O is for Organization
Last October ago I wrote a post about how I realized I buy mainly blue beads. You'd think that would be obvious, but since I sorted my beads by type, not color, I hadn't really noticed it before. After some encouragement from readers last fall, I finally decided to try and sort my beads by color.
Then I got sidetracked by a whole bunch of deadlines. (Does it strike anyone else as funny that deadlines all end up on the same week? It's kind of like when you go to the store and everyone gets in line to check out at the very same time.)
So I'm not quite done sorting, but I've done enough to share some tips I discovered while reorganizing my beads:
Organization Tips
- As a first step, make sure all your beads are in separate bags so they can easily be sorted by color. Thanks to the blog reader who made this great suggestion! Before, I would buy 5 different colors of Czech glass from one seller at a bead show or shop and keep it all in the same bag. Not only did this make it hard to know what colors I had, but it limited my design perspective. Since I kept seeing the same beads together, I could only think of designs using that particular mix.
- Work on a single drawer or small group at a time. It was tempting to dump my entire bead stash into a huge pile and start sorting, but I still wanted to be able to find things during the transition. I knew having to search "bead mountain" would stress me out. Instead, I organized my pearls and crystals first. Taking on a small part of my stash gave me a feeling of accomplishment and I could see right away how well this new organization would work.
- Decide if there will be exceptions. My seed beads are still sorted by size and type, not color. You might decide that you want to keep your focals separate or make another exception to sorting by color. Or maybe you want everything sorted by color, even your head pins and jump rings. The idea is to make a system that works for you, not one that conforms to "The Rules." (Seriously, who's going to know? The Organization Police?)
- Depending upon your storage space, you might want to combine colors. I own so few pink and purple beads, for example, that it doesn't make sense to dedicate a drawer to each. On the flip side, maybe you need further subdivisions of color such as shades of light and dark blue.
- Concentrate on sorting the colors. Ideally, I'd like to get rid of the plastic bags that are holding the beads, too. But I knew that if I tried to sort by color and get rid of the bags at the same time, I'd feel overwhelmed. Bead organization is definitely something you can do in stages, refining over time.
I really love how this new organization looks. This might sound shallow, but the beads look so much prettier! I feel like I'm seeing my stash with new eyes. What tips do you have for organizing your beads?