Autumn is officially here, and winter is just around the corner, so spring/summer hobbies like hiking, camping, geocaching or most outdoor sports won’t be an option for the next few months. Fortunately, there are still plenty of indoor hobbies you can enjoy indoors during autumn/winter! 

The key to enjoying those hobbies is to make them easily accessible so you can just pick them up whenever you have a bit of downtime, without your hobby supplies getting in the way or creating clutter. 

Indoor hobbies you can enjoy during autumn and winter tend to come with a fair bit of paraphernalia! So, here are some ideas for storing your hobby supplies either between craft sessions or at the end of winter when you’re ready to make way for your outdoor hobbies again.
 

What hobbies can you do in autumn/winter?

There are all sorts of indoor hobbies you can enjoy in autumn/winter, whether you’re a creative crafter or just want something to keep your hands busy and stop yourself from eating all the lovely stodgy food in the kitchen.

Some seasonal hobby ideas for these shorter, colder days include:

• Jigsaws
• Card Making
• Beading
• Sewing
• Knitting/crocheting
• Reading
• Candlemaking

Where to store your seasonal craft essentials

All of the above ideas come with equipment and supplies. If you’re lucky and have the space, you might have your own dedicated hobby room - if so, wow! How fantastic is that?! If you don’t have that luxury and use your living room or dining area to enjoy your hobby, your hobby supplies can look untidy or get in the way of other activities between crafting sessions. Here are some hobby-specific storage ideas:
 

1. Jigsaw storage ideas

From a basic 500-piece picture to a pure white or 3D puzzle, there are many options to challenge yourself and keep your brain working. Unless you complete one in a single session, you’ll need somewhere to keep your part-completed creation safe and undisturbed. If you have cats, it is highly advisable not to leave an open box of jigsaw pieces unattended because they don’t know the difference between that and a litter tray!

You could try a folding or rolling jigsaw mat or spend a bit more and buy a wooden jigsaw table with drawers. There are also stackable jigsaw storage trays to keep carefully sorted pieces apart. 
 

2. Card-making storage ideas

Fancy sending out some personalised, handmade Christmas cards this year? Or creating your own stock of beautiful cards to give to loved ones on their birthdays throughout the year? Invest in ready-made blank cards with envelopes, and get creative! For Christmas, you could sew a tree or star design with sparkly thread or cut out circles of nice wrapping paper to create a simple bauble design. There are some great tutorials online for you to learn new papercraft skills to create pop-up cards or collages out of materials you already have in the house.

Plastic storage drawers are your best option for storing card-making equipment. The drawers don’t need to be deep - all your supplies will be flat, after all, and having several shallow drawers will help you to keep everything organised. Invest in a set on wheels to make it easy to move them around to where you’re working or out of the way.
 

3. Beading storage ideas

Create beautiful Christmas tree decorations or embellishments for your favourite winter jumpers - beading is great for using your fine motor skills and can make for some very impressive gifts!

Like card making, plastic storage drawers are a good option. However, rather than a tall unit on wheels, it would be better to have small drawers that can store different bead sizes/colours in each, with some larger drawers for string, scissors, glue guns or whatever else you need.
 

4. Sewing storage ideas

If you’ve got a sewing machine or want to invest in one to learn or update your skills, autumn/winter is a great time to get sewing! You could make clothes that fit perfectly, create your own fabric advent calendar, or make a special patchwork blanket from your children’s baby clothes. 

It’s really impractical to tidy away your machine after every session, though, and you’ll be deterred from working on your hobby if you have to set it up every time - so it’s not an easy hobby to keep tidy!

If you don’t have a desk where you can keep your sewing machine all the time, you could invest in a folding sewing table. These have a fold-out top for your sewing machine when it’s in use and shelf space beneath, with room for your knees when you sit at the desk. It’s then easy enough to store the machine on one of the shelves beneath, together with your material or project, and fold it into a neat cabinet.
 

5. Knitting/crocheting yarn storage ideas

Once you’ve learnt the basics, knitting and crocheting is a brilliant hobby. At first, you’ll need to concentrate, and there will be mistakes(!), but it’s a quick hobby to learn, and in no time at all, you’ll be able to crochet a blanket or knit a jumper while watching your favourite winter films or TV programmes. 

It’s easy to get carried away with knitted/crocheted projects. You’ll soon have stashes of yarn, bags of needles and pouches of hooks - and all that will take up a large amount of space! A basket with your yarn for your current project and a yarn bowl for the ball you’re using at any given time will be fine for whatever you’re working on. Still, few knitters actually work on just one project at a time, and we all have stashes of yarn for future projects or just because we’ve seen yarn we like and will find a use for it at some point! 

Plastic storage drawers are again a good idea for all ongoing projects, or you could repurpose a chest of drawers with sock dividers to separate your projects. For yarn you won’t use for a while, small vacuum storage bags are a great way to save space - pop the yarn in the bag, vacuum out all the air, and store the (now flat) bags under your bed or wherever you have space.
 

6. Reading - book storage ideas 

Lots of people only read when they’re on holiday, but there’s nothing nicer than cuddling up with a blanket on a dark evening in front of the fire with a good book! If you rarely get a chance to sit still, or if you want to enjoy your other hobbies simultaneously, audiobooks are fantastic - pop your headphones on and listen to a story while knitting or completing a puzzle.

This is an easy one to store (on a bookcase or shelf), but if you have too many books, they can make your room look cluttered. Books spoil very quickly when exposed to dampness, so keeping them somewhere dry is vital. If you want to keep your books for future reading but don’t have the space at home, you could store them in labelled, lidded boxes and keep them in a self storage unit, under your bed or on top of your wardrobes (make sure your wardrobes are securely fitted to the wall if so, and take care lifting heavy boxes at height!).
 

7. Candle making storage ideas

Beeswax or old candles can be melted down and mixed with dried flowers and/or your favourite essential oils to create your candles. You’ll need to buy wicks and have receptacles (e.g. jars) to pour your creation into, and then you’re good to go.

Keeping your wicks in size order and your essential oils in alphabetic order are good ways to save time and effort hunting for the bits you need for your latest project. Rather than keeping everything in cardboard boxes or jumbled in drawers, you could fit shelves above your desk and store objects in clearly labelled baskets for easy access and neat storage.
 

Storing hobby equipment long term

When the weather improves and we have more daylight hours again, you might have less time or inclination to enjoy your indoor autumn/winter hobbies. As well as the usual places to stash your belongings at home (the bottom of the wardrobe, in boxes under your bed or in the loft), you might consider renting a self storage unit for your hobby or craft equipment.

The benefit of doing that would be that all of your equipment is in one place and organised, ready for you to retrieve it next autumn. It will stay clean, dry and safe. Our storage units are indoors, in stores covered by CCTV, alarms, and fire and pest control systems. You could rent a storage locker that’s about the size of your car boot, or you could rent a small room.

If you think a self storage unit might be useful for your craft or hobby supplies, our friendly team are on hand to offer you a no-obligation quote for your nearest store and answer any questions you have.