These are great ideas but, I've always wondered.... if your house is anything like mine, especially with four cats, won't the thread get dusty and eventually dry out or fade?
I use a stack of plastic thread containers from Joann's to hold all my thread. They each contain a type of thread or different thread manufacturer, for example, Coats & Clark, Mettler, variegated, etc.
Or, is it that you use your thread so fast it doesn't have a chance to dry out or get dusty?