my own craft space, I only pulled out my things when I had a few hours to play - it wasn't worth the trouble for less than that. Now, I sit down for as little as ten or fifteen minutes every evening. I can't believe how quickly I'm getting caught up. If I do only a single page every other night, that's 3-4 pages per week, or more than 150 per year!
Desks:
Let's start with the Rolls Royce of scrapbook furniture. Aim high, right?! The Creation Station from For Keeps Sake has everything you could ever want. It has a large work space, slatwall storage for your gadgets, optional carts for your paper storage and closes up into a nice armoire. Unlike a lot of similar desks built for computers, this one has shelves deep enough to hold your albums and larger tools and the file drawers are intended for 12x12 paper.
Computer armoires are a great option, especially if your space is part of another room such as the family room. They offer a large work area, good storage, and they close up neatly. Sauder and Bush both make a wide range of styles and prices, and you can find them at most of the large chain office supply stores.
Many scrapbookers find that installing a countertop makes a terrific desk. A higher work surface can be advantageous because you don't have to bend over to work standing up. How often do you find yourself standing to get a bird's eye view of your layout, or to get extra leverage when cutting a die, or to position a stamp?
I loved the idea of a tall countertop but my space is right in side the front door, so I was trying to create more the look of a den than a craft room. I found a solution in an unlikely place- the kitchen section of the unfinished furniture store. My butcher block was a fraction of the cost of the armoires I'd been considering, it's a sturdy solid wood, it's tall so I can stand comfortably or sit at a barstool, and it has a large work surface.
Paper Storage:
Now that we've talked about desks, let's move on to storage and organization. Most of these options will work whether you have a full room dedicated to your craft, or you work on the kitchen table and just need a place to put your things away.
Since we all like to dream, let's start at the top again. Collectors Cabinets are ingenious! You can get single cabinets, or they stack to make an armoire. You can design the inside, either with drawers for horizontal paper storage, stamps, punches, inks, or file drawers for paper storage.
Display Dynamics makes most of the acrylic paper trays you see at your local scrapbook store but they're also available for home use. You can find them for sale at your local scrapbook store or find an online dealer here. The trays come in a freestanding tower or can be made for slatwall or pegboard. Pegboard is the most economical and can be found at any hardware store, and the nice thing about pegboard is you can use it to store your tools, also. See Rebecca's slatwall of trays in her organization article by clicking here (use your browser's back button to return to this page).
Cropper Hopper and Crop in Style both offer cube style storage solutions. They are available with shelves for paper, file drawers, or plain to hold your die cut machine, albums or other large items. Get just one to tuck in a corner or build a whole room with them!
I chose vertical storage for my paper with Paper Holders from Cropper Hopper. They are inexpensive, hold a LOT of paper, and I find that I scrap more quickly when all my paper is at my fingertips, and my paper is less likely to get worn on the edges because I can see everything with minimal rifling.
Cropper Hopper and Making Memories make file carts and cabinets designed for 12x12 paper but you can modify rolling file carts such as this one from Safeco. They come designed for legal folders but you can use the hanging folders from Making Memories or Cropper Hopper, or make your own. Simply cut two legal sized hanging files about a third of the way from the bottom. Tape the bottom of one to the top of the other, overlapping the edges so that your new piece is approximately 14" deep. Note that this will only work in an open style cart! If you use a closed drawer, there isn't enough room for the larger file to hang.
If you crop on the go, you might want your paper more mobile. Crop in Style makes the P3 Tote for paper and EK Success's Tutto bag will hold file folders or paper holders easily. If your paper collecting habit is more restrained, Generations by Hazel makes a lovely accordian file.
All that other STUFF!:
And finally, what to do with all those brads you needed in every color of the rainbow, the lifetime collection of hardware, the buckles and clips and tags and the clay you couldn't live without. Oh yeah, the tools to play with the clay and the brayers and, and, and.... you get the picture! Iris carts are a quick and easy solution to storing your smaller items. Several companies make their own version of these stackable plastic carts with drawers and you can find them at your local discount or office supply store. They tuck away nicely in a corner or roll under a desk. ArtBin makes containers for small embellishments that stack up to store on your desk or in a drawer, but also fit in their tote-bags.
Making Memories released its Modular Storage system last fall and if you have wall space, this is worth checking out! I put this in my craft room over my desk and simply love it. The panels are 14" and come in cloth for pushpins, and stainless and chalk boards that are magnetic. Packaged embellishments go well on the pushpin boards, baskets hold inks, paints, adhesives, rub-on's and large tools. Cups hold pens and brushes. The tins are terrific for small items such as brads, eyelets, clips, and charms. Everything is so convenient, no more digging for the right embellishment and there's no excuse for not cleaning up because everything belongs right in front of you.
Whatever your space, budget and taste, there is something out there to meet your storage needs. Store your supplies in a functional, organized fashion so you will USE them. That's why we scrap, right?!
