So paper…without it I would have a lot of pretty, but otherwise unrelated items in my studio. Millions of dollars annually (and maybe secretly) are being spent on different types, shapes, sizes, and colors of awesome paper products for everything from text books to scrapbooks. My husband would have you believe that I single handedly keep the decorative paper industry afloat, but I assure you that it is not the case. I do however, have some options for projects and I have to store them…somehow.

Best Craft Organizer makes both small and large paper racks that can store paper at an angle or level (depending on how you arrange the pegs). I have the small shelves stacked one on top of the other and that seems to work well for my open cardstocks. For my papers, like many things, I’ve found that if I can’t see it, I won’t use it. While stockpiling tons of specialty papers is fun, I’d rather use them than shove them in a drawer. You heard me…I literally had drawers of paper. It was a pain to get into them and I avoided the papers that I couldn’t reach (and then promptly forgot about them). So I decided to try a few different methods of sorting my papers into shelves. I had iris containers full of paper pads in 12 x 12. I’ve moved most of my papers into shelves from Stamp-n-Storage and Best Craft Organizer.

Stamp-n-Storage 12×12 Paper Holder

The Stamp-n-Storage paper shelves are sturdy wooden shelves that lend themselves well to stacking. Some crafters prefer to store them on their end as opposed to horizontal, but maybe I’m a traditionalist.

They make shelves to hold 12×12 and 8.5×11 paper, though I prefer to buy 12×12 shelves for both sizes because if gives me the greatest amount of flexibility. I purchased several that sit stacked on top of each other and they support the weight well. For those with Ikea Expedit or Kallax shelving, they make sizes specifically to fit these units.

Best Craft Organizer Paper Rack – Small

Best Craft Organizer makes both small and large paper racks that can store paper at an angle or level (depending on how you arrange the pegs). I have the small shelves stacked one on top of the other and that seems to work well for my open cardstocks.

For my smaller sizes (4×6 and 6×6), I use a method I borrowed from Jennifer McGuire Ink. She’s using Interdesign acrylic bins to organize her stamps and dies and I’ve adapted that method for my smaller paper packs. I can flip through them easily, use what I want, then return the rest.

At the end of a project, I’ve found that the best way to get a handle on the craftermath (yep, I said it) is to have a simple way to deal with my paper scraps. I’m reusing IRIS containers that I used to use for my stamps to hold scrap paper by color family. I can pull out the thin container, easily find a scrap for die cutting or stamping and then sweep the rest of the larger scraps back into the container. Easy, peasy.

How do you store your paper? Do you have a better way? I’d love to here about it! Leave a comment. Want to see what I do with all of that paper? Visit my Etsy store, here.