It’s January and everyone, including me, is in an organizational mood! In today’s video, I will give you a quick studio tour along with how I organize my bead craft room/studio.
Tip #1: Use a pegboard
Do you have a whole wall that you can put a peg board on? You can find pegboards at home improvement stores. And get hooks or even baskets that hook up to your board. They’re relatively inexpensive. It’s so nice to be able to take a quick glance at your wall and know what you have. Plus it makes you feel like you have a bead or craft store!
Tip #2: Use project boxes
Because there are so many units in making French beaded flowers, I put the finished units in project boxes. I usually keep the beads, wire, and finished units for that specific project. If you have an Ikea near you, I use the Kuggis boxes. I LOVE them! I have an Ikea credit card that earns gift certificates and I use it to get these boxes EVERY time.
Tip #3: Repurpose jars
Because we buy beads in such a large quantity (think pounds at a time), I like to use glass jars to store beads in. FYI, a pint size jar is perfect for 500 grams (1 lb) of beads. I just peel off the label from the bags and stick them on the jars. Easy peasy.
Tip #4: Stackable drawers/rolling drawers
Rolling drawers (Sterilite) are great for storing all sorts of things. Some of them come with wheels and some do not. I use them to store bags of beads, UFOs (Unfinished Objects), things to take apart, wire and more. I also use stackable plastic drawers because you can stack them however you please and they can store a significant amount of beads also. Make sure you’re buying a reputable brand. I’ve gotten some “shoe” boxes that I thought would work for bead organization but they turned out to be so flimsy thin plastic.
Bonus tip: Make a mess somewhere else!
I don’t usually bead in the studio because I like to hang out with my family as I bead. I use a bed breakfast tray that I take everywhere. I try to limit the “mess” to be on the tray (but of course, that doesn’t always work).
