How to Organize the Craft Mess

With a craft cart, the crafting is portable and the supplies are guaranteed to be put away in the right spot.

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home and over time I’ve come to realize how true that is. No matter how many desks or craft tables you might have in other areas of your house, the kitchen is where the family tends to hang out most of the time. So instead of trying to fight the creative craft mess, I decided to create a system that lends itself to being used in the kitchen at the island—and then being put away quickly and efficiently.

I’ll start by saying that my crafter is a first-grade girl who mostly prefers drawing, coloring, and painting, but also likes to create random freestyle projects. This particular collection reflects those interests, but the system can be adapted to whatever craft supplies your crafters enjoy.

The first step was choosing a cart with open sides all around so everything is accessible. We then added little hanging buckets that give instant access to the most frequently used items.

Crayons, markers, gel pens, glue, scissors—all in full view all the time. (Because the cart is stored in the family room closet with the short side in front, I added a bucket for pens and pencils so they can be grabbed for homework without pulling out the cart.)

On the top shelf of the cart, we have magazine holders for all the different types of papers, and also the flat packs of watercolors. These are the only paints we use indoors—the messier stuff is stored away for summer use outdoors.

On the middle shelf, we have divided containers for collections of smaller craft items that are used together, like ribbons and beads. These are less frequently used, so it’s ok that they are not quite as accessible.

On the bottom shelf, we have small containers we stand on end so each one is accessible. No stacking. These hold items like foam stickers, alphabet stickers, gems, etc.

We used empty spaces around the divided containers to fit longer items like pipe cleaners. They are stored in a round container that can be removed when needed, but it keeps the pipe cleaners together and organized. We also used a standard pencil case to hold her specialty drawing supplies like charcoals.

An important addition was an open basket on the top shelf. This basket holds the current random craft supplies she’s interested in using. This basket can be removed and used on the counter. When craft time is up, it’s simple to dump it all back in there and put it back on the cart. Once these particular crafts are no longer popular, they will be assigned to containers or purged completely.

Just about every component on this cart was purchased at IKEA for very reasonable prices. If you have one near you, make a day trip out of it! If not, Amazon does carry almost all the pieces, though at higher prices.