I cannot walk past any kind of bag or containeer without trying to think how they can be used in the sewing room.
Empty metal 750g coffee tins are great for threads, little pieces of paper or even crumbs and if they stand on their plastic lids, they tend to stay put and make no marks on the floor. An eraser makes a great protector for the sharp point of the seam ripper, but the silicon ear goodies that children wear when they swim, work even better. I re-use 2l icecream tubs for scraps so the bright light can't bleach them and have a vast array of biscuit and chocolate tins for notions. A great favourite is the boxes of mother boards, they are slightly smaller than pizza boxes but a bit higher and great for WIP. The computer stores collect them for me. The flat cardboard boxes that brings your large calendars from suppliers make excellent storage for block and WIPs and easily take a 12" block. I staple large ziplock bags inside the back covers of magazines to store the pull-out pattern sheet and templates I've made.