In our previous “Organizing Your Creative Space” blog articles, Part 1 and Part 2, you could see all of the boxes and bins that I used to sort my hobby supplies by type and/or purpose. In my rush to the “big reveal” I almost forgot the one important thing that makes organization work…. labeling every container that hides contents from easy viewing. To maximize the efficiency of your newly organized space, you cannot skip this step or you will be right back to hunting through all of those bins. An organized space always looks visually appealing, but without the finishing touch of labeling… it is not going to necessarily make your life easier.

Just take a minute to think about it. How many times have you had to get on a stepladder to take bins down from a high shelf to look through the contents in search of that one little item that is holding up the completion of your craft project? Additionally, how much time has been wasted cleaning up the mess you made while you were scouring the room looking for that most important craft tool or supply!? Those wasted minutes and/or hours really start to add up. Labeling isn’t hard…. in fact it’s pretty darn easy. It allows you to take back that wasted time and use it to do more of what you really enjoy….. making things!

There are so many labels on the market…but it really doesn’t matter which kind you use. You can even stick to something as basic as a colorful post-it note. I ended up using several different kinds in my craft room. As you can see in the upper left picture above, I used some colorful shipping tags tied on to the front of bins (click here for similar tags at Paper Source). The label shown in the upper right picture is built right in to the craft-colored cube I purchased at the Target dollar spot. The chalkboard sticker labels, shown in the middle picture, allow you to change the writing on the label anytime you need to change the contents of the container. My favorites are the black clip labels shown in the lower right picture above and can be found at Container Store (click here). They can be clipped directly onto the top edge of almost any type of bin and are also easily erasable.

Now go arm yourselves with a black sharpie and a stack of labels. You will be crafting more than pretty things in your creative space… you will be creating more TIME to enjoy the things you love.