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Feeling blocked creatively? A bland craft room may be a contributing factor. Artists need a space where ideas flow, and they can’t help but pick up colorful papers, rubber stamps, knitting needles, a writing notepad, or other supplies.
A craft room is unlike any other room in your home—you can paint it any color and decorate it however you like. It’s a room that serves as an outlet for your hobbies and imagination; a place where you experiment, discover, and produce. If your craft room doesn’t make you yearn to be creative, consider making some aesthetic or organizational changes.
Give this space in your home an overhaul with these 14 craft room ideas.
1. Transform Your Enclosed Patio
Looking for small craft room ideas? If you don’t have a spare room, transform your enclosed patio into a hobby room. Craft rooms with lots of natural light are a creator’s dream. Better lighting helps your projects look better and helps you avoid eye strain at the same time. As an added bonus, working in a room with natural light gives you increased productivity and alertness—so you’ll make great strides in your crafting projects.
2. Add a Functional Crafting Desk
When you’re in the creative zone, you may not realize you’re hunched over a table until your back complains. Swap out a standard table for craft room furniture that you can adjust. There are many functional crafting tables out there that can be raised or angled, like the Ikea Malskytt/Mittback desk. When choosing a desk, don’t forget to consider your storage needs! A desk with a shelf or drawer can help with craft room organization.
3. Put Your Supplies on Display
Every craft room has to have an organizational system for supplies. Instead of hiding your bobs and bits in drawers or storage boxes in the closet, turn them into a beautiful display that also makes your tools accessible. For this style, the best color for your craft room is a neutral hue, so your supplies really stand out.
You can organize your craft room by making a beautifully curated shelf using clear containers that show off your colorful supplies. Try mixing and matching containers to find the perfect fit for your fabrics, markers, glue sticks, paper products, and more. Functional and stylish containers like this extensive set from The Container Store can make it easy to find what you need. No more lost time searching for a particular item!
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4. A Place for Everything
Always keep the supplies you need close at hand. A small drawer or side table in your craft room can hold the smaller tools you use on a regular basis and hide away sharper items you want hidden from any little ones in your home. Create sections in your drawer by DIYing some drawer dividers—which you can make by following the instructions on Simplify Create Inspire. Using wood or heavy cardboard, you can create divided drawers custom-shaped to your supplies.
5. Use the Walls
In any art and craft room—especially a small one—you need proper organization for your tools and supplies. One of the best craft room storage ideas is to incorporate storage into your wall decor. Instead of hanging up framed photos, opt for a functional mood board, fabric wall, calendar, or decorative wall files. When hanging, remember to secure these items into a stud or use a wall anchor.
Using the walls frees up floor space, so you have more room to move around and still access the items you need when you need them.
6. Put a Label on It
Artists and creatives have a knack for amassing collections of buttons, beads, stamps, and other little items. The DIY solution is to put them into a repurposed jar, but these jars may not have a uniform appearance or size. A quick way to create a cohesive look amongst jars and containers full of items is to add some labels. This highly rated label maker available at Amazon—a favorite in our tested buyer’s guide—will not only help with craft room organization, but you’re sure to find many other uses for it around the house, too.
7. Control Your Yarn
For those who love yarn, consider using these colorful supplies as craft room decor. All it takes is a large open-front storage shelf filled with neatly wound balls of yarn.
Instead of stuffing the yarn wherever on the shelves, look at this as an art project and create elegant or colorful designs by considered placement of the yarn on the shelf. Thoughtfully stacking your yarn on this display turns your supplies into functional art, and it also enables you to see the yarn you have, so you can avoid buying duplicates.
8. Upcycled Decor
Your craft room design should reflect your creative side—which you can show off by upcycling items into craft room decor or storage solutions. Upcycling craft room furniture and decor is an art form in itself. You might choose to turn an antique window frame into wall art, old candle jars into storage containers, tin cans into small planters.
In order to keep crafting, you need to be inspired and want to go into the space you have created. Think about what other items in your home can be given a second life in your studio.
9. Paper Product Protection
Scrapbook enthusiasts, origami experts, card makers, and other crafters know that you need a proper storage solution to protect your paper products from damage. A protective storage caddy is a must-have for craft rooms where paper is a key element. We like this five-drawer storage chest from Wayfair because of the organization it offers. Plus, crafters can wheel it around, and if there’s a spill, supplies are protected by the individual cases.
RELATED: The Best Storage Bins for Getting Organized
10. Get a Versatile Pegboard
Nothing says serious crafter like a wall pegboard. This craft room staple keeps several of your supplies in arms’ reach, which is quite useful when the creative juices are flowing.
Pegboards offer custom solutions to your craft room storage needs. Arrange the board however you want or need. Insert pegs and hooks to put scissors, plants, pencil holders and more on display. If your needs ever change, and you find a new crafting medium that uses different supplies, simply rearrange the pegboard.
11. DIY a Tool Storage Wall
Some crafts require a lot of tools. If you need craft room storage ideas to cut down on clutter, make yourself a modular DIY storage wall. Use a large piece of backer board to protect the wall behind it, and fasten it into the wall studs. Screw in your hooks or other hardware, and hang your tools where you like.
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12. Art on the Go
From desk to easel and everywhere else—art happens all over a craft room. A storage cart is a great way to maximize your space and make your supplies more transportable. The supplies you need are always close at hand, even if you decide to take your crafting outside for the day. We like this art cart from The Container Store, as it’s easy to roll about, comes with magnetic containers that don’t topple over, and is an excellent size to tuck under a desk when it’s not in use.
13. Turn Your Tools Into a Statement Piece
Your craft room should highlight what makes you happy. If you are a ceramicist, put your potter’s wheel as the center of attention. If you’re a painter, keep your current project on an easel in the middle of the room.
Putting your current projects or passions front and center creates an intriguing focal point for your room, while simultaneously drawing you back in to work on it.
14. Make Your Craft Room Speak to You
What feelings does your art and craft room evoke? Adding an inspirational quote or personal mantra can fuel your motivation, and pull you back to your creative projects. Vinyl wall decals take up zero space, but can add some extra design and visual appeal to your craft room.
Whether you make your own decal, or get one from Etsy sellers like Epiphany Decals, you are sure to find a saying or image that stokes your creative fire. If you want to change things up, you can usually peel off the vinyl easily and apply something new.