Help!! Moving to a smaller space!

[pinky83081]

I've always been lucky to have my own Crafty space. Now I am moving in with a roommate and only have a 11x13 foot room for my bedroom and scrap room. I could really use some ideas and advice on how to make this work! Thanks in advance!

[tishahendricks]

I've got a queen bed, dresser, small desk, bookcase, and 2 floor-to-ceiling shelf units in my 11x12 bedroom/craft room/office. I also use underbed storage containers and over-the-door multi-hooks. It works for me, but it might feel claustrophobic to some. My scrapbooks are in the living room on a bookcase though, so maybe your roommate will let you display your finished artwork. Try to get rid of stuff you're not going to use and label everything else before moving!! You could also join in on a fun group challenge here on SCS to make 100 cards/projects in 100 days from just your stash without buying anything, except adhesive. Forums at Splitcoaststampers
Hope that helps a little!

[Joan B]

first, I'd put the bed (twin I hope!) up against a wall.

second, I wonder if a table top on top of two file cabinets would allow you to store paper, etc in the file cabinets and use up the space under your work table. even a rolling cart with files for cardstock that you store under the table would work.

finally, whatever system you use (shelves, bookcases, rolling carts) will work much better if you label every drawer, basket, etc.

good luck!

[neece]

This is quite lengthy but I thought it was necessary to outline how I streamlined my crafting and fit it into a very small amount of space....

A few years ago, I lost my dedicated scrap space and moved into a very small home. And as a result I had to prioritize every item in the house, not just crafty items.

As I began the process of streamlining, I went through my layouts and cards and decided by looking at them what key elements they all contained. I made a note of each priority item, and that is how I built my priority list. It really depends on what you feel is important to your crafting, and which elements you always use in your projects. For me, my priority items were mainly these things:

Cardstock & Patterned Paper
Stamps
Inks
Paints
Photos
Ribbon
Flowers
Small Embellishments
Necessary tools & Adhesives

Since I don't know how much stuff you have or what you feel is necessary, I can only tell you what worked for me. So look over my tips, and try to pick and choose what you think might work from what will not.

I didn't have any space in the bedroom for shelving or storage units, but I did have a little room in the den and dining room, which is where I scrapped. And I had a very small amount of storage in the garage (most of the garage was designated for DH's tools, furniture we couldn't fit into our home, the overflow of kitchen gadgets, seasonal clothes and Christmas decorations, so there wasn't much room for crafts). I stored some fabrics, wreathes, cans of paint, and larger crafting items in the garage. My point is, if you have any other place to store the extra, you wouldn't have to keep all your items in the bedroom with you, just the most necessary items and tools.

As I said, I crafted in the dining room (which was open to the den) and I located some room in the TV stand for papercrafting storage. It was a pretty large TV unit (larger than the room really needed, lol) and it had shelves and doors and a place for the tv. Since we didn't have that much media to store in it, I took over a couple of shelves for inks, paper & paints. An old pie safe in the dining room held the remainder of my items. DH and I each had a small closet in our bedroom and I chose to store my stamps in tote boxes on the floor of mine.

There were several organizational challenges, and with each one I figured out what would work for me and my space, and I went with it. For instance, I removed all my ribbon , floss, and fibers from the spools, clothespins, jars and floss bobbins that I had them stored on, and I placed them loosely in ziplocs by color family (rainbow order). These bags were then stored down inside decorative photo boxes that went on top of the pie safe. My primas were stored in similar fashion, dumped out of their jars and tins, then sorted by size and color into ziplocs, then down inside boxes. Every type of embellishment and item that I wanted to keep was taken out of its packaging and sorted by type and/or mfgr.

One of the biggest helps was when I completely unmounted all my rubber stamps and put them on cling foam. And I took all my clear stamps out of the packaging and stored them on cling sheets with my red rubber stamps. Unmounting from the wooden blocks took a while to do, but I did it in stages which made it a less taxing task.

