How to Declutter Craft Supplies to Find More Creativity!

If you’re a creative person, it might feel hard to declutter your craft supplies. But in today’s post, I’ll share a simple, step by step guide to help you declutter craft supplies and find more time, space and energy to get creative!

Simplifying and decluttering craft supplies doesn’t mean getting rid of everything or that you can’t have or explore any creative hobbies.

Instead, it’s about getting rid of the things you don’t use, need or enjoy. All so you have can more time and space to do the crafts you love.

It’s hard to declutter craft supplies

Despite being a minimalist, I’m still a crafty, creative person. So I totally get the struggle to declutter craft supplies.

You probably spent a lot of time and money growing your crafting stash. And you probably have plans for most of your supplies. Or you can always think of ways you might be able to use or need something in the future.

But keeping things “just in case” and that you might need “someday” is a fast way to fill your house with clutter.

And eventually, all those supplies get out of control and become a hindrance to your crafts and creativity. You get bogged down with stuff. Making it harder to find what you’re looking for, and giving you less time and space to get creative!

Why declutter your craft supplies?

Decluttering your craft supplies will help you find more time and space to get creative and enjoy your crafting time. Here are some of the benefits of simplifying your stash:

• Finding the supplies you’re looking for is easier when you have less
• Organizing your supplies (and staying organized) is easier when you have less
• Knowing what you already have may help you save money and avoid buying duplicate supplies
• You’ll have more space for actually crafting when your supplies aren’t taking over your craft area
• You’ll have more time to work on your craft instead of spending so much time sorting through or looking for supplies

There’s a difference between doing a hobby and buying supplies for a hobby

Before you start decluttering craft supplies, it’s important to remind yourself that there’s a difference between doing a hobby or craft and buying supplies for a hobby or craft.

In fact, those two things can be two different hobbies in themselves!

Your hobby might be working on the actual craft. Or your hobby might be browsing for, buying and collecting supplies. But collecting craft supplies isn’t crafting if you don’t actually use the supplies!

I totally get it! Browsing for craft supplies can be fun. It’s fun to look at all the materials, imagine what you could do with them, see what’s new and exciting, and just surround yourself with creative possibilities.

But if your craft stash is bursting at the seams, maybe it’s time to do a little more crafting and a little less collecting! Or at the very least, start to recognize if you are spending more time working on your craft, or collecting supplies for it.

How to declutter craft supplies

Follow these steps to simplify your craft supplies so you’ll have more opportunities to get creative.

1. Gather all your craft supplies

The first step in decluttering and organizing your craft supplies is gathering up all your supplies in one place. It’s hard to declutter craft supplies without knowing exactly what and how much you have.

Sometimes the shock factor of seeing everything all in one place can be a great motivator to be more ruthless when you’re decluttering craft supplies.

2. Sort your craft supplies

Now that all your craft supplies are gathered together, it’s time to sort them.

First, sort things by craft category, grouping all the supplies for each type of craft you do together. For example, all painting supplies, all knitting supplies, all scrapbooking supplies, etc.

Then, within each craft category, sort like items together. For example, within your knitting supplies, grouping all yarn, all needles, all patterns, etc.

You can be as specific or broad with your categories as needed. For example, it may work for you to have all the yarn in one group. Or it might make sense for you to sort your yarn into further subcategories.

The key is to group all like items together so you can see exactly what you have.

3. Start decluttering your craft supplies

Now it’s time to start decluttering your craft supplies and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. Let’s break this step down a bit further to make the process easier.

Step 1 – narrow down your crafts to your favourites

The first step of decluttering craft supplies is identifying any crafts you no longer do, enjoy or want to continue with.

The goal is only keeping supplies for the craft projects that you enjoy doing. A hobby is supposed to be enjoyable. If a certain craft is no longer enjoyable for you, let it go.

Get rid of the supplies for crafts you don’t do or love so you can see, find and use the supplies for the crafts you do love!

And don’t feel guilty about crafts you no longer enjoy or unfinished projects. Your crafting interests can change over time. And sometimes you try a new craft, but it ends up being something you don’t enjoy. That’s ok! You tried something new, gave it a shot and now you know it’s not for you. That’s an important part of the creative process too.

Creativity is all about trying new things. It doesn’t mean you have to love everything you try! Keep the supplies for your favourite crafts you enjoy doing and let go of the supplies for things you don’t.

Look for trends

A great way to identify crafts you don’t enjoy or want to continue is by looking at which craft supplies you’ve never used and which projects have been sitting unfinished for some time. These are good indicators of crafts you don’t enjoy or are no longer excited to continue.

Step 2 – questions to help you decide what to keep and what to get rid of

For each type of craft you’re keeping supplies for, sort through all the supplies and ask yourself these questions to decide what to keep and what to get rid of:

Do you enjoy doing this craft?

Remember, if you don’t enjoy a particular craft, don’t keep supplies because you feel obligated to continue or guilty about quitting or getting rid of the supplies. Hobbies are supposed to be fun!

How often do you use it or work on that particular craft?

Aim to keep supplies for crafts you work on often. If you only work on a craft occasionally, it might not be worth keeping a bunch of supplies that rarely get used. Maybe pare down to your favourites and let go of the rest.

Will you use the supplies in the near future?

Again, there is no point in keeping a bunch of craft supplies you use very rarely. If it’s not a craft you will be working on frequently in the near future, it might be time to pare down your supply stash.

How long have you had supplies you haven’t used?

Pay attention to how long you’ve had supplies you haven’t used yet. Try to figure out why you haven’t used the supplies yet. If you don’t love them or think you’ll use them soon, it may be time to get rid of them.

