Turn Any Closet Into a Craft Closet With These Organization Ideas

If you’re a hardcore DIYer, you probably have enough craft supplies to fill an entire closet. How do you keep your supplies straight?

With a few simple storage solutions, you can turn a regular old closet into the full-blown craft closet of your dreams. All it takes is a few clever storage solutions.

Today we’re going to show you a few simple craft closet organization ideas so you can create your own dreamy craft closet with a place for everything.

First Things First – Unpack Your Crafts

Everyone has a different organization style, but for me, I’ve found that taking everything out of a space to see what I have is the best way to get organized. So the first step to organizing your craft closet is to take everything out.

This can be scary if your closet has been untouched for months! The best way to tackle this first step is to create piles of like things. Make piles with everything from painting supplies, ribbons and strings, paper products, scrapbook supplies, etc. It’s also helpful to take this time to go through the craft supplies you have and choose which need to be donated or tossed out.

Once you have your items all set out in piles, you’ll be able to figure out what supplies you need to create an organizational system. Bookshelves or other storage furniture can be useful for organizing unless you have built in shelving in your craft closet. It’s worth investing in a little shelving unit to help keep things organized!

There are tons of storage ideas but what will work best for you depends on what craft supplies you have and the closet space you’re working with. That’s why starting by seeing what you have is a crucial first step!

Next, Think Through Storage Solutions

After looking at what you have, think through these craft closet storage ideas and which would fit what you have best.

1. Fabric Storage Bins

Fabric bins are a great way to maximize the organization space within a bookshelf or cube shelf organizer. These bins are perfect for organizing large miscellaneous items or items that would take up a lot of space on a shelf. Be sure not to fill each bin too full though, or you won’t be able to find the items that are in there easily. Try to keep each storage bin within a certain craft category to easily find things.

2. Plastic Storage Baskets

Plastic storage bins are perfect for bookshelves or shelves above a clothes rack in a closet. Clear bins make it easy to see what is inside. The nice thing about plastic bins versus fabric bins is that they are stackable. So if you don’t have a shelving system in your craft space, plastic bins could take its place and allow you to use the vertical space in your room.

3. Hanging Shoe Organizer

Smaller, miscellaneous items can easily overtake a storage space. By using a vertical hanging shoe organizer, you can use those small pockets of space for those items without taking up a ton of space in the closet. Items like ribbons, things with cords, or jars/cans are great to store in this kind of space! And the best part is that each item type can have its own section, keeping things organized.

4. Utility Cart

A utility cart like this one – as seen in our post on school supplies organization – is wonderful for open storage of medium sized items. Any kind of cart on wheels is an effective and cute way to store bulkier items or items you want openly displayed. It’s great for categories of items like yarn, paint or party supplies that will look good in the cart and are items you might need to have accessible. When it’s time to get to crafting, you can wheel this baby around the house with you, too.

5. Pegboard

A DIY pegboard is an incredibly fun way to store, organize and display craft tools in a craft closet. No matter how big or small your craft space is, you know you’ll have a wall or two there (or three or four). Take advantage! Turn that wall into storage! The customization options are endless with a pegboard so you can really personalize them to fit your specific craft supplies. Every item will have a designated place, cutting down the clutter and minimizing the cleanup time.

6. Paper Filers and Paper Organizers

Whether you’re a scrapbooker or just have ample paper for miscellaneous crafting projects, organizing paper can immensely cut down on clutter. Not to mention it helps you find what you need when you’re feeling inspired to work on a project! Grab a paper filer or two and designate each section to one paper product type.

7. Over the Door Organizers

If you have a closet with a door that opens towards you, don’t forget that space behind the door! That’s the bonus space that can maximize your ability to organize in a smaller space like a craft closet. Over the door organizers are relatively inexpensive, but if you’re a sewer, you could even make your own!

Finally, Separate Non-Craft Items

If your craft closet doubles as a spare room closet like mine does, this can be one of the biggest reasons the space feels cluttered and unorganized. If you’re able to remove the non-craft items from this space, which may have just been tossed in there at one point, do so. However, if you are sharing the closet space, it’s best to visually and physically separate the craft items from non-craft items. Keep non-craft items in a separate bin, bookshelf or upper shelf space, depending on how your closet is set up.