Organizing Your Bead & Jewelry Making Supplies

Once you start getting into a hobby like jewelry making, it seems that it doesn’t take long before it starts to take over your life, including your house. I’ve been doing this for a long time now, and I still struggle with the issue of getting organized and finding enough space for everything. I wish I had a great solution to this problem, one that was easy to execute and didn’t cost a lot of money, but I don’t. Some day when time and money allows, I hope to have a wonderful studio full of all my jewelry supplies and tools. Right now, though, I have come up with a solution that works for me.

My corner studio: I have taken over a corner of our family room and made it into my “corner studio.” It allows me to work while listening to the TV or just hanging out with my husband and animals. If I was more aesthetically concerned, I’d probably purchase one of those bamboo type screens to cover the area when I’m not working. Luckily, we don’t have many guests, so I don’t have to worry about that too much. However, if you are, a few screens (I’ve seen these at Target now) would be perfect for hiding your work area.

My studio workbench: In my corner, I have a large industrial office desk; you know, the type used in government offices way back when, or actually, I would bet some of them still use these. I found mine for $50 at a used office supply warehouse, and I love it. The work surface is 62 inches wide and 32 inches deep, so there’s lots of room to spread out, and boy, do I spread out! (As you can see in the photo…and this is after I had just cleaned it the day before!) There are even pull out surfaces, once used for adding machines and typewriters, on either side of the desk. It also has really large drawers that I can fill with tools and supplies. The narrow center drawer is perfect for tucking a way a bead board or two. Check your local want ads for used office furniture.

My studio cabinets: To the right of my desk, I have a book case that I purchased at an office supply store for about $25, no assembly required. Inside of this I have various supplies and books, but some of the most helpful organizers I’ve found are these small utility cabinets with the clear drawers. I have one for pearls, one for findings, one for crystals, one for stone beads, one for seed beads, well, you get the idea. I use the larger drawers for rolls of wire. You can find these in hardware and discount stores, and they are often on sale.

For the most part, I work on my bead and wire jewelry in the house, and I keep my glass and metal jewelry out in the garage, which my husband is now working on organizing, so hopefully, in a few months I’’ll have some great ideas for organizing your studio garage.