I want my new craft room to be pretty but I also need a ton of storage and I want it to be as inexpensive as possible because it is just a craft room. Here is a peek at how it’s turning out.

There are many ways to find inexpensive or even free storage options if you keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes it’s luck and sometimes it takes persistence but the finds are out there if you are patient.

Take, for instance, this spinning rack of shelves. Back when I took over my commercial photography studio space this was left by the previous occupant. So I put it to use storing items that I used often for photo shoots. I kept it behind a curtain because it wasn’t the prettiest. When I moved out of that space, I took this piece with me knowing I wanted to repurpose it to use in my future craft room.

A coat of bonding primer and two coats of black paint, which I already had on hand, and it looks like it was made specifically for my craft room. And it was 100% F-R-E-E.

If you are lucky enough to know someone that works in construction, you are sitting on a goldmine of free possibilities. The basement in our last home was furnished completely from items that were going to be discarded at an office building that was being remodeled – metal studs, drop ceiling rails and tiles and carpet squares. My craft area/kids playroom in that basement was even published in a magazine. It served us well for 18 years. If I knew where the magazine was in the still packed boxes in the basement, I would show it.

This large black metal cabinet was saved from the dumpster on another job site. It is now storage for my art supplies. It holds markers, crayons, colored pencils, watercolor paints, acrylic paints, oil paints, pastel chalk, brushes, jewelry making supplies, glitter, glue, and more.

I used to be really into scrapbooking and was even a Stampin’ Up rep. back in the day so I may or may not have an excessive amount of scrapping and rubber stamping supplies. I store my cardstock by color on simple stackable plastic office trays. I can easily see what I have and it looks cute at the same time.

To go along with the cardstock is an embarrassing amount of rubber stamps. Hey, I earned them while I was a rep so I have a good reason for the excessive amount. I store them in acrylic-front plastic stacking drawers labeled by type so I can easily find what I need.

The black metal filing cabinets were trash finds at a different construction project my husband was working on. I scraped the old labels off, gave them a good clean inside and out and now they hide the not so pretty craft and office supplies. Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are also great places to find inexpensive filing cabinets under $20.

Maybe someday I’ll want to replace the metal cabinets and plastic bins with cool antique furniture finds. Until then, this works just fine for me. We’ll be building a 16-foot work desk next that will finish off this space. I’ll be able to get creative in this space very soon and I can’t wait!