Starting to Organize

There is a giant IKEA store near our home which has wonderful sewing room setups.  One day, I hope to have one for my crafting and refashion hobbies, but in the meantime, I put the basics (needle, thread, scissors, measuring tape etc) in a toolbox which I got one year for Mother's Day.

The actual stash is just plunked into boxes, drawers, cases etc. I have some stuff in these drawers (also from IKEA):

I also use shoeboxes, they stack well, but as they are all different sizes, it makes for a hodge-podge which doesn't balance well, doesn't look good and of course not all shoeboxes are sturdy:

Better are salad containers which are not only see-through, they are all the same size so are much neater and tidier:

You can also use those hinge-lid deli containers (potato salad, coleslaw etc) for smaller items.  The hinge-lids are especially good because the lid is always attached.

Most of my fabric is in dresser drawers, but I have my grandma's old suitcase for storing odd bits of fabric:

I am on the lookout for something to store my spools of thread. I've seen some spool holders but they are not very sturdy - I want something which won't fall over and is strong.  I had a 99 cent spikey CD holder (again from IKEA) but the spikes were a bit too thick, so the spools didn't go all the way down; I eventually donated it to Sally Ann.

Here's examples of what I would like sewing-room wise:

And look at this one! I found on a blog:

One can only hope...