How to: Stay Clean and Organized During DIY and Craft Projects

This weekend, I made a mess. A cover-the-entire-room-in-tiny-little-scraps-of-paper and a get-out-every-marker-and-cutting-tool kinda mess. It's still on the floor, on my office chair, on the main work table, on the computer desk, on my cutting mat, and its trail has seeped into the hallway. See, I've always been the kinda of maker that gets all the requisite tools and materials out so they'll be at hand, makes a huge batch of clutter until I've figured out what the project actually requires, then keeps making a big old mess until finished, after which I'll do a big sweep and scrub everything clean until the next project comes along.

I am not, as you can tell, following these guidelines by Erin Roberts for staying organized in the midst of a project. She says, “There's nothing quite like the feeling of looking up at the completion of a project and realizing that a once perfectly tidy room has been destroyed by some sort of crafting whirlwind. I am usually that whirlwind. I think a lot of us are usually that whirlwind. I've put together a few tips to help us all stay clean and organized during future projects. It certainly makes crafting more fun when it doesn't involve massive cleanup at the end!” 

I'm certainly that whirlwind, but I totally planning on taking this completely reasonable, actionable ideas to heart. Next time. I've got to clean up first.

How to Stay Clean and Organized During Craft Projects [Apartment Therapy, photo by Nicole Crowder]