How To Organize Your Beads

As I was facing major reorganization of my collection of beads I spent days thinking how to organize beads just so I can bead instead of constantly looking for my beads. If it sounds familiar to you, continue reading!

We all salivate looking at perfect bead rooms with nice clean desks and beautiful cases created for beads and other craft supplies. However, not all of us, creative people, can afford to have a studio, custom designed storage cabinets or sometimes even one shelving unit dedicated for beads. While I can find all my beads in one room, many people I know, store their beads in improvised containers all over the house. When it is time to bead, any room can be transformed in a bead room. If this is your situation, you probably already asked yourself: how to organize beads without spending a fortune?

The truth is no new container can solve a problem of chaos in your mind. To start storing your beads in order you have to decide what kind of order is it going to be.

How To Create An Order In Your Bead Storage?

Ask yourself, when you shop at the bead store, how do you find beads you need? Bead shops create their order of storing  and displaying beads to make life easier for you.

My suggestion is: follow your favorite bead shop order. Notice how beads are organized and displayed. Even if you may not have enough space to display beads at home, you can still follow same rule of classification your favorite bead shop does. For example: seed beads, gem beads, findings, tools, stringing supplies etc.

I took this photo recently in one of the bead shops in Tigard, OR. Despite limited space, Bead Bullies are managing to classify rather large collection of beads successfully. Customers can find exactly what they want. Even though some beads cannot be displayed, they are organized in the system that benefits both, shop personnel and customers, locate the right beads.

Next question is what kind of order would make your beading time more efficient? How do you bead? Do you select a pattern first and then look for beads? In this case you would appreciate bead shop order just so you could find beads quickly. Or you like to fantasize about a particular focal piece and then try matching beads for it? Then you would be happier if your beads are not only classified by size and color, but also displayed.

I find bead embroidery projects especially challenging for my bead storage situation. When you don’t know what kind of bead may contribute to the harmony of a particular project, it is difficult to find it in bead chaos. It still happens: I find suitable beads lying all over my craft table. While it occasionally helps the creative process, it takes the focus away from a current project.  Since this order is not an order at all, I suggest you keep you beading surface clean.

Convenient containers are crucial for all kinds of spaces. I prefer transparent containers. Designing a beaded piece in my mind, I gaze over my containers waiting for a “click” which signifies an idea connected to a particular bead I see in one of them. Recently I successfully solved a problem of storing beads that arrive from an online store in little bags. I purchased this clear plastic tube set with a rack.

Problem solved! I can use this rack for my existing tubes. I can also place the contents of all little plastic bags in the new tubes for storage. I can use the rack for a certain bead project, or I can use it as display and storage.

While I still contemplate having a nice movable unit with shallow drawers just for seed beads, the reality is slightly different. Currently, boxes are the best solution for me. I sorted beads by types and placed them in separate boxes.

Within boxes I organized them by color or size depending on the amount of beads. For example, a box with seed beads of size 15 is organized by color inside, but the box with different triangular beads is organized by size because I don’t own too many of them. What is important, now I can locate triangular beads easily because they are in a separate box.

I know a lot of people who keep certain bead related purchases together for some reason. Paper bags or colorful plastic bags piled somewhere in a corner or even inside of a box – this was also my habit until I realized I couldn’t find anything when I needed it. I became reluctant to start a project simply because I anticipated a painful process of locating the right beads. Over time the details of the purchase gets forgotten. Moreover, the reason to keep it separate gets forgotten, too.  Why not sort it out immediately?

The key in organizing is to stay open minded about choices and respect your own way of creating in your craft space. After all, you create this order for your own good. Trust me, you will become more inspired and creative when there will be no need to waste time on searching through your bead belongings.

Happy beading!