I prefer folding my fabric and storing in drawers based on color or print. My problem is after using the fabric, getting it FOLDED and PUT BACK. That is not as much fun as piecing the quilt!

I think an important step in keeping the stacks somewhat neat is putting back whatever one dragged out and is not going to use at the moment.

I have some of my fabric on comic book boards but the rest of it I store in plastic bins by color and theme. If we ever get to build our cabin in Colorado I will take my comic book boards and wrap my fabric on to them I will have shelves under the window that I can store my fabric on. I will also have shelve for my magazines and books.I will have a room big enough for sewing machine and cutting table and my tv and cabinet with dvd and vcr player, cd's and all I will also have space for a Statler Stitcher.

I saw a quilter folding fabric over a 12" x 24" ruler (as I recall). She started with maybe 3" on top, then just flipped and folded, then slipped the ruler out. I was amazed at how much you could then stack, and kinda tell by the thickness whether there is 1 yard, 2, etc.

I'm also working on getting my fabric organized. Looks like a bomb went off in that room LOL

I get my boards from Joann's. I ask for the empty fabric boards and they're happy to get rid of them. They just throw them away -- best part? They're free. You just have to cut the boards to the size you want which can be a little challenging because they are a little thicker than the comic boards. But again....free....

this is my 2016 goal.

I use old cardboard boxes...I cut them into 6" width and about 10" in height. My Billy bookcases from Ikea are completely filled with my neatly folded stash and I spent zero dollars for comic boards!

If you use the whole 100 boards it takes up about 1 1/2 inches. I like to leave the selvage edge showing of the fabric that has the color guide on it. That way I can reference other colors.

It still all depends if you "put" it back or "shove" it back. Makes all the difference.

Although it took me quite a while to wrap my stash on comic boards it was so worth it. I can see what I have and pulling one out doesn't result in messing up a pile.

Your sewing room sounds like mine!!! Can't count how many times I needed the fabric near the bottom and had to unstack everything on the top to get to it, then re-stack it.

Anyway ...

As for saving space, it will highly depend on how well the space is utilized. If for example your shelves are 12" high and the comic boards are only 10" high ... you are wasting 2" on every single shelf. But then if you know your shelves are 12" high you can get *something* (corrugated plastic for example) cut to within a 1/4" of the shelf height to better utilize space.

My plan is exactly as yours ... I want shelves built to store my fabric on boards in an upright position so I can easily see what I have and grab what I want. I'm disciplined enough that once I am done with the fabric it will go back where it belongs.