10 steps to organize a beader’s home

Since my early childhood I struggle with organising stuff.

In the first decade of my life the toys, clothes, Barbie-dolls and Teddy-bears were the biggest problem. Than the shells I collected, the postcards I collected and all the nail polishes I collected instead of the fact that my strict, Catholic middle school didn’t allow to wear them, not even the nearly transparent baby pink ones. Maybe that 4-year long colour-deprivation is the reason behind my obsession for combining shades and hues now?

And while the majority of my materialistic belongings are now completely normal, adult stuff (I’m kidding, the majority is beads.), my attitude to cleaning and sistematizing hasn’t changed until recently.

But well, after years of interchangeably producing and fighting the creative chaos in my home finally I admitted it really is important to find a specific place for my belongings, and afterwards stick to it. It does help if instead of 10 minutes I am looking for the cab I want to use only for 20 seconds, and I can go a lot further in my beading time if I know instantly where my cutting pliers or favourite bronze earring hooks are.

When I moved from Prague to The Netherlands (and after I’ve read tons of literature about time management and becoming more efficient) I decided to change my habit of being so disorganized. I set up a calendar with my tasks and deadlines (Both work-related and fun-related. I wouldn’t be able to divide these two even if I wanted to.), one notebook for my ideas (instead of the five I’ve already had), and committed to keep my studio in order. I know magic does not happen and it certainly takes time to get rid of an old, bad habit to build a new, more useful one, but I can proudly and happily say that it got a lot better since the decision was made.

During the moving it also came apparent that my bead stash is taking up more space than my kitchen tools and shoes combined, so I decided to come up with a bunch of easy-to-follow rules, which help to chop up the seemingly overwhelming task into manageable, smaller bits of work.

I would like to share with you some of the guidelines I try to follow lately to get (and keep) my studio organised.

1. Always label your beads. The labels with the colour code and the bead shape (or even with the name of the bead shop where you purchased them) will make it easier to reorder when you run out of them. Or not, if you are not satisfied with the quality.
   

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   REMEMBER!
   While there is an infinite variety of beads a beader can (and want to) acquire, the number of colour codes he or she can remember is always less than that!

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2. If you don’t put the tools right away after you use them – it means, that you haven’t found the perfect place to store them yet. Try a different solution until it works for you. (I’m still struggling with this one.)
3. Which are the beads you use the most often? For me Dark Bronze fire polished beads, Nickel Plated, Mat Nickel Plated and Light Bronze Miyuki Delicas. Place them somewhere within an area you can reach, preferably in containers that open easily. It’s an unnecessary nuisance to open a drawer to get out a big container holding the smaller containers with the beads you need frequently.
4. If you come across a nice and valuable component you purchased years ago, but already forgot about it existence, it would be a shame to put it back to rest in peace for several more years. But don’t force yourself to use it just anywhere where it fits so you can finally “get rid of it”. Be patient – just any solution will not do justice to that beautiful piece!
   If you don’t have an idea for it immediately, keep it close, but do not make it the first thing you see when you enter your studio or you lift up your head from beading. It would be a shame if that gorgeous stone or crystal started to bother you after a while. This way you don’t push yourself too much, but you will subconsciously keep it on your mind, so your muse may appear sooner or later with a solution.
   
5. It’s very probable, that you have your fair share of UFOs (UnFinished Objects) hidden in your workspace somewhere. Is the pile getting smaller or bigger? Since my UFO storage is several times the size of the box for the finished jewellery, I decided that this year I will get rid of as many of the UFOs waiting and haunting my dreams as possible.
   But truth to be told, cutting apart one proof of failed attempt after another is no big fun. So I decided to  alternate: when a piece is gone from the UFO-box, I can start to work on a new one. This way I stay motivated and do the job without procrastination.
6. Even this way it’s not easy to find something good about cutting a piece apart, even if it wasn’t a nice one. Try to focus on the beads you will have again when you finish! This way recently I got hold of some precious Rose Alabaster bicone beads and a matching Rose Alabaster cushion cut Swarovski cabochon, which are not manufactured any more. Hurray!
7. When you finished cutting apart a piece, put the beads and components right away – if possible, than together with a label. It will save tons of work and frustration in the future.
8. Are you a tidy or a messy beader? I must confess that I am definitely part of the second group. I can’t deny it from the first second you see my bead mat. Every one of the projects starts neat and organized, however, during working a lot of new ideas tend to pop into my mind, and of course I have to try every one of them. In the meanwhile new shapes, new colours, new sizes of beads start to gather on the bead board, until it seems that they are completely overflowing. Since I usually don’t finish a project in one sitting, I have to move around the mat. Even if I’m careful, the beads start to mix.
   There’s not many less pleasant bead related activities than to sort size 15/0 seed beads. It’s a lot easier to just swipe them into a ziplock bag and forget. Until there are too many of these bi-products. This year I would like to get rid of them all (what will not be sorted out, will be given away).
   
9. Give your workspace a personal touch and transform it into your happy place, even if it’s only a corner in the living room. Put up an inspirational quote on the wall, use your grandma’s old cupboard or keep a bouquet of fresh flowers in your sight. You will be more creative if you feel at home there.
10. Don’t hide the pieces of jewellery you are the most proud of when they are finished. They will boost your confidence when you need to be brave to experiment or try something difficult.

While organising my studio I came upon several clever storage solutions.

Some of them I found literally on the street (since Amsterdammers tend to place the stuff they don’t use any more on the sidewalk, so other humans in need can still utilise them), and some I found in arts / craft supply stores and bead shops. You will find them below, together with links to the source. The links are affiliate links – it means that if you click on them and decide to purchase, I will be rewarded with a small commission. It will help me to continue to maintain this site.

The “Bead Book” as we tend to call it with my beady gang from Bratislava, Slovakia, or the “Craft Mate Organizer” as it goes officially is my the most essential tool to help me stay organised. If I had to choose one single container to store all my beads, this would be the one.

It has eight separate, transparent containers, so it’s possible to grab only the ones holding the beads you need to finish your project instead of carrying around the whole thing when you decide to travel with your beads. Each of the containers has a safety button you need to push to open them.

Truth to be told, currently this shelf is present only in my dreams, and not in my studio. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t find a neat solution for my tools yet, and I really like how the spools and the pliers are placed on this one. There’s still some empty room in my studio, waiting for the shelf to arrive 😀

Do you have your own rules for setting order in your bead stash? I would be happy if you shared them in a comment, so we can all learn from them!