Cleaning Out My Craft Closet Step By Step

My craft closet is finally organized and ready for use! It has been a long and difficult process as I determined what would stay and what would go. But now it is done, and I could not be more pleased.

As I promised on Monday, I am going to share the steps I went through to get the closet organized. I approached this closet differently than I would a clothes closet or linen closet. Having a different mindset helped me as I worked to get it all organized.

So, here is how I did it:

Begin with the end in mind. The first thing I did before I ever took anything out of the closet was thinking about what I wanted to achieve.  I determined my main goal was to be able to walk in the closet and access any of my craft supplies with ease.

Take everything out. Before I could get in my closet to get to things on the shelves, I had to remove everything that was on the floor. If you saw my before pictures, you would know I had a ton of stuff! After clearing the floor, I began taking everything off the shelves. The only exceptions were items I knew that needed to remain in the closet but just needed to be moved to a higher shelf since I would not be accessing them often.

Sort, Purge, and Toss. This is the most crucial step. While I was removing items from the closet, I tried to go ahead and sort them into like categories. After I had the closet emptied, I had several categories of supplies. I then went through each category and threw away items that were no longer usable and made the decision to get rid of a ton of items that I knew I didn’t need any more. I had three bags of items to donate.

Put everything in its place. After I had whittled down what I was going to keep, I began placing the supplies back in the closet. I found boxes, baskets, and containers I already had to house all of the items. It was a bit of trial and error, but I managed to get everything contained.

Reflect and adjust. It took several attempts before I found the best way to fit everything back in the closet. I had to step back and evaluate what needed to be moved around. Then I adjusted by finding better places for each item. Finally everything is in the best place possible.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Now that the closet is organized, I can enjoy it by using the supplies to create fun scrapbooks, cards, and crafts. I’ve wanted to be able to do this for a long time. So now I’m going to set aside time each week to craft.

Come back Friday to see my newly organized closet!

What is your method for organizing a craft or supply closet?