Are your supplies in usable condition?

This is a good time to check through your supplies and make sure everything is still in usable condition. Make sure your paints aren’t dried up, markers still work well, etc.

Do you have duplicates of the same supplies?

Getting rid of duplicates is an easy way to declutter craft supplies. If you have duplicates of some supplies, choose your favourites and let go of the rest.

Tips to make it easier to declutter craft supplies

Now that you know the general steps to declutter crafts supplies, here are a few tips and tricks to make the process faster and easier.

Be honest, ruthless and fast as you declutter craft supplies

Be as honest, as ruthless and work as quickly as possible as you declutter your craft supplies. Don’t dwell on your decluttering decisions. Make quick decisions, trust your gut feelings and try to get rid of as much as possible.

It’s easy to talk yourself into keeping almost anything when you start thinking about all the possible ways you could use different craft supplies. But remember your goal is to simplify and declutter your craft supplies, so be ruthless now to give yourself more time and space to work on the crafts you love.

Give yourself space limitations

A great way to be more ruthless when decluttering craft supplies is by giving yourself a space limit for your supplies. Only keeping supplies that will fit in the space you’ve given yourself.

For example, if you have a huge yarn stash you want to declutter, decide what amount of space you’re willing to devote to yarn storage. Then use that space limitation to help you be more ruthless when decluttering.

Give yourself deadlines to use supplies or complete projects

Another great way to declutter craft supplies is by giving yourself deadlines to use particular craft supplies. As well as deadlines to start or finish a particular project.

Put a reminder in your phone so you can keep track of the time that passes and see if you use certain craft supplies at all during that time. Or if you continue working on a project at all during that time.

Only keep the supplies you’re excited to use!

If you don’t use the supplies, or start or continue working on a project by your deadline, re-evaluate and decide if you want to let the supplies or project go.

If it’s not something you’re excited to use, start or continue working on, maybe it’s not worth keeping.

Focus on what you’re keeping more than what you’re getting rid of

Another way to making decluttering craft supplies easier is by focusing on what you’re keeping, not what you’re getting rid of.

You’re keeping the craft supplies you love and you enjoy working on. You’re getting rid of the stuff that’s getting in the way of the crafts you love.

It’s easier to let go when you think about what you’ll gain, instead of what you’re giving up.

Have a plan for what you’ll do with the craft supplies you’re decluttering

As you work on decluttering your craft supplies, it’s helpful to have a plan for the stuff you’re getting rid of.

Not only does it make it easier to let go of things when you know what you’ll do with them. But it can also help you make sure the craft supplies you’re decluttering actually leave your house!

Depending on what you’re getting rid of, you might be able to sell craft supplies on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Etsy, etc. Or you can donate craft supplies to schools, daycares, second-hand stores, friends or family, etc.

And finally, anything that is used up, no longer usable, or not worth passing on should be tossed or recycled.

How to organize craft supplies after decluttering

Remember, it’s always important to thoroughly declutter before you try to get organized. Otherwise, you’ll just end up wasting time, energy and likely money on organizing solutions because you’ll be organizing clutter and things you don’t need and won’t use.

But after decluttering, organizing your craft supplies lets you see what you have and easily find what you’re looking for. You’ll save time and have more time to actually work on your crafts. And you’ll probably even save money because you won’t have to re-buy supplies you can’t find!

Figure out what organizational system will work for you

When you’re organizing your craft supplies figure out what kind of system will work best for you based on your preferences and space available. When you work with your preferences and habits rather than against them, it will be easier to keep up with and maintain your system.

For example, decide if you prefer open storage where you can see everything at a glance. Or if you prefer closed storage so there’s less visual clutter. Also, think about if you like things organized in broad, general categories or more specific categories.

Giving yourself space limits with your organizational tools for each category is a great way to keep the amount of craft supplies you have in check moving forward.

How to maintain your decluttered and organized craft area

After decluttering and organizing your craft supplies, the final step is keeping your supplies that way!

When you make it a habit to keep your craft supplies organized and clutter-free, it will be easy to keep them that way moving forward. And make it easier to use and enjoy your craft supplies!

Keep your supplies organized & declutter them regularly

First, get in the habit of putting craft supplies away when you’re done using them. This will keep your supplies organized so you can continue to see and find what you have.

Taking a few minutes to sort through and declutter your craft supplies regularly will also help keep your supplies under control.

Make sure you still do and enjoy the crafts you have supplies for. And keep the amount of supplies you have under control by getting rid of anything you no longer use or enjoy.

Use what you have first

Make an effort to use the supplies you have before buying more. Remember, sometimes buying and collecting supplies can be more of a hobby than actually doing the hobby itself.

Keep your craft stash under control by not buying more until you use what you have. And when you do buy new supplies, take note of what you already have so you only buy what you’ll use and need.

It also might be helpful to make an effort to finish one project before starting another to avoid ending up with a pile of half-used supplies and half-finished projects.

Have a plan for finished projects

And finally, have a plan for your finished craft projects to help cut down on craft clutter. You may want to use or display finished projects, gift them to friends or family, donate them, etc.

When you have a plan, your finished craft projects won’t end up sitting in a closet somewhere becoming clutter and not being enjoyed or appreciated by anyone!

Decluttering craft supplies

I hope this post has given you some practical strategies to use to help you declutter your craft supplies, so you have more time, space and energy to get creative!

Do your craft supplies feel like they’re out of control? Do the ideas in this post make the idea of decluttering your craft supplies feel a little more do-able? Leave a comment and let me know!