UHeart Organizing: Shut the Craft Door

One of my favorite things to do is to curl up with a cozy blanket, a cup of coffee and a good storage book or magazine.  Flipping through page after page of colorful and streamlined storage solutions is oddly comforting yet invigorating at the same time.  It is a passion I have had for so many years now, and for me it never gets old.

I find myself most drawn to organized playrooms, craft rooms and home offices.  I just love that these spaces are ones that allow you to let go and play with color.  My eyes get all big and heart shaped whenever I see lined up craft paints and acrylic drawer dividers with bright gift wrap showing through.  #majorweakness

So when my fellow color lovin' friend, Cassie of Hi Sugarplum, shared her recent craft closet with me, I couldn't hold back my excitement.  She paired the ever-so-incredible Elfa system (yes please) with her beautiful supplies to create a very practical and drool worthy solution.  What I love most is that someone could essentially store and entire craft room worth of supplies on a single door (so no craft room needed).  But as much as the point is to conceal everything behind closed doors, I am not sure I would ever want to shut these craft doors.  Here she is to share more details so you can have the same heart eyed reaction I did.

Hello my fellow organizing fanatics! I'm so excited to be back on Jen's rockstar blog sharing my latest organization overhaul with you. Our families vacationed together last week, and in-between riding the waves and whipping up batches of icy cocktails, I picked her brain for tips and ideas! So not only was it an amazing trip, but I also came home motivated to whip every nook and cranny of my house into efficient, organized shape!

We've been in this new home about six months, and in that time we've remodeled the Kitchen and given the Master Bedroom a makeover. The design of the remaining rooms is coming along slowly as well, but I have stalled in regards to some of the major organization spots for our family... like a Command Center, Mudroom, and Craft Closet (click the links to see how we did them in our last house).

I'll admit I've been paralyzed with indecision, so much so, that six months later, this was the state of our craft and wrapping supplies. Not real convenient for a blogger with a creative daughter!

I'm lucky enough to have a spare bedroom with an amazing double-door closet... A prime spot for an office with perfect craft storage. (We're looking at the doors and vaulted ceiling, not the wallpaper border left behind by the previous owner! That's Project #187 on our list!) But without clear direction, I let my uncertainty prevent me from even getting started. Finally, I read back over my mantra for last year... and decided to just start somewhere! Besides, it could only get better, right?!

I already had a Container Store Elfa system for our gift wrap, and it fit perfectly on the inside of one door.... So I decided to utilize the other closet door with the same system for many of our craft supplies. I typically bring home an assortment of baskets and sizes to see what works best, then return the others.

Tip: There are several lower-priced door storage options, but I've found the Container Store's to be the most sturdy. So I wait for one of their big 25-40% off sales to stock up! 

I'm proud to say the contents of four boxes of craft supplies are now neatly organized on this single door...and more importantly, they are finally accessible! Roll that beautiful bean craft footage!

I'll break it down for the detail-oriented crowd. #mypeople

Basket 1: Pails of pencils, markers, paint & stain pens, scissors, rotary blades, and the taller items like Modge Podge and sealant.

Basket 2: Specialty paints and finishes

Baskets 3 to 5: Craft paints (in rainbow order, because, duh!)

Basket 6: Pails of brushes, foam brushes & daubers, tubes of Rub 'n' Buff, clips & rubber bands

Tip: Small buckets from the Target Dollar Spot are perfect for corralling and separating supplies. Yep, I basically just wrote you a permission slip to shop at Target!

Basket 7: Specialty papers, contact paper, wallpaper samples...these are used mostly for craft projects like this, and lining drawers or covering walls like this.

How about one more pic of the paints just to get our hearts racing?

Another plus of this system, is how easily my existing gift wrap station transported to the new house... I just reattached it to the door, tidied it up a bit, and was good to go!

Baskets 1-3: Assorted ribbons

Basket 4: Gift tags & ribbon remnants

Basket 5: Gift bags & tissue, pail of tapes & scissors

The magnet strip is great for holding canisters of smaller tags, and notes like birthday reminders.

Basket 6: Wrapping paper

Tip: To hold tall tubes of paper, use a deep basket at the bottom, and a gift wrap rack for the top.

Clearly I share Jen's weakness for pretty papers, and HomeGoods just feeds my addiction!

I'll admit, these organized doors are now part of the tour when friends come by to see the new house... And I may open them with Vanna White flair! #okayItotallydo (We're looking at the doors, not the inside of the closet!) 

Well obviously, now you're looking at the inside of the closet... that will be Phase 2.... Let's focus on the delightfulness of Phase 1 for now! I'm just thrilled to have all our craft and wrapping supplies out of boxes, and at our fingertips! And I crossed the biggest hurdle... Getting started!!

Do you let your fear of imperfection keep you from even getting started on projects? I'm learning that the worst thing that could happen is I have to start over later... And who said that's a bad thing?! ;) Thanks for letting me stop by.... Happy organizing, lovebugs!

See more of our Organized Spaces here, and Home Tour here.





 "Hi, I'm Cassie, a DIY and design-obsessed Texas girl, and lover of travel, fashion, sarcasm and Mexican food. When I'm not hanging with my sweet and funny family, you can find me kicking the '80s out of our home, one budget project at a time, on my blog Hi Sugarplum!"