The odds and ends necessary for crafting need storage containers.
Creating an office and craft room out of a small space does not have to be difficult. Utilizing storage containers and wise uses of the existing space can transform a tiny space into one that is functional and has a purpose. If you sell crafts to supplement your income and it's a home business, or you just need a place for your hobby and to pay your monthly bills, creating a craft/office space organizes the area to help your life run more efficiently. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Plan the work space by drawing out the room design on a sheet of paper. Consider placements that utilize natural lighting from windows, electrical outlets and other features you do not want to cover. Try different arrangements on paper before attempting to move heavy furniture. This saves time and effort.
2. Install shelving or closet organizers, if applicable. Otherwise, build shelving for the walls and stack them with plastic storage containers to hold items such as sewing tools or craft items. If a shelf has more than 3 inches above its items, lower the shelf above it to utilize the space more efficiently. Often vertical space is available that you never thought of using and helps tiny spaces to hold everything necessary for your office and craft needs.
3. Purchase or find items around your home that hold tiny objects. Utilizing an empty ice-cube tray for buttons, craft googly eyes, beads, hook and eyes or nails allows you to find them quickly without searching through endless boxes or drawers. Use a small filing cabinet and hanging file racks for your office documents and bill payments.
4. Place a desk in the room that has an "L" shape. These fit easily into corner areas; keep your office supplies and computer on one end and work on your crafts at the other end.
5. Use drawer organizers to avoid looking for small objects that roll to the back of the drawer or hide under larger items. A sectioned drawer organizer enables you to find paraphernalia quickly in the small space.
6. Rotate items in your closet, drawers, filing cabinet or shelving units. For instance, if you create seasonal wreaths to sell, store autumn flowers and ribbon at the top of closet shelving units or in the back of drawers once the season is over. Bring down winter craft items and place them in an easy-to-reach area. Items necessary for filing your taxes are typically needed in the early part of the year; therefore, storing them in an out-of-the-way area the other three quarters of the year prevents you from having to move it unnecessarily.
7. Hang curtain brackets and a round curtain rod onto your wall area; this is an efficient way to store spools of ribbons and other items you may need in a central area---and prevents the spools from tangling up inside a drawer. Utilize a pegboard system on the wall beside it to store scissors, hot glue guns, rolls of masking or painter's tape and other accouterments.
8. Install proper lighting to see what's in your small office/craft area and prevent eye strain by working under poor lighting conditions. Many crafts require detail work, and proper lighting makes it less difficult to see what you're doing.
9. Add a work table in the area to give you a place to work on your hobby and crafts and to leave them out while paint or glue is drying. Even a small, inexpensive card table is an invaluable asset in the room and does not take up much space. Underneath the work table is another useful area to store boxes or clear plastic storage containers.
10. Mark storage containers clearly with the items inside them. Use a permanent marker for items you use frequently. If you do crafts or office projects that often change, use index cards and tape labels onto the storage boxes. Change the labels as needed.
Tags: storage containers, office craft, your office, craft items, filing cabinet, more efficiently
