Function Over Fashion

My scrapbook room is located in what was designed to be the formal dining room in my home. I love the fact that I have a spacious area, beautiful green walls, and a huge window that provides natural light. Unfortunately, the creativity in my scrapbooks does not translate into the ability to decorate my home. Other than the pretty wall color and fun area rug, the rest of the room is purely functional.

Some of my favorite parts of the room include:

Desk
I use an inexpensive 5-foot folding table for my work surface. I am a very messy scrapper, so the table is covered in ink and paint. It’s not pretty, but I love that I don’t have to worry about making a mess. There are a few items that you will find on my desk at any given time:

• Dahle 550 paper trimmer
• Box of photos to be scrapped
• Vase of silk flowers (from Dollar Tree) – I snip off flowers as I need them for my pages
• School supply box
• Xyron 250
• Lamp

I have a basket sitting under my desk that holds the items that I reach for on a regular basis: date stamp, Xyron 150, corner rounder, stapler, etc.

I also have two baskets on the wall above my desk where I keep my most frequently used adhesives (tape runner, pop-dots, glue dots, etc.) and ink pens.

Paper Storage
One of my best-ever scrapbooking investments was my 12” x 12” paper rack. Racks like this are usually very expensive, but I found mine on eBay for only $40 including shipping. This rack contains cardstock and any patterned paper that can be divided by color. All of my other patterned paper is divided by manufacturer in two-gallon Ziploc bags.

Paper Scraps
One of the hardest lessons for me to learn in scrapbooking is that it’s perfectly okay NOT to save every little piece of paper. So, with the exception of black cardstock (which I use on everything), I don’t save any paper scraps that are smaller than approximately 4” x 4”. Scraps are sorted by color (both patterns and solids) in manila envelopes and stored in an accordion file. This sits under my desk so that it is easily accessible.

Magazines/Idea Books
I purge my magazine collection fairly frequently. With the awesome online resources available, I rarely turn back to my idea books. While I keep every issue that I’ve been published in (stored in a cabinet), I generally only keep the last 8-12 months worth of my favorite magazines. If I see an idea that I really like, I sketch it out in my notebook before passing the issue along to a friend.

Unmounted Stamp Storage
I prefer to store my unmounted stamps in empty CD cases as seen here. The cases are then stored in a CD storage basket.

Tools/Embellishments
Most of my other supplies (embellishments, ink pads, paint, stickers, fiber, ribbon, punches, wood-mounted stamps, etc) are stored in plastic drawers or baskets of various sizes. These are stacked on shelves throughout my room.

So, while I don’t possess the knack for decorating that some of the other girls seem to have, my system works for me. Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about. Much like scrapbooking, there really is no right or wrong way to store your supplies. I hope that I’ve inspired you to find a system that you can call your own.