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Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

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27 Comments

Who has two thumbs, hundreds of skeins and a fancy new yarn organization wall?! THIS GIRL!! I’ve tried just about everything for yarn organization over the years. I’ve left the skeins intact and in totes, I’ve used the closet of our guest room (literally the entire closet), I’ve used crates stacked on top of one another, I’ve caked them with my yarn ball winder, I’ve used color coordinated bags… the list goes on and on. But my dream has always been to have a “yarn wall” and today, my friends, I present to you: MY FREAKIN’ YARN WALL!!!

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Let me start by saying that the vast majority of the yarn in my collection was gifted to me. My sister Meadow, an avid knitter and yarn enthusiast herself, de-stashed and sent me home with bags full of yarn during one of my recent solo trips. Then my friend Barb gifted me three entire Rubbermaid totes of yarn after her grandmother passed away. Then my step-sister Athena gifted me another entire Rubbermaid tote full of yarn as well.  (Thank you again, ladies!) You get the point; I just feel I need to justify my yarn stash.

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

While I am a yarn-head, I am not made of money and I am fabulously frugal. How does building a yarn organization wall fit in with being frugal you ask? I cannot tell you how many times I have purchased new yarn when I had a perfectly good skein (of the correct OR SAME weight/color) already in my stash. How could this happen? Because I had no idea what I had, that’s how!

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

To start, I selected a wall in our home that Paul and I could agree on. This wall is in our basement entertainment area, across from the bar and in between the shuffleboard table and pool table. Paul wasn’t thrilled with the location, but this is how I like to have fun and my fun counts too!  Plus, this is art, no?  I, for one, like to stare at it:

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Yarn organization walls can be made using cubbies like these. I would need at least 20 – 24 cubbies and that would get expensive fast. A yarn wall can also be made using pegboard and hooks. I chose to use pegboard for my yarn wall because the cost was more justifiable.

For the past week or so, I have been “caking” my yarn and organizing them according to color. You don’t have to use a fancy electric yarn winder, this is the exact one I own and have used for years. It did all of the cakes on my wall.

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Paul picked up a 4’ x 8’ section of pegboard at Lowes for about $13. Crazy good price, right? While there, he priced the pegboard hooks.

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Those buggers are expensive! We also don’t need them to be 6” long so I hopped online and found these 4” hooks in 50-packs for less than HALF that price per piece (just 33¢ per hook this way!) with free 2-day Prime shipping. SOLD! I bought three boxes (and yes, I had to order more lol).

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

We cut the pegboard to fit (to make it 4’ x 7.5’). We then hung the pegboard, making sure to use spacers to distance it from the actual wall – so that the hooks could be inserted/moved without causing damage to the wall itself.

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

Paul placed spacers in the middle of the board as well, so that the middle wouldn’t cave.  It’s all smooooooth sailing after this!

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

After winding all of your skeins into cakes, choose which color way you’d like to rock. All mixed together, or pink with pink, green with green, blue with blue etc. I laid the cakes out on the pool table and with my friend Jamie’s help tried my hardest to create a nice gradient scale. And then I kinda gave up and called it “art”. LOL

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

What I love the most about this yarn organization method is that I can see almost all of my yarn at once (yes I have more tote fulls in the “yarn closet” that are incomplete skeins, bulky or funky colors). What shade of purple do I need? Hold on, let me check MY YARN WALL!

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

I decided not to cake my bulky (size 5) weight or larger yarn. The winder might not have been able to handle all that jazz, and I think they look pretty in my cute little basket next to my cute little chair with my cute little crochet mason jar pallet project.

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

All I need now is a crocheted floor pouf to use as a foot stool and I’ll be golden! Watch for a pattern for that floor pouf when I get it finished – right here on Heart Hook Home. 😀

Inexpensive and Easy Yarn Organization Wall

How do YOU manage yarn organization?

