Sunday, July 12, 2015

Craft Room Reorganisation 2: Embrace the rainbow (papers and cardstock)

Hi and I'm back with the second instalment of my reorganisation series.  I mentioned to you last time that I've been somewhat inspired during this process by Tiffany Spaulding.
Tiffany's 4 tiers of organisation are alphanumeric, which I covered last time, followed by theme, calendar year and rainbow. 
Now I don't buy themed products, nor does my scrapbooking reflect the seasons, probably due to the mild climate that we experience here.  (I know a lot of you do though, so if this is something you want to read more about, you might want to visit Tiffany here).
 So I've skipped straight to my favourite way of storing, rainbow!
I actually already store a lot of my supplies in rainbow order, but what makes Tiffany's system a bit different is that she has a "combine and conquer" approach rather than the mentality that a lot of us have with storing buttons in one place, ribbon somewhere else, wood veneer somewhere different again, etc etc.  But that's jumping ahead to the next instalment, so let's look for now at how I was storing my papers and cardstock, and what I've done differently.

Here's a somewhat warts-and-all look at my craft desk before I updated my organisation system:


The left-hand side of that open cupboard contained a file folder with all my patterned papers in it.  At various times I had tried storing by manufacturer or rainbow, or a combination of both.  Also in there is my home-made folder which stored my large off-cuts (which you can see back here).  That wooden stand on the top of the cabinet held my cardstock, in beautiful rainbow order but a bit too high up for easy accessibility. Also up there is the green expanding file which contains A4 and A3 cardstock or card-making. Finally the drawer you can just see in the bottom right of the photo holds my small scraps box (also shown in the link above) as well as my 6" pads.
Inspired by Tiffany to "combine and conquer" as well as her suggestion that vertical storage is easier to flick through than horizontal, I asked my lovely husband if he could put a top and bottom on the wooden stand.
He also painted it white for me to better match the Ikea cabinets, 'cause that's the great kind of guy he is. Here's what things look like now:


On it's side, the wooden stand now holds pattenered papers as well as cardstock, all in rainbow order.  I separated out the "large scraps" folder, and each coloured divider is stored in there as well.
 
I didn't have room for my A4 and A3 cardstock, so they're staying where they are for now.  Against Tiffany's advice, I've kept my small scraps box (although it is due for a cull and perhaps a "use-it-up" challenge).

I've kept my 6" papers in there as well, the difference being that I've pulled all the papers out  and they are now stored in rainbow order.


 A couple of tips from Tiffany:
  •  I pretty much skipped the "cull" step, but if you're the sort of person who has more craft supplies than they can use in a lifetime (and probably a collection that continues to grow) it's worth culling as you go - scraps that are smaller than you ever use, and patterns that you just can't imagine using any more.  Again, refer to Tiffany's website or Youtube channel if you need more direction with this.
  • regarding multi-coloured papers:  It's fine to have a section at the end which is "rainbow" or multi-coloured papers, but it's worth looking at each paper and thinking "what is the dominant colour" or "what colour on this paper speaks to me the most" and then storing in that colour section.
  • regarding double-sided papers: store in the section with the side you love the most.  If you have two sheets, you could always store one side in each section.  But don't stress about this too much, because it's easy to flick back through the papers and check the back sides!
I am loving how easy it is to flick through my papers and cardstock and see what I have! Part 3 coming soon, flat embellishments!


2 comments:

  1. Love the vertical storage, I think it's a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rainbow sounds like the best way to store, and plus it makes me happy too lol. I think it must be difficult to organize for scrapbookers because so many different elements can be involved in just one project, I think I'll just stick to cards and look on in awe at you scrapbookers!

    ReplyDelete