Crafts creativity loves chaos and order: How to organise craft materials in 4 steps

Creativity needs both chaos and structure to blossom. If you have an idea in your head, you want to realise it. Immediately. Maybe you know the feeling? You’re full of thirst for action, your fingers are already tingling. But: tidy up the work surface first? Gather the materials? Realise that a few essential things are missing?

There’s only one thing to do: organise the craft materials and set up the workspace so that it’s always available

1. Plan the space correctly

How much shelf space is available? Do you have to clear everything away every time, or can you leave things where they are until you’ve finished your project? Don’t let the thought ‘I don’t have enough space for ….’ rob you of the joy of your creative hobby, but use your creativity to find clever solutions. For example, how about a Rolling table? You can easily move the sewing machine and the current sewing project to the living room table and back.

2. Organize Craft Materials

Before you start organizing your materials, take a good look at everything and sort through it thoroughly. Fabric scraps, yarn remnants, old paints, paper snippets—set up a box for these leftover items. It’s a good idea to consider how much space each category will need, so you won’t end up overwhelmed by your crafting supplies. By the way, craft materials of all kinds can be wonderfully donated to kindergartens and schools.

Once you’ve sorted through your materials, you can start organizing them.

• A plastic storage box is practical here. This way, you can keep everything you need for your current project in one place. This is especially ideal if you don’t have a dedicated workspace. Simply pack everything back into the box at the end of the day and put it back on the shelf. For instance, konrad offers plenty of space and even comes with wheels. cornelia is nice and flat and might even fit under the bed, as does leo. All of them are available in various sizes.

• When organizing craft supplies, trust your instincts: What items naturally belong together? Where would you look for something if you needed it? What do you need to locate at a glance? This largely depends on how frequently you use certain materials. The more often you need something, the fewer steps it should take to access it.

• The smaller the items, the smaller the storage solution should be. We find that kitchen accessories can be surprisingly useful for small parts: the two cutlery trays filippa and franca are not only handy in the kitchen but also perfect for storing small craft items in a clear and organized way. They’re fantastic for your current projects, too, serving as a mobile container for all the essentials you need on hand. And pepe is incredibly versatile.

3. Unfinished Projects

 Almost everyone who loves crafting and DIY has a few unfinished projects lying around. Take a look at the materials and ask yourself: Why didn’t I finish this? Don’t hesitate to let go of unfinished projects without any guilt. For the projects you simply can’t part with, a large box is recommended. Try to make it a habit to finish one project before starting a new one.

4. Tidy-Up Routines Aid Organization

With the organization of your craft materials, you’ve set a solid foundation. Now that everything is neatly and efficiently arranged, all you have to do is stick to your system. This means, of course, putting everything away each time. If you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated workspace, you can afford to be a bit more lenient and leave your project out. But be sure to put away any materials that you don’t need for your next step. If you don’t have your own workspace, unfortunately, you’ll have to put everything back each time.

My Tip:
Schedule clean-up time intentionally. If you know it will take about 15 minutes, set a timer for 15 minutes before you plan to wrap up and treat putting everything away as an integral part of your creative process.