paper storage

I haven't been in my craft room much to actually CRAFT, but I have been in there quite a bit over the last few weeks trying to get things organized! Many of you on my Facebook page (not a "fan" yet, check it out on the left side of my blog) were curious about my craft room organization and so I thought I would share a little bit of what it looks like. I am going to break it up into categories and today I wanted to start with paper storage. **Disclaimer: I am not a huge fan of lots of things that make clutter, so you'll see my space as simplified, which is the best way for me to work. I also haven't had the chance to paint or add decor to the walls yet. One day...

Since starting Stampin' Up! in 2009 I have pretty much gone exclusive to ordering only that kind of Designer Series Paper and 12x12 card stock. Just recently I whittled my non-SU! 12x12 paper collection way down because I wasn't using it enough and a lot of it didn't match, so I decided to let a lot of it go to create a clean slate in my room and not be burdened with too many choices while working, especially if it wasn't Stampin' Up! I did hold onto some paper for scrapbooking, which I will show you further down in the post.

When you walk into my room the first thing you'll see on the left is this 12x12 paper rack. I scored this beauty when Paper Zone was going out of business. I can't remember how much I paid for it, but I knew it was going to be a worthwhile buy, so I splurged. This rack sits to the left of my desk, so it's within easy reach or at least a short walk. Each of the slots holds Stampin' Up! only paper. The blue tags are all the current papers. Notice some of the holes? They are ready to be filled with the new Holiday Mini DSP that is on its way! The orange tags indicate retired card stock. Each of the tags have the name of the DSP on them.

Labels in black may have been a better idea...oops!

I also have some other 12x12 paper that is not on my paper rack. These dividers hold the bigger color collection patterned paper packs, as well as Simply Scrappin' Kits, Glimmer Paper, Window Sheets, etc. Basically anything that is 12x12.

You'll notice that I have two slots that are completely empty! This means I have room to expand and add other things in the future. If you can believe it, at one point all four slots were full. I either got rid of the paper or moved it to the paper rack shown earlier. Can you tell I am trying to simplify my choices? I decided if the paper is 3+ years retired (unless I LOVE it), then I am going to resell it so I can buy new current paper!

Now onto 8-1/2x11 paper... I have a 2-drawer filing cabinet that holds all of my Stampin' Up! cardstock. This sits to the right of my workspace and it is within an arms reach. I have a file folder for each color and they are organized by color collection. As you can see...I love my label maker! This makes it so easy to grab exactly what I need and keep tabs on when I am running low on a color. I laugh when I think back to when I first started Stampin' Up! 3 years ago and just how little Stampin' Up! cardstock I started with! Now, I can't imagine not having a backup pack of paper for when I run out of a color.

{top drawer}

 {bottom drawer}

And, this is my back up paper for when I run out of a color. When I see that a color in the file folders above is starting to run low, I order a pack to have ready to go when I need it! These are located in the big hutch unit that I will show you a picture of in a future post.

On the other side of the cupboard of the hutch holds my Stampin' Up! 12x12 card stock. So far I haven't done scrapbooking with the business side of things (only for personal and even that is not much!). I also have a couple of files on the right that holds my "contraband" non-SU! scrapbook paper. Again, it has been whittled way down to what it was before!

This is what the right of my workspace looks like with the 2-drawer filing cabinet and 12x12 paper file...both that I showed above. You'll see in the picture a sneak peek of some of the other elements of my room. Hopefully it will whet your appetite for more. ;)

Hopefully I have been able to help inspire you a little bit and that you'll want to come back for more pictures of my craft room soon!