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In One Woman's Craft Storage System, Surface Area Trumps Depth

By Rain Noe - February 24, 2011

in Object Culture

What I wouldn't give to have a workspace this tidy. I mean the colors are not to my tastes at all, but 24-year-old Etsy craftsperson Megan has done an enviable job of organizing a dense collection of materials for her craft projects.

There are at least two different ways to organize lots of stuff: First is what I'll call Deep Hidden storage, like a file cabinet, where maximum density in a minimum space is the goal and everything is hidden behind some type of panel. Then there's Broad Visible storage, which is all about surface area, with little physical depth, and everything can be seen at once. Common sense says that Deep Hidden storage would be the more aesthetically pleasing, or at least ordered, but Megan's space here has opened me up to the possible superiority of the latter option.

In Megan's system everything, every little trinket, gewgaw and material, has a dedicated space. The transparent containers stacked on risers enable her to find exactly the part she's looking for without having to rifle through drawers. The ribbon rolls on removeable dowels system might be a pain when you need to grab one in the middle, but it's gotta be better than digging through cabinets. The problem with my own tool and material storage system is that I spend half my time looking for the damn tool I need.

I want to print pictures of her workspace and attempt to emulate it with my own crap. But I don't have a good place to put the photos without them quickly getting buried.

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Nikki

13 years ago

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I have studio envy.. oh man this shows me how far my space is to being what I want it to be!
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Mabel and Zora

13 years ago

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Oh my goodness, I would craft so much more if my craft room looked like that! This is so inspiring, this year I WILL at least clean the room!
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ersi marina

13 years ago

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I am absolutely envious of her workspace! Great work organizing, great work featuring too :)
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Sheri F

13 years ago

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How does she find anything? ;-)
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Mary Jo

13 years ago

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Totaly awesome. If my office looked like that I would deffinately want to go to work every day!
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melissa parkes

13 years ago

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Following from facebook. Oh my in awwww. Love your setup. The red is fantastic.
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Som Banerjee

13 years ago

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Fantastic workspace. In India, I would have to add closet doors or else it will be covered in dust within days.
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Karolina

13 years ago

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I believe you don't need to grab the whole ribbon roll - you just pull as much as you need - even more convenient!
Someone who actually uses this stuff on regular bases must have thought about the practicality of this setting.
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Helen

13 years ago

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It's so impressive and she's only 24! With the ribbon - I wouldn't even pull the roll off the dowel rod, I'd just cut what I need with it still on the wall. I think my "old shoe box on a book shelf" storage system needs a serious overhaul.
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Heidi

13 years ago

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I'm somewhere between the Deep Dense and Broadly Visible categories, I guess. I have my bins of beads organized by color with clear plexi lids, but their "hidden" in the cubbies at the sides of my project desk. When it comes to my tools, though, I am definitely in the Broadly Visible category!
I don't ordinarily put links in responses, but I blogged on my studio re-organization recently. I'd love to share!http://mybeadtherapy.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html
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Victoria

13 years ago

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Love this, especially the glass jars on risers, with lights! Um, to get the ribbon from the middle though, you just roll it off and cut. ;)
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Debra

13 years ago

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The studio looks great for photos but I wonder how it really works when creating.
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Melanie

13 years ago

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I'd like to know where all the clear containers came from??
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Khadijah

13 years ago

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What a work space. Truly space efficient and pleasant to the eye. Great job!
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Lindsay

13 years ago

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What brand are those ribbon holders? I LOVE THEM and think they would work wonderfully for me in my craft area!
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Ellen

13 years ago

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I love it! not my colors either but it all looks so cheerful! Any ideas where she got the thread and ribbon holders?.....smiles.
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Ellen

13 years ago

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I love it! not my colors either but it all looks so cheerful! Any ideas where she got the thread and ribbon holders?.....smiles.
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Cynde

13 years ago

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Sewing machine, check; computer, check; tv and phone, check; good lighting, check. And everything else almost within arms reach. A wonderful workspace. I would love to know where to get some of the storage products: the little glass jars, the spool and ribbon holders, and the storage unit on the left with the red doors.
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Monica

13 years ago

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The ribbon dowels are meant to be so that you can take a length of ribbon off without removing the spool from the dowel, so it's actually a time saver, not an inconvenience. :)
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Charlie

13 years ago

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OMG. I'm actually in LOVE with this. She is clearly a genius! Off to look at her creations too! Thanks for sharing this.
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Aulani Photography

13 years ago

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Wow this is so cool I love some of the ideas like the cups for pens!
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Lois R.

