Having even a small area carved out for your crafts opens up a world of possibilities. Hopefully my own DIY craft closet can give you some inspiration for your own space!
We can all dream of spacious and perfectly curated craft rooms that are Pinterest-perfect. But in reality, many of us who love to create have a lot of other stuff going on in our lives. Having work and normal household chores already cut down on crafting time. Plus, anyone who has children and/or pets at home already knows that it can be difficult to have projects out and even harder to keep things organized. In this post, I hope that sharing my own solution- a DIY craft closet for my yarn and crochet supplies- will give you some ideas for how to give your own creativity its own space and attention.
Get organizing right away with this free printable+list of ideas:
Planning a craft closet
Below are some of the thoughts and basic steps that helped me put my space together, and that you can use to actually make your own craft closet a reality.
What’s your goal?
The first step to creating a space that actually works for you is to define what you want. Obviously, the idea of a craft “closet” already means that you might be trying to work with a smaller space. However, within the space you have available there are so many different ways to make it work. The important thing is to figure out the most important things that will actually make the space useful for you when it’s done.
In my case, I realized that my goal was to have a place where I could close the door and have a light on to work with even when the rest of my family is sleeping . In a small home, this seemed impossible for a long time, but re-arranging our largest closet made it work.
Another goal in my case has more to do with the tech side of running a website. Having a toddler and a puppy meant that arranging anything for photography is a rather risky business. Once again, using a closet has turned out to be a great solution(at least for now) and now I can leave lights, a small tripod, and other equipment out if I need to.
Finally, one major advantage of setting up this space has been the ability to visually organize a lot of my yarn. Up until now, the Easy Peasy Yarn Organization System has been my only system for keeping track of my yarn stash. While that is still an invaluable tool, I knew that taking the time to make some shelves where I could actually display my yarn would make my space extra useful and enjoyable.
Getting organized
Regardless of what your goals for your space are, the next logical thing to do is realize what needs to happen first to get your space from point “a” to point “b”. In my case, this process looked something like this:
- Clean out the closet
- Rearrange the closet(clear one side for crafting)
- Measure the nook for basic furniture
- Make a shelf and wall desk(I took inspiration from this project), paint them
- Install my new furniture and stock the shelves with yarn!
Obviously, not everyone needs to make their own furniture. There are plenty of options for purchasing your craft space furniture or re-purpose what you already have(see below). I just knew that in my case, I really wanted some “cube” shelves for my yarn and the dimensions of my space were not going to work with anything standard(the nook is 29” wide exactly). Taking advantage of some wood and supplies that were already around the house made this a much lower-budget project, too.
Putting a DIY Craft Closet Together
Furniture Choices
Once you know both your purpose for your craft space and a way to make it happen, you’re ready to pull together the biggest elements that you need.
This may be just one or two pieces, at least at first. Typically, there will be a benefit to having some kind of seat-either a comfy chair to relax in or some kind of chair to go with a desk. Then, some kind of flat surface is in order whether it is a large, open table, to a small desk like mine, all the way down to a simple side table.
A third element that universally works is storage. Shelves, cabinets, and chests are all great options. The type of large storage you choose will have to depend on your space constraints, the size and amounts of your supplies, and how easily you may need to see and grab new supplies. Typically making your tools and materials more accessible will help you craft more and make it more enjoyable. Plus, easy access to your stuff also makes it easier to put away.
Arranging your supplies
By the time we get to this final step of actually arranging our supplies within the new craft space, everything should be starting to come together. Getting into the details of where exactly to put specific tools and whether or not to arrange by color, by size, etc. is possibly the most fun part of this process. It’s also an area where you can try all kinds of different things and test out how they work for you as you use your new space. Craft away!
Final Thoughts
I hope that these steps and ideas have given you some inspiration for what is possible with even a little bit of space, a vision, and a plan. By getting
The last point that I want to leave with you is this: your craft space does not have to be perfect as soon as you get started.
There is no reason at all that you can’t get some of your main, basic components in place(such as my shelf and desk) and still have some goals for what you want to add later. In fact, I already know that eventually I’d like to have some elements on the wall of my craft space to make it more useful, like a pegboard for tools or a cork board to pin up designs. Things like this can come later, and in the meantime you can enjoy the benefits of having a designated space that is useful for you. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
If you’ve enjoyed this and would like too hear about new projects, be sure to get on the list for updates from Amelia Makes. As a bonus, I’ll send you my free resource for organizing your yarn(even without a craft space).
Keep the crafting delightful!
Amelia
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