Sue you are 1000% right.. Cleaning up is my biggest issue. I work late at night on this stuff. Make a big mess and say "in the morning".. Morning comes, RL work starts and I forget all about it.. Next night, pile gets a little higher, and higher, and higher!! Until the situation that made me start the thread

I've been cleaning up as I go now, and the addition of a big legit trash can has certainly helped me keep things clean.

I have a big black garbage bag attached to the side of my desk - literally next to my right leg. I'm getting into a habit that anytime I cut something that's too small to keep as scraps, it goes into the bag. The larger stuff gets put away after I use it, or put aside for another project for immediate use.

I think if you get into the habit of doing it, it's not too hard to keep the space clean. (Of course, generally it's easier said than done! )

Storing space! That's a topic. We moved to Geesthacht in November, before that we used to share a 2- room- flat in Hamburg. There I started my fantasy figures, a bit like the ones of Lisa Lichtenfels http://www.lisalichtenfels.net/
 who is one of my great heroes. I used to work in the summer, on the balcony, since I didn't have anywere else to go. While I was gone for a minute or so, the cat grapped the thread that was showing on the figure- but he took the needle, too. As I tried to get it from him, I just saw him swallow the needle. My fiancee just made the vet in time before they closed. They had to open his stomach, but he was fine. It was a little disencouraging concerning building things. Another time I was sorting pearls for dolljewlery and to be sewn onto costumes- he had to put his paw into the bowl and... well, I spend 2 hours picking pearls and roncailles from the carpet. Pets can be so much fun!
Now we moved and I have my own room- but I'm still as far from organized as from the moon. As soon as I can walk back into my working area, I'll try to get some pics in....

Here is my idea for puppet storage. I don't have a lot of room in my home as you can see to display puppets on stands so I went to sleep and dreamt this idea and it seems to work. I will soon move this rack to my storage room.

Rack cost $14 at Walmart. I used children's pants hanger but they are not as strong as I would like. Wooden pants hangers would be better and I used XL Ziploc Big Bags for my half size puppets and 3XL for my full body puppets. This rack has extenders that come out on the top that can hold the full body puppets without folding them up. I would stuff the heads of the puppets with paper or plastic supermarket bags is what I use because I have too many of them.

Nice idea!  One word of caution on using plastic bags to store things. If any moisture gets trapped inside the bag your puppets can mildew. You can keep them open a bit or get some of those moisture absorbing packs to keep in the bag with the puppet. You know the things your not supposed to eat.   Not sure where you get those for sure but someone must sell them. We used the plastic dry cleaning bags to cover marionettes for storage but the tops always had a small opening where the control hanger exited and we usually left the bottoms open so they could breath. As a rule dust is going to "fall" so it still kept the puppets clean.

Shawn, I used a paper hole puncher to punch some 'air' holes in the bags. Do you think that will suffice?

Good idea! I would keep an eye on them from time to time if you live in a really humid area. Even when you ventilate the bag it can still capture moisture. Moisture can even get trapped inside your puppet if you place it in storage right after heavy use. Just some precautions to take. I've gotten along fine in the past without being religious about this but it only takes once to open up a bag, box or storage trunk and have the puppets ruined.

Thanks I found those silicone packets on eBay for $9 for 100 of them. That should do it! Thanks for the idea.

Cool! Your welcome!

collect those "do not eat" dehydration packets from new coats and also from finished rx and vitamin bottles.

I finally got some pictures of my workroom(s). I have 2, one for cutting and gluing foam, the other for everything else (and other projects as well.
The first four are the sewing/fabric cutting/finishing area.
The unit with red, yellow, and blue bins are where I store eyes.  It has bins on both sides. The clear plastic units have a variety of items; yarn, boas, etc. The large units on the right are filled with puppets that I have cut out, but not sewn.
The units on the wall with the sewing machines have thread, velcro, and other items used in sewing.
The last two are the foam room. The two wire shelf units under the glue box/table are the Elfa ones mentioned earlier. I found them at a garage sale for $5 each. Also got the wire cubes at garage sales.

I am not finished organizing, but it is getting there.  I have black plastic on the windows, great for when I am working with blacklight materials (and a 4' blacklight mounted on the wall). Hopefully some curtains one of these days. 

The biggest problem I have had is that I start with a particular type of storage unit, and when I want to add another one, I find it is no longer made.  This happened with the big units. I started with clear ones (2 bins per unit). Then I could no longer get those, and had to go with the gray ones. The next time I wanted to add I had to buy them in 4 bin units.  Now (6 weeks after I bought another one) I found the clear ones, this time with 2 bins and a drawer.  Makes things a little difficult to organize.