Organize Your Craft Closet

4 LESSONS LEARNED

1. One thing in, one thing out. Make sure that materials fit into their designated bins. If a container is overflowing, something's gotta go.

2. Clean up nightly. Always put your materials away, even if you haven't finished your project. Store it smart: Designate a special box or cubby for unfinished work.

3. Repurpose. Save money by using old items as new storage. Cookie tins and takeout containers make great craft storage.

4. Ask for help.

5 TIPS FOR EFFICIENCY

1. Gain easy access. Chrystelle removed the closet's sliding doors and hung a colorful queen-size sheet from a curtain rod. Now she can get to her supplies fast.

2. Add shelving. You've got two choices: Remove the closet rod and hang shelves, or do what Chrystelle did and slide in a preassembled shelving unit.

3. Create a catchall. Every crafter has an ever-growing collection of buttons, metal findings, and other small odds and ends that always seem to get scattered everywhere. Chrystelle's solution: Corral them in a woven pink basket.

4. Label everything. The quickest way to find what you're looking for? Attach labels. Chrystelle uses the back sides of recipe cards, pieces of craft paper and premade labels from the dollar store.

5. Be bottom-heavy. Put hefty items like sewing machines at the bottom so they're easier and safer to get out. Space-plan the closet the way you'd decorate a Christmas tree, says Larsson: "Big ornaments on the sturdy lower branches, smaller ones toward the top."