Lots of stuff, so little space

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Reported by Melissa Norris

For any of you who aren't aware, my husband is in the Army and we are a military family. Furthermore, that means we live in military housing. Basically, that means no space and definitely no studio/craft room for me. We have a good closet with lots of room for all of my stuff, but it is in the back of the house. And I am the first to admit that I'm a bit lazy about when I drag something out of the back closet to use it, I'm not too keen on dragging it back to the closet when I'm finished.

About a month ago, my husband and I finally came to a sort of truce. We had one of those wire shelving units from Target in our daughter's closet that wasn't really being used. I was going to be able to bring it into the dining area and keep my stuff in the 6 cubbies it provided. But only those 6 cubbies, no more, no less.

So here is my cubby area. It holds my stamping/cardmaking supplies. Needless to say it has overflowed from the original agreement. But shhhh....he hasn't said anything yet.

When confronted with a space dilema, one of the first things to note is utilizing every inch of the space you do have. One of the best ways I've found to do that is to buy similar sized containers. This way you don't have a lot of wasted space.

One of the first products that I really like are these photo boxes from Michaels. They come in tons of colors and styles, and are often on sale for around $1.50 US. The pink one holds all of my envelopes, some embellishments that I don't use very often, and some chipboard that is too big to fit in some other containers I have. The orange one holds all of my ink pads. I sit them flat in my box while they are stored, then when I'm ready to use them I sit it on it's end and turn the ink pads to make my own fake rack for them. The green one holds other embellishments such as full Prima jars, some Accents & Elements tins from Stampin' Up, and some other small tools and embellishments. It's basically turned into a catch all box.The other thing that I really enjoy for my semi-organization are these craft boxes. They are found at any craft store and even at Wal-Mart and are usually $2 or less depending on the style. You can often find them in the beading area or where the embroidery floss is. These are great for embellishments and perfectly hold Bobbin Ribbon. And all being the same size they stack very neatly on a shelve for no wasted space. I'm currently in the process of filling some new ones I just purchased. I'm planning on getting them more organized by filling one with ribbon, one with eyelets, one with brads, one with primas, etc etc etc. Then using my label maker to label the sides to make things easier to find when I have more of them.

The final thought I would like to share with you is to take the time to go through your items every once in a while and purge. About every 6 months or so I go through and find stuff I'm not going to use, still haven't opened, or think "What was I thinking when I bought that?" I then either sell it or give it away. This way I'm keeping my space clear and leaving less stuff to go through when I'm looking for "just the right item." And if you do clean some of your stuff out, think about donating it go a good cause. I recently read about this site, Operation Scrapbook. They make premade scrapbooks for foster children and Hospice patients, and they would love our extra paper and embellishments to help brighten someone elses day.

I hope that my thoughts about making the most of your space have helped you. Please leave us comments with your ideas on how to keep organized in a small area.