We have just moved into a new house so I am getting to reinvent my quilt room..YEAH and so much work! I am buying narrow (11"w) shelving from IKEA. My fabric/notion wall will be 8'H by 10' long. Am also making a cutting/ironing table with other IKEA components. I'm hoping I love it when I'm done. I am so ready to be neat and organized...I really miss being able to quilt.
I also bought foamboard from the Dollar store, which I cut into 6 pieces. So most of my fabric is already wrapped and ready to be shelved. That really worked well for me in the previous house. I love being able to audition fabrics as I sew since I do not use collections at all.

My fabrics are in 'kits' or 'sets' with the pattern or picture of the pattern I had in mind when I bought the fabric.

My stash is in plastic bins (most with lids off) according to colors. Batiks, florals, Holiday fabrics, and themed fabrics (bricks/rocks/wood looking, kiddy brights, Americana, etc) all have their own bins

My main problem is my other craft supplies, beads, ribbons, buttons, embroidery, stamping, etc

For giving away, please consider the Salvation Army too.

Oh, all my bins are labeled clearly (light blue, dark green, tan, blue-purples, etc)

I don't have much stash but what I do have is in two plastic bins and some piled on the corner of my cutting table. I have been trying to decide the best way to organize better. I would love to get a flat tv to hang in the corner of my room instead of the big old monster sitting on a small dresser so I could place some nice shelves in that space. So I don't have any suggestions for you but I am glad you asked. I am soaking in the options/ideas others use.

Jcrow, Don't get rid of the dressers! Those drawers are just as good as bins for all sorts of things... I use one top drawer of a dresser for threads, another for scissors-like things and tools like screw drivers, and the lower drawers for old clothes that are from around the world (we lived in Asia for years) that have outstanding designs and prints and I use them in quilts every now and then. Mine is under a window (so no lose of space) but if it weren't I'd have some of my labeled boxes on it. Aything you have in bins could very likely go into a dresser. You don't have to "see" things like batting or stabilizers... you just have to know where they are. Even small plastic or cardboard boxes w/o using lids can be used for those 5" squares you keep cutting, or the long "strings" you hope to use some day, or even for the Bali pops you have left over from those quilts you've made. The important thing is that you can find what you want easily. You can label your drawer fronts by taping the labels from the inside of a drawer, across the top and let the label itself hang down the front. That way you don't damage the finish of the dresser. All plastic and all similar can be a bit much for some of us and having antique dressers adds a cozy, quilter's look and feel to your sewing area. I even store flat paper and cutting boards under my dresser, but neat clean boxes, with labels could hole that jean fabric you may or may not ever use, or ..... under the dressers... Good luck with what you decide to do.... Sierra

p.s. if you decide to use

All my fabric is stored in plastic tubs with covers. Each tub is labeled on two sides of the cover. The tubs are see thru, so I can see what's in there tho. I started out to have a tub for each color and have enlarged the size as needed. I do have a separate one for multi brights w/ dark backgrounds and one for multi w/ light backgrounds. I also make a lot of OBW's, so all the yardage for those are in one large tub. I also have a tub for fruit/vegie prints and one for florals. I keep strips that are 1" wide, so winding my fabric on boards, just won't work for me. Yes, it's a paw thru when looking for fabrics for a new project, as well as it always seems to be that the color I need in on the bottom of the stack. My batting I put on a large cardboard roll and have a plastic bag over it to keep out the dust. I always buy batting on sale and then get multiple yards at a time. My threads goes in plastic boxes originally made for scrapbook supplies. I get those on sale too. They also work slick for keeping blocks in or a small amount of fabrics for a project "in the works".

Actually, this might not even be a solution, if it could happen. I met someone this summer who had a friend who loved to sew. Her husband bought the condo next door for her studio. When they passed away, they left the studio to the friend in a trust with the proceeds of their estate and sale of the condo to support the expenses of the sewing condo. I was so excited to get the chance to see it but wow, it was crammed with stuff. She couldn't show us the spare room because it was still filled up with fabric etc. She has had quite a job going through both condos and a storage unit with a timeline so the main condo could be sold to support the trust and the storage unit could be emptied quickly. This was quite a learning experience for me. For example, empty those bags and put things in their proper spots. If there isn't a proper spot, then you have too much.
Now, this was a very generous gift and the friend is using the space to help church members do chairity sewing and it has a lovely machine setup with a view of the ocean so it's a nice place and a great gift. I just was reminded that empty space gets quickly filled.
Still it is a nice dream,isn't it?

I am constantly changing things around in my sewing room, but I think it is more so to see and play with the fabric that I have than to truly re-organize. My fabric is separated by colors, then by themes, 1.) Christmas, 2.) Halloween/Thanksgiving, 3.) Florals, 4.) Sports Teams and 5.) Children's. I do have quite a bit of flannel and that is not kept with the cotton quilting fabrics. I do keep scraps and usually end up sending them to other people because they start to take too much space and I have too many UFO's.

My choice of storage is the clear plastic bins used for file folders, so I can lift them easily and see what is in each bin. We have a terrible time with dust (San Diego is technically a desert so it is dry and dusty most of the time) and I keep them is the closest so the light isn't much of a concern. I am in and out of each one enough that I am not concerned with moisture getting in or lack of air - not sure what all can go wrong with plastic storage. Whatever it is, in 10-20 years it hasn't happened yet.

Sometimes I get in my room and start rearranging and suddenly it's 4 hours later. It looks like little if anything has changed, but it feels more organized to me.

I've got a system where I do not have to go through a whole box to see what I need. I use banker's boxes and stand them on their ends to fill them, which means that when I pull a labeled box out, I can immediately see the fold of each and every fabric. If necessary, I put a white trash bag around the box, depending on where I store it. The boxes are uniform and stored on shelves, and I can easily lift them.

The boxes are labeled and filled according to the color wheel, orange, red-orange, red, etc. That's how I look for things when I start a new quilt, for the hue I want. Tones, tints, and shades of any hue are stored with the hue and fat quarters usually are, as well.

I,too have many blue pieces & am a cat person!

For those that donate fabric: There is a resident at the nursing home where my grandmother lives, that loves to sew. Every time that I visited my grandmother, this lady would be sewing on her machine. One day, I took her some scraps that I knew I would never use. I see her sew something, then take it apart and sew something else. It puts a smile on both of our faces. So please remember a nursing home or assisted living center as a place to donate.