In my prior post, I discussed organizing findings, chain and the like. Now we get to delve into the fun part: BEADS!

For years I’ve been storing them in ‘buckets’ of disorganization known as divided-storage. This evil mayhem creates a bucket where beads go chaotic and travel from one compartment to another.  I’ve had everything from little tic-tac style containers (that never stay closed), and are far too limiting for differing bead sizes to aforementioned compartment storage. It was time to truly containerize (is that a word?) my beads.

I chose the Bead Storage Solution trays from Elizabeth Ward.

As you can see along the bottom of the photo of the Assorted Bead Storage Tray box, the containers come in four sizes, with lids that are hinged and lift open to accommodate larger beads.

You can clearly see the contents of each container, at-a-glance. In addition, the system comes with removable labels for each container, which conveniently goes along the container’s bottom or side, facing away from the top/bottom view so that it doesn’t interfere with viewing the contents.

I purchased three of these trays, and I’m immensly satisfied with how much I can fit into them. Also, the trays aren’t overly deep, so three trays stacked on top of each other is the same height as an iPhone 5.

Sadly, it is perhaps 2 millimeters too wide to fit length-wise into an Ikea Kallax / Expedit unit, but it does fit width-wise. Perhaps a good place to store bead boards and other small tools along the extra space?

I went from six divided storage boxes, to three of these bead storage trays. The trays take up 50% less space and organize the beads better than ever before.

So now I’ve got to get busy and make some jewelry!

Here is a short video I found that describes the system well. Enjoy!