Organized craft/school supplies

I've been organizing.  I've been organizing SCHOOL SUPPLIES!  Probably one of my single most favorite things to do.  I've been in a mad dash before the kids start school to get my office/kids' homework room/craft room/scrapbook room/blogging station in order.  Yes - I'm talking about one space. :)  I haven't shared my office on the blog yet because it has been in such disarray since we moved in.  It really is the busiest room in our house and most of the day you can find me or one of the kids (or all four of us) in it making a great big mess.  But slowly I am making progress!  One cupboard at at time.

Some of you might remember the craft cupboard we had in our previous house.  This was a bottom cabinet in my kitchen that I turned into a space for all of the kids' craft/school supplies.  It truly was one of the smartest organizing projects I did that year because it worked so well for us.  The kids used it every day and were able to easily keep it organized.  Bins were easy to pull out and use at the table and clean up was a breeze because everything had a place.  So when I designed my office for the new house, I knew I wanted a similar space to use for all of the kid's supplies.  

When you walk in my office and immediately look to the right there are some tall cabinets up against the wall.  After hours of purging, sorting, organizing, and labeling (my favorite part!) here is what the inside of these cabinets look like now...

Ahhhh.  The kids' supplies are organized.  My supplies are organized.  Peace is restored in my office.  

At least on the right side of the room.  :)

I wish I had taken a before shot.  When we moved in I just set random things in random cupboards.  

It was such a mess to sort through.  

I know it doesn't look like much, but the top of this cupboard is what took me the longest.  This is everything from the two years we spent building our new house.  I had SO much stuff to go through and a lot of it I tossed (such a good feeling!), but these are the things I wanted to keep.  Like the binder on the far left that is labeled "new house plans and designs" with all of our cabinet/built-in/room layouts and all of our design sketches.

These white file folders (Martha Stewart Collection) hold additional house sketches/plans and all of our paint selections.  

Above those I used two buckets from the dollar store (you might remember them from my mom's laundry room makeover!) to hold all of our paint books and additional design odds and ends like fabric swatches, etc.  So happy to have all of this consolidated in one place!  Now when you ask me where I got a certain light fixture or what color of paint is in a certain room I can find it in two seconds!  If I don't have the information somewhere in this top cupboard you are out of luck because my brain just isn't big enough to hold all of those details and even if it could, it secretly wants to block them all out.  ;)  

 Moving on to the bottom section!  I designed this cupboard for the kids.  All of my cabinets have adjustable shelves so I can move them around in a way that works best for us.  Everything is low so the kids can reach - all of their "supplies" are in one place.  Paper is on top (divided by plain white, lined, and colored card stock).

The bottom holds all of their coloring/work books.  I've had these cheap cardboard file folders for years!  They are from my teaching days.  I debated covering them in some stylish wrapping paper but decided the bright colors were fun for the kids.  Maybe I'll still cover them someday if I get really ambitious but that is a low priority at this point.  :)  I gave Ellie and Addison two each because they have so many books.  Kole has one and then one extra for miscellaneous notepads, workbooks etc. that they all use.

Putting them in file folders keeps this area nice and neat and makes it easy for my kids to locate their own things.  I originally had everything just lined up and I knew it would be a mess in no time.  Organizing projects are only successful if they are easy to keep that way! 

Next I went to town labeling craft/school supplies!  (#everythingisbetterwithalabel)

The top two boxes are mine - labels and clothespins.  

When you are labeling a box of labels you recognize you may have a problem.  This is the part of my post when my mom usually calls and tells me there is medicine out there for people like me.

{Time out to share my all time favorite quote}

As. They. Should. Be.  

Amen.  

:)

Regardless of my mental state, my labels are happy in their home and easy for me to access when I tackle my next project.  {Mom, I know you love me, but at this point I think we can both agree it's a lost cause.}

 The rest of the bins are all things the kids use when they get their creative messes juices going.  Which for my two girls is a daily occurrence.  

I didn't photograph everything but here is a peek inside a few of the bins.  

So nice to have everything in one easy to find spot!

Just like with our original craft cupboard, the kids can take their bins to the table, make a big old mess, and then easily put everything back where it belongs.

  If it isn't broke, don't fix it.  

So happy to have our old system set up in the new house.  

:)