Crafters should learn to let go of the old

Sometimes we call it the guest bedroom. Sometimes it’s the office or the sewing room. The truth is, the room we assign a lot of uses to is often so full of stuff it’s good for nothing.

And right about now, we want it to be a craft room.

Piles of decorations from Christmas, Easter and the Fourth of July vie for the precious square footage that the crafter needs going into the fall season of homey arts and hand-crafted gifts.

“Craft rooms are the first rooms to become junk rooms,” said Diane Sullivan of Organization Station in Omaha.

Even if the seasonal decorations are packed neatly in bins, which is unlikely, the crafter and fabric hobbyist often have to contend with the clutter of past, unfinished projects, excess supplies and seldom-used tools.

Even more frustrating, the crafter often figures she needs much more space than a spare room offers, cluttered or not.

Be realistic, Sullivan said. “No matter whether it’s a desk, a wall or a closet, you can still do whatever you want to do.

“The key is to limit yourself to three or four projects and finish those before you start another. Most crafters have 17 going at once.”

That’s a big deal for creative types who come up with more ideas than time to complete them, Sullivan said. She recommends paring down — big-time.

“If you’re a quilter, do you need 100 bolts or hundreds, even thousands, of fabric remnants? Pretty soon, there are bins and bins and piles and piles of material.”

Crafters also need to let go when crafts are completed — or stalled for years — to make space for new projects.

If you’re into needlepoint now — and not the quilting that had your attention a few years ago — let go of those quilting supplies. Consider donating your supplies to a church group, social services center or assisted living community.

Sullivan said once the crafter takes inventory and decides what’s important to the projects at hand, she can sort and categorize the basic supplies:

Cut your supplies to a manageable size.

Sort by color, shape, texture or size.

Consolidate. Use see-through bins and label them.

Use the wall. Try a ready-made system that attaches to the wall. An example is the slat wall, often used in retail display areas to attach shelving, hooks and other hardware for storage or display. Peg board can be painted to match or contrast with a room color.

Storage pieces, made of cloth or plastic, may hang from a closet pole, slide under the bed or roll under a desk top. These units may have drawers, dividers or trays. Closet organizing systems that hang from poles or closet rods are often inexpensive specialty organizers.

Second-hand and antique dressers can be repurposed as storage units.

Modular, painted or natural-finish pressed wood units can be purchased ready-to-assemble.

Sources: Diane Sullivan of Organization Station in Omaha; Sharon Rovetto, Omaha Fixture International; Mickie Abersfeller of Storage Concepts, Omaha; and the second edition of “Dream Sewing Spaces” by Lynette Ranney Black (Palmer/Pletsch, $24.95).

Contact the writer:

444-1059, rhonda.stansberry@owh.com

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