Craft Room Design and Organization

These 6 tips on craft room design and organization will help you to create a craft studio that works for you.

1. Create a permanent place to work

It's one thing to work on your projects wherever you have space when crafting is simply a hobby. However, if you are building a craft business, you really need to dedicate a place in your home which becomes your craft studio.

A dedicated craft studio will allow you to save time setting up and taking down equipment and looking for supplies, because they will be well organized, and you will be able to leave certain equipment set up and ready to go.

You'll also be able to develop a more efficient production schedule that allows you to create large amounts of inventory required for craft shows or large orders when you have a dedicated work space.

2. Create an inspiring place to work

Ink stored so colors are easy to see

A craft room does not have to be costly to be inspired. You're going to spend a lot of time in your studio, so you'll need to ensure that you're inspired to work while you're in there.

Whether keeping your raw materials in sight, surrounding yourself with work from your favorite artists and professional crafters or creating a beautifully decorated space inspires you, do give yourself a wonderful place to work.

Ensure your materials are on hand and easily accessible but well organized. For many craft artists, this step alone goes a long way toward inspiring new and exciting designs.

3. Ensure you have good lighting

There is nothing worse than trying to work with bad lighting. Colors don't look right, and detailed work can become difficult to complete. A little bit of money invested in good ambient and task lighting will make your craft studio a more functional and enjoyable place to work in.

4. Look for inspiration

You'll find some good examples craft room design on Pinterest. Take a look at my craft room board on Pinterest on Pinterest. I update it whenever I find photos of pretty and functional craft rooms.

5. Use principles of good ergonomics

Clear work space with easy access to important tools

Spending the day hunched over a table that is too low or at the wrong angle, or sitting in one place with no opportunity to move around is not good for your body.

If you want to be able to work at your craft for many years without injury, you must take care of your body now. That means (at least) using the best, most ergonomically correct tools that you can afford and creating workspaces that allow you to work at a comfortable height and encourage you to move around the room from time to time.

While it may seem inefficient to store tools a few steps away from the place where you will use them, this kind of room design forces you to get up and walk around while you are working, and that is good for your long term physical health.

6. Store your materials properly

Store your materials safely so children or pets can't get into dangerous chemicals or sharp tools. Ensure your materials are stored to maximize their shelf life. If raw materials should be stored upright, or refrigerated, following these instructions will keep your raw materials costs in check.

Photo courtesy of Ali Edwards

Also, be sure to store your materials and finished products in a way that minimizes work for you. For example, if you make silver jewelry, store your silver items in sealed plastic bags with an anti-tarnish strip so you'll limit the amount of polishing necessary.

There's nothing worse than pulling out your inventory for a craft show and discovering you have a whole lot of cleaning or polishing to do before you head out to the show.

The benefits of creating a functional, enjoyable craft room are well worth the work and planning you'll invest to create a great work space for yourself.