I'm done! I'm done! I'm finally done. About 3 months after I started working on it - not bad. My motivation to get it done was to be able to get to the point where I could take photos and show them here, so I took a TON.
I'm not one of those people who needs to have their stuff out to see it - I like there to be a place for everything so I can put it away when I'm done. I also do a lot of scrapbooking outside of the house at crops, so it was important that the storage be portable or adaptable so I don't spend too much time packing and unpacking.
I didn't have to go out and buy any new storage stuff for this challenge - I already had everything. I had a decent underlying organizational structure, I just had too much STUFF! Here are a few of the "before" pictures:
All those boxes and bags in front of the closet are scrapbooking stuff - new purchases, new swaps, projects in progress - just stuff I kept moving from place to place because it didn't have a home.
...And now for the "after"
The main closet:
There is some "dead" space in the left and right of the closet beyond the doorjambs, which I can get to, but not easily, so that's where I put things I really hardly ever use (some non-scrap stuff too).
Priority boxes on the top shelf hold swap stuff, sorted by parks, characters, resorts, etc.
I use a lot of the clear plastic shoeboxes for things like ribbon, paints, punches, stamps. The photo boxes hold photos (duh) and small memorabilia like cards, etc.
I found these containers worked well for my primas:
Hopefully soon I can clear out the bottom of the closet so I can roll the totes into it, but for now I'm okay with them being just outside of it. I have 2 rolling totes - one holds photos, memorabilia and "stuff" that I have sorted and are awaiting being scrapped - mostly past Disney trips. That stays home.
The 2nd is what I bring to crops and it holds all my Bazzill, in a couple of Cropper Hoppers.
The front and side pockets of that tote also hold all my eyelets, brads, gemstones, and other tiny embellishments. I have 2 types of containers for those:
The tic-tac type style I got from Oriental trading and the smaller style I got from Jo-Ann's (In the sewing section) - it's actually 2 sided so it holds a ton, and I have a ton of them.
The other bag on top of one of the rolling totes is another bag I bring to crops. That is mostly empty because it varies what I bring, but it always holds my Cat's eye inks, certain adhesives, and most of my pens.
Opposite side of the room:
My computer desk on the left, my Cricut cart holding my machine and all cartridges in the middle. Baby bug is stored in the back of the bottom shelf, and Sizzix machine in back of 2nd shelf. Don't need to get to those as often.
To the right is a rolling cart with Iris cases. I am a big fan of the Iris cases. I sort things by theme, so I can keep all my paper and embellishments in one place. Some of these cases include: Travel, Disney, Christmas, Other holidays, Cat. Easy to bring to a crop because I can just pull out a case and everything is right in there.
Desk #1 - the cutting station
You can see my extra ziploc bags for swaps on the shelf with my large Xyrons (I don't use the machine). The little blue box is to hold scraps while working to be sorted when I'm done. The case under the desk holds all my old 8.5x11 cardstock. The drawers are a mix of scrap stuff and non scrap stuff. On top of the filing cabinet are more Cropper Hoppers - American Crafts cardstock, DCWV stacks, and Bazzill Blings. The one on the desk is paper that doesn't really fit into any of my other categories, or is waiting to be sorted or put back. I decided leaving myself that "inbox" kind of thing would keep me from having paper all over the place but not put back.
In the corner are my Scrap-O-Nizers - another favorite. They come with a variety of sized compartments so I can fit almost all embellishments in here yet they are still out of the way. And again, very portable.
A few examples - these hold skittles, buttons, and chipboard:
Shelf above this desk:
The cases with the plastic drawers are 12x12. They hold punches, more ziploc bags and labels for swaps, thickers, and a couple other "themes". I always leave one drawer for the current swap I am working for supplies, works in progress or bags waiting to be mailed.
In between the cases, I have some books, Cricut mats, albums in progress, pages not in albums yet, and a lot of these Cropper Hopper folders:
I use these for themes or projects in progress that don't warrant a full size Iris case - they hold paper plus not-too bulky embellishments.
Desk #2 - main work space
Underneath the desk are more 12x12 drawers. These are for my scraps. I know - it's excessive, but I have the room so why not. One drawer for each color, another for patterned paper, Disney paper, specialty paper. And yes, I do go into the drawers and use the scraps.
The accordian paper holder to the right of the drawers holds my non-themed patterned paper, sorted by primary color in the pattern.
The left corner of the desk has a couple open topped containers for things I use all the time - scissors, pens, adhesives, etc. The little red drawer thing holds my markers, alcohol inks, distress ink pads, and other tools. There are little jars from Ikea that hold all my little ribbon scraps that are too small to put on fiber cards, but too big to throw away. I will go there first when making a card or other small item.
This bag is another thing I bring to crops, but it's accessible enough that it functions as is on my desk as well. This contains all my most frequently used tools - paper trimmers both large and small, scissors, ATG gun, adhesives, stickles, etc.
As you can see, the scrap room is Disney themed, so I thought I'd share a few of the decorative touches as you all would appreciate them. By the way, the curtains are my favorite thing in the whole room. I started with those, and built the rest of the room around them!
My newest addition - I've had these MDF letters FOREVER because I had grandiose ideas of what I'd do with them. I finally just today spray painted them red and put them up. One less thing to store in the closet.
I have a rather large collection of Disney stuffed animals from childhood. I figured I could use the dead space near the ceiling to both store and display them. You can also see how I dealt with the TV issue - I needed one in the room, but had very little room for it, so we mounted it to the wall. Someday I hope to replace it with a flat screen as it is my least favorite part of the room.
All along the top part of the wall, I have framed stills from Disney movies, and on top of the window frames (the only place my cat can't get to them!) are Disney figurines I've collected.
So thanks, Hope, for the motivation to get this room finished!!
I'm aiming to be done by the end of March. We'll see how that goes.
And a huge manilla folder full of recipes I tore out of magazines - finally time to let them go as clearly I'll never use them. It was insane the stuff I was holding on to. Getting rid of it has been so freeing, and it's cleared up a lot of much needed space for scrap supplies. I'm hoping by mid-April the room is finally done and organized the way I want it.
), so they put it on the table behind them. Not great that it's near my scrap stuff, but it's much harder to knock it over across the room.