13 years ago

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Love the space! I really like the lights under the shelves...great way to bring out the color!!!
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Kelley

13 years ago

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I'm in the process of moving my studio into one big room, and I'm doing some of this--the broad visible storage. Since I work with a lot of beads, I find that if I have some that are not readily visible, I forget I have them. For the things I'm putting in cabinets I'm labeling the fronts of little cardboard boxes so that I know what's in each box and can readily see the contents when I open the cabinet doors. I think I'm going to be much more productive when I'm finished. :)
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Elaine

13 years ago

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Very inspiring! I just moved into a newly renovated studio space and hope to use some of these ideas as I start to organize & set up shop!
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jen

13 years ago

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awesome! I actually just spent the last two days reorganizing my space. It makes it sooo much easier to create when everything is visable. Love the photos - some day!
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Joan R

13 years ago

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Great system! Visibility & functionality! Love it! Dusting ... hadn't thought of that; but I'd do it for that kind of useful storage space.
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Chantal Vincent

13 years ago

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A work of art in itself! What an amazing space!
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Cace

13 years ago

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Love it! I don't think she needs to take the ribbons off the dowel to use them, she can just pull on it and cut the measurement needed...
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Sandy Shannon

13 years ago

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I have seen this system used before on YouTube with the only difference being that there were cloth covers done like the old windup window shades for each storage area that could be lowered to protect the items from sunlight and dust when they are not in use.

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Dana

13 years ago

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Actually, the ribbon spools on the dowel thing would totally work if you taped down the ribbon ends. That's how I store my gift ribbon (Christmas, etc.), and it's easy enough to just peel off the Scotch tape if you need to cut a length.
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Sara

13 years ago

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On thing on the ribbon comment you're overlooking is that you don't have to take the roll off of the wooden dowel, you can just spin off the amount of ribbon that you need (like a paper towel dispenser) :)
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Stacey Ariganello

13 years ago

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Thank God for IKEA!
Looks awesome!
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Sara

13 years ago

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SO JEALOUS. This is my new apsiration.
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Beverly

13 years ago

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WOW!!! I now have organization envy! LOL! Thanks for sharing this...I now have something to work towards that looks like it would help out in SO many ways! Bast of luck!
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Patricia Shea

13 years ago

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Wow this is glorious but it is just a dream for me, I am the most disorganized worker and admire someone who can keep their workroom looking like this...brava!!
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Keri C

13 years ago

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! And even more so because I can see she shops at my favorite place...well after the craft store of course...IKEA!
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Maria

13 years ago

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I love what she's done, but that really wouldn't work for me. My "craft cave" is in my front living room. We don't use it much, so I decided to set up my jewelry table there. But I can't really put up cabinets and such like she has. I do have to find a way to organize, though, because right now my system is not working so well. Cheers! :0)
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Pa

13 years ago

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Love this style. This is my ideal way of organization, I need to see what I have to be inspired. I would love more information of how Megan achieved it.
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Linda Landig

13 years ago

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drooling!....but I wondered about dust too. My work space is so cluttered that even the dust is hard to find!
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Shannon

13 years ago

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I LOVE all of the glass jars!
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Vicky Watkins from Crooked Fence Gifts

13 years ago

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Very nice set up. I like your color in the room as well. Mine is "hearts content" a lot like raspberry :) Happy Crafting to you !
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Becki

13 years ago

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WOW WOW WOW!! Amazing space.
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tammy o'brine

13 years ago

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I would love to know where she got everything! Especially the risers. They are exactly what I have been looking for!
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Sandi W

13 years ago

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I love the look of this, I need "see" things because I am a visual person. But something about this bothered me. It's so contextual...I live in SO CAL and I could never have bottles displayed on shelves like that because one never knows when the next earthquake will hit. LOL I'm sure there's a solution to that too.
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Tammy

13 years ago

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Beautiful- love the color combos & storage containers.
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Chris K

13 years ago

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Lovely - but who dusts everything for her?
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Hope

13 years ago

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VERY nice ! Please come do my office for me :) You have a great way of thinking , not doing what everyone else would do but what works for you . Congrats ! Best of luck!
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Katharine

13 years ago

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Utterly Gorgeous! I'm a fan of broad visible storage as well, but my system is not nearly as pretty as this. Also, with two little kids, there are some things that HAVE to be hidden, or they will be...tasted.

This is lovely. I can only imagine how nice her creations are. Actually, I'll go check them out.
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