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Craft Clutter: Creating Organizational Calm
by Francesca Black

Description: Tips for sorting and organizing craft clutter.

Have you ever noticed how clutter, mess, and disorganization effects the way you feel? Having too much stuff, or stuff without order, creates an unsettled atmosphere. Very few can shut out the chaos around them without being affected by it. Seeing things that need to be done while trying to work keeps your mind from being able to focus on the task at hand. Organizing your crafting space will make your creative work more pleasant, effective, and time efficient.

Where do you start? The first thing you must do is empty out the room you want to organize. This is especially important if the space is small. A cleared room is as full as creative possibility as an empty canvas. As you pull out drawers and sift through supplies you will need another area to put everything. If the weather is nice, take it outside. The next step is to categorize and sort your supplies. Group like items together in plastic bins, on a tarp on the ground, or just in piles. Identifying each pile with a sign is helpful if you have a lot of stuff. Use whatever system makes sense to you. When I organized my kitchen drawers I put all wooden tools together- wooden handled rubber spatulas, citrus juicer, toast tongs, etc. This made sense to me because they had something in common and were all relatively the same size. Do what makes sense to you because it is your space.

Storage containers are important to keeping your space orderly. I recommend purchasing several different sizes to accommodate a variety of crafting supplies. You never know. You might be inspired while sorting and realize you bought the perfect container for a particular need. Clear containers have a lot of benefits. The most obvious is that you can see what's in them. Also, they are available in many stores. Because there are so many sizes and shapes, you can organize your entire space with them. Coordinating in this way adds to the overall feeling of calm. Particularly with crafts, having a container with several sections or dividers is helpful. They are small enough for a drawer and keep all those little pieces in one location. I have one with all my different needles in it. I keep the machine, hand sewing and knitting needles all in one spot. On the outside of the box I taped my needle guide and it serves as a label for the box as well as an easy reference.

The last item to fixing up your craft space is shelving. Storage boxes and containers will fit nicely stacked on shelves. You will be able to find shelves in every shape and size to accommodate your personal space. Your supplies should be easy to see and to get to.

Next time you walk into your space you will feel calm and your mind will be free to focus on your craft project not your chaotic space.

Francesca Black is a craft fanatic she has contributed articles to: Craft Kits and Bonsai Garden .