Some crafting storage ideas came and went (it was an evolving process!) but the ideas that remained were vital to me being able to craft in such a small space. I think for me, prioritizng the categories like I outlined above, and the ways I chose to store the items were key to it working for me. Again, my secret to success was how my priority items were stored: paper storage was vertical, cardstock by color & patterned paper by mfgr then by line; ribbon, flowers and embellishments were in ziplocs; and all my stamps were placed on cling sheets that I made myself, and the rubber ones were unmounted and on cling foam. Another factor was the fact that I did have a little overflow storage in a garage, which you may or may not have.

I think getting rid of packaging and figuring your priorities are where to start. Get rid of any items that just do not jive with your style and plan.

Remember if you're a die-hard crafter like I am (and I'd bet you are!), you can make it work with even the most basic of basics. When you boil it down, it really comes down to paper, stamps, inks, glue and scissors, if you know what I'm saying. ;-)

Best wishes in your crafty endeavors!

[Jana Z]

I have a little alcove in my bedroom (it is about 5 feet wide by 9 feet long) and have used shelves/desks from Ikea. I loved these because they are thin. Like Joan suggested, I have used under the desks for storage - I have a filing cabinet for my 8.5x11 paper and rolling carts for other supplies, and I use a ton of photo boxes that I buy when they are on sale at Michael's. I also created little strips of paper to put at the front of the clear drawers of the carts and got doors for one of my bookshelves, so I wouldn't see the clutter inside.

For me, aside from labelling everything, part of what worked was keeping it all white - this made it look cleaner.

Neece has a great point too - use under the bed and any other space you can find (i.e. garage, basement) for out of season/bulky storage.

I have some pictures in my gallery (about the only thing I have pictures of there - lol!), but I would definitely check out Ikea - even if you don't buy anything, they have great ideas.

Good luck and have fun! I always love to organize - I think this is half the fun of this craft!

[punch-crazy]

I agree, Ikea is a great place to egt storage product from that will fit a small space.
I recently moved my craft/scrappign stuff into a smaller space (granted bigger than what you have as it's only for crafting) but I found planning before I bought anything really helped me utilize all the space available. I have photos in my glalery and more on my blog. Maybe they'll help you with some ideas.

[pinky83081]

Thank you all for the awesome advice! I was thinking that I would finally get the ikea expedit shelving that I have been lusting over for years and that should take up a small amount of floor space but hold a ton of things! I will have to post pictures when I have it all set up and moved in! Once again thank you all

[graciesart]

Another idea is to get risers for your bed. I got mine at Walmart for under $10 and I can fit full-sized bins underneath. You could store less-used craft items under there.

[splinter2424]

My scrappin' "room" is 3.5 feet wide and 8 feet long. I buy the 12x12 storage cubes in different shapes (I got mine from Michaels). I have 2 on each side supporting my desk. I have ribbon and shelves hanging. (This is along the long wall.) On the short wall at the end, I have these cubes going up as high as I can. I use photoboxes to store as much as possible too.

[carolanninnwmo]

I would suggest floor to ceiling shelving, if possible. Put those lesser-used items on the upper shelves and the things that you use most often on the lower shelves. A rolling toolbox is a great place to store tools and even small embellishments. When I first started scrapping the tool box is what I used to store all of my stuff in. I agree with storing things under the bed and on the backs of doors.

[colorofmyheart]

underbed containers. i had the same problem. my parents have an in-law apartment on their house, and my craft stuff was either in the kitchen cabinets of the kitchen in the in-law, or on shelves by my desk area, which was also in that kitchen. i had all the counterspace i needed, plus my desk.

and then when i moved out, i had to bring everything to a room about as big as yours. i bought myself a tall bookshelf from walmart, and then a whole ton of underbed boxes. it's where i stored EVERYTHING i had. and when i wanted to use something, i'd have to go out into our shared living room and use the coffee table (i had three roommates in a 4 bedroom apartment). i now have a walk in closet for storing everything, where i have my big bookshelf and two sets of plastic drawers. it holds mostly everything. i did bring a few things home because they weren't getting used. but the tall bookshelf does hold a lot.

i also second the person who mentioned bed risers. they're a great option if you want to use full size rubbermaid tubs under your bed.