Studio Tour: Part 3 - Organization “The Closet” - Post #300

{Forgive me if my typing is a little wonky.. I just got back from the eye dr and my eyes are still numb… I will try to catch all my spelling errors and typos…. lol!}

I have this rather big closet at one end of my studio. It’s a 4x4x8’ space that Brent built shelves in several years ago. For the longest time it was just a “holding place” cram packed with schtuff. I couldn’t find anything in the closet. I just had piles of schtuff in there in various boxes and baskets and binders.

EVERYTHING was out of the closet after our little sewer back up and had been tossed willy nilly into various other boxes and containers for storage during the clean up and subsequent remodel. When I finally unburied and pulled out the “various other boxes” and looked at all the schtuff, I decided it was time to pare down. Nothing was going back into the closet if it didn’t have a home. {Clean Sweep, baby!}

I repurposed and reused most of my old containers in the closet and added a few new window front boxes from Ikea. I was able to clean out a LOT of junk and move my new Bernina sewing machine and basket of sewing notions into my closet and up off the floor. {Eventually I will sort through my two bins fabric and pare down so it can also be stored in the closet.}

Looking into the closet:

Top half of closet. The very top shelf is where I keep my archived family and business files.

Second shelf – idea books, misc. scrapbooks, TJ newsletter binder, old magazines {I did pare down a bit, but can’t chuck those yet… working on it.. hopefully by the end of the summer I can get thru them and pull out the ideas I’d like to keep and chuck the rest.} I also have a split shelf on the right side… I store my extra baggies, misc glues and adhesives like Mod Podge and Xyron that don’t fit with my other adhesive stash here. Below that is envelope storage and misc craft supplies like mini notebooks and post it notes.

The third shelf holds my favorite card sample ideas, misc projects, CTMH Solos alphas, misc envelopes for RAKS, a box of misc ribbons and fibers that don’t fit in my RibbonStak, and a basket of misc camera supplies {my old film SLR and lenses, etc.}

Bottom half of closet. Bins on the floor hold misc items. Left bin holds “items to scrap about/put in albums”. Right bin holds misc items to sell/give away/etc.

Top shelf {actually shelf #4} keeps my Paper Sticker Binders. One binder holds image stickers and embellishments and the other binder holds Alpha/Number/Word Art stickers and Journaling tags from when I actually PAPER scrapped.. {I prefer digi scrapping now and use these items for misc craft projects and cards.} Next to the PSBs are how I store my bulk 12x12 and 8x11 cardstocks. The accordian folder holds my scraps which are sorted by color. Next to that are 3 window front boxes from Ikea. {I LOVE THESE BOXES!} The top white box holds Altered Ego/Alterable Items such as tins, mini boxes, mini albums, etc. The bottom white box holds Chipboard, Chipboard letters, etc. The pink box on the right holds my open Owires for the Bind It All. {The unopened boxes are kept in the “store” room upstairs.} I keep my BIA machines on top of the Owire box.

The bottom {5th} shelf is my sewing and painting shelf {for now}. I keep a box of patterns, a basket of misc sewing notions and scrap fabric, my sewing machine, and two boxes of acrylic paints. The paper trimmers have found a new home sitting on top of the acrylic paints.

What you can’t see very well in the pics is that just below shelf #3, in front of the BIA box is a paper towel holder that I’ve screwed onto the wall. This comes in handy for messes and is tucked neatly out of the way. My reinkers are stored in a very shallow shelf that Brent built from scraps in the workshop. {It’s the prototype of a new Stamper Storage project.} There is a hook in the wall next to the paper towel holder that I hang my craft apron on. The back of the door is also the perfect place to put a removable Scotch/3M hook to hang my Fiskars rotary cutting mat and acrylic ruler. {I had them tucked behind my desk previously and they were getting warped.}

So that’s my closet in a nutshell…. It works for me! There’s no fru fru or expensive stuff going on in the closet, in fact I didn’t even paint the MDF shelves or put the baseboard trim back in it. It’s tidy, it’s organized, and most importantly everything is ACCESSIBLE.

Next up: Part 4 – Organization - Bookshelf and Desk Organization… {papers, misc blingy things, my “cutting station”, etc.}

{edited} PS... Did I mention this is my 300th post???!! Hot diggity dog!