Steve I like the amount of room you have in your basement................. I want one.

I have had those in the past.. Actually the metal one I have in pic 2 was from Ikea and has 2 pull out drawers on top with 1/2 sized baskets they might make full baskets I can switch out.. That's the problem with some of this stuff.. Storage isn't cheap!! Hard to justify hundreds more with all of this crap in here already..

The storage bags is a good idea though. I know the wife has some extras laying around I'll have to borrow a few "to test" lol and never return! Just the refolding efforts I started last night have helped tons with the fabric. I got rid of the cardboard inserts and started just folding things to a similar set of shapes and they are taking up 20-30% less room so far. I admit I like having it all out though to see. Once I take things out of sight... it's as good as forgotten. The vacuum seal is the perfect combination of condensing and still seeing things out I think for the infrequents. Maybe good for furs to keep the messy flyaways down too.

I ALWAYS need the bottom bin, no matter what we're talking about being stored. Puppets, tools, car parts. It's never on the top. The day it is on the top, my head will explode!!

You know something I have been seeing alot of on the tour shows that come in are wire baskets that fit into metal rack. They slide into slots so act like drawers that you can pull out. The nice thing about them is that since they are wire you can see in them. I am not real sure where they are getting them. I bet a place like the Container Store would sell the units.

How about a vacuum seal machine or space bags for all your fabric.  Maybe not for the pieces you use a lot but for those that you don't use often it would condense the fabric down and let you get more storage area.  I bet it a system like that would condense your current fabric into half the space you have it in now.

I am a big fan of the rubber tubs that you are already using.  If you stick with one size you can easily stack them. The only drawback is that as a rule I always need the one on the bottom of the stack.

When we moved into the house all I asked for was the basement and garage. She can have the rest of the house, I'll build/restore/remodel the rest of the house however she wants... Just leave me to my own madness in the basement and garage.

I could open it up more most of the walls you can walk behind and have room for additional storage but have never been properly cleaned / painted / floored so to gut the basement and restart would be a nightmare. Maybe one day I'll have an extra 30k for one of those companies to come in and do the sealed setup with new opening windows, subfloor, etc. but for now I'm just stoked to finally have space.

I lived out of a closet with the puppet stuff for far far too long.

Steve I like the amount of room you have in your basement................. I want one.

Na and Daryl have very organized work places. I'm pretty organized but with such tight places to work it doesn't take long for things to get messed up.

Not organised, so much as lacking the space in which to fill. You should see my bedroom. I have a very small room, in which I can't fit a queen or king size bed - just a single. But additional to that I have a couple of bookshelves, a small couch, some tubs, a cupboard, and a bench from a show. This sounds like a lot of space, but I have about 1/2 metre (less than half a yard) of walking room. I walk in and have to climb over things to get anywhere really.

My work area is much tidier because it's a separate room in the house that no one uses. And even that is pretty messy. (The pic above was from when I'd just moved the desks to another spot in the room. Therefore, tidier than normal)

I wished some one would write a book on how to set up and organize a puppet work area.

hint hint

I would love to do this. I've actually had an idea to write a post on "gift guides for the puppet maker". I'd have cheap gift ideas to spruce up your work area. Things like: basic books for everyone's shelves; handy tools; storage ideas... etc. I started writing it last year, but kind of got distracted with other things.

Sounds great Na................. let me know when!

One important thing I've done:

I've made sure whatever I use most often goes in a place that is at the front or top of wherever I'm storing it. I put the least used stuff in my tubs that are in my cupboard, and then my most used stuff goes in my tubs near my desk.

I tend to label my drawers, but not so much my tubs unless I've got something in particular that I can never seem to find but always seem to need.

In the photo I posted, on the right, are some shelves under the desk top. I keep my hardware tools (saw, drill, etc.) and my sewing machine under there. Out of place, but in a spot where I can just grab it if needed. They're also kept away from my desk tops, so having large machinery doesn't take up needed space. (On top of that particular desk is where I'm storing a bunch of puppets that are half-finished)

... Steve, I like your little fabric corner. Everything right there, easy to grab and easy to see what's what. I have 99% of my fabric in tubs or a large plastic bag, and it's a pain in the neck to find what I want. If I had more space, I'd do something similar to your corner.

The corner was my vision of having a fabric store in the workshop area. Before I moved and bought the house I started stockpiling stuff whenever there was a sale, needed or not.. Knowing well once I bought the house that $$ would be going to more important things. Another 30min tonight and I'll have that all refolded and organized 50x better.. Mostly by fabric types, I'll sort by color on each shelf another night..

Next to tackle is the bookshelf next to the fabric corner. Lots of junk there to throw out or sort through and put in the new bins for unfinished characters, parts, etc..

It's really a daunting task but I have the music cranking, a cup of coffee, and another 2 hours before I need to go to sleep so I'll see how much more I can hammer out tonight..

I had some great puppet racks on the wall I should have taken pics of it first.. One held 8 and the other 5 puppets. Made out of 1"x1"x8' finished wood pieces and dowels. It was just starting to disturb me since I work here too. Hard to talk business with someone looking you in the eyes all the time

The only bad thing is all this organization stuff I've not worked on my newest creation in 2 days now but I'll get back to it once things are cleaned up.

One important thing I've done:

I've made sure whatever I use most often goes in a place that is at the front or top of wherever I'm storing it. I put the least used stuff in my tubs that are in my cupboard, and then my most used stuff goes in my tubs near my desk.

I tend to label my drawers, but not so much my tubs unless I've got something in particular that I can never seem to find but always seem to need.

In the photo I posted, on the right, are some shelves under the desk top. I keep my hardware tools (saw, drill, etc.) and my sewing machine under there. Out of place, but in a spot where I can just grab it if needed. They're also kept away from my desk tops, so having large machinery doesn't take up needed space. (On top of that particular desk is where I'm storing a bunch of puppets that are half-finished)

... Steve, I like your little fabric corner. Everything right there, easy to grab and easy to see what's what. I have 99% of my fabric in tubs or a large plastic bag, and it's a pain in the neck to find what I want. If I had more space, I'd do something similar to your corner.

Fabric corner re-folded and partially sorted now. Sheesh that was a lotta folding and now the room is filled with little pieces of fluff everywhere I'll vacuum in the morning



Up next I'm going to go shelf by shelf on the bookcase and start to clean/sort it all out.

I would love to do this. I've actually had an idea to write a post on "gift guides for the puppet maker". I'd have cheap gift ideas to spruce up your work area. Things like: basic books for everyone's shelves; handy tools; storage ideas... etc. I started writing it last year, but kind of got distracted with other things.

I am so glad that I am not the only one that does that.   I am trying to get better but I still have tons of projects on the back burner. I think it would be a great article or even book.  I love the idea of a gift guide for puppeteers.