More fun with yarn before you go:

Creative Ways to Use Yarn Ends (Instead of Tossing Them Out)
Yarn Hacks Every Crocheter and Knitter Needs to Know
How to Weave in Yarn Ends {So They Don’t Come Out}
How to Size Crochet Beanies + Master Beanie Pattern
Felting Tutorial: How to Felt Wool (with or without a washing machine)
Different Methods of Making Pom Poms

Crochet WIP Bag (Work In Progress) Using Corner to Corner

Comments

  1. Kathleen says

    April 30, 2019 at 11:49 pm

    Hello Ashlea, I have just today found your site and I love all the great ideas! I have a suggestion. Would mounting the storage containers on a board on their sides with enough space so the lids could still be attached to keep out dust and hair? It might be a bit more expensive than using the pegboard idea, but then again many people already keep their stash in these containers. Another idea is instead of using cubes, use heavy weight boxes, painted or covered, on their sides. I would also keep the labels on them so if I was making something to gift or sell, and give one along with the item so the yarn content and washing instructions are right away available to those receiving the item. Also, it's best not to wined until you are ready to use it so it has not been stretched out, which can distort the yarn. I dont know how many are aware of this but yawn, like fabric, has a grain! So the method of use is that the grain should be the same throughout the item you are making. I once saw a special about yarn makers and they also suggested to either pull from the middle or wined it before use so the grain is not stretched out and will work up better when you follow the grain. Back to your wall: it is beautiful and the way you have blended the colours (I'm Canadian!) together that it looks like a painting! You must have spent hours setting it up and I'm sure over the next few days, or weeks arranging the colour pattern! And it can always change appearance when you add to, or take away from it. You can really call your wall "The Art Of Stashing!" I have enjoyed reading everybody's ideas and questions and how others have joined in to answer! This is a wonderful place and Thank You!
    Reply

  2. L says

    March 22, 2019 at 8:38 pm

    Yarns should not be wound into cakes until ready to use as keeping it in cakes will distort the yarn over time. I like the idea, but would use storage bags and keep the yarn in Hanks.
    Reply

  3. Dominique Cruz says

    December 29, 2018 at 11:34 am

    I live in a tiny apartment with a huge love for crocheting.... my porn yarn is piling high in a small woven basket ): THIS IS MY SAVIOR. I separated my yarn by crochet hook size, and the colors came together perfectly. Thank you for sharing your creative creation!
    Reply

  4. Andrea M Molitor says

    November 27, 2018 at 1:33 am

    Love this, and just had two 4x4 pieces hung, so I am on my way to getting hundreds and hundreds of center-pull cakes on the wall! Thank you for the amazing post!! My hardware store only had 10 spacers in the size I needed, so I just did each corner, with sheetrock anchors and spacers, plus one in the middle of each. Did your husband do just one in the middle too? Mine seems like it will survive the next ice age, but I'm ever paranoid/OCD-crazed that there was a better way. :) Thank you again!!
    Reply

  5. Lindsay says

    November 5, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    I'm a knitter and loving your wall. Do you keep labels or tags on your yarn so you know weight and fiber? I'm trying to figure out how to organize my growing stash. I am thinking of organizing by weight because that's how I shop usually.
    Reply

    • Heart Hook Home says

      November 8, 2018 at 8:49 am

      Hi Lindsay! Sometimes I will slip the label into the center of my yarn cakes...but for the most part, my yarn wall is pretty much all worsted acrylic.
      Reply

  6. Marilyn says

    November 5, 2018 at 10:50 am

    Would simply winding the balls by hand work as well? I know it wouldn’t be the pretty cakes, but winding the balls with the winder is not for me; it makes me so anxious! So if I wind by hand would you have a recommendation as to best method for winding?
    Reply

  9. JESSICA says

    May 16, 2018 at 10:14 pm

    Hi Ashlea, I wanted to do the wall but was worried about dust getting all over the yarn. Have you had any issues with this?
    Reply

  11. Monica says

    February 20, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    I just made one of these for my yarn room. I love this so much. Mine is about half your size but I'm still so amazed at it! Thank you for the idea. It's gonna help me so much!
    Reply

  13. BeagleMom says

    November 14, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    WOW!!! this is just awesome!!! you crack me up, reading what you wrote i was nodding my head, uh huh....yup, yup, that would be me!!! i LOVE your yarn wall....i too, have so much yarn....i love to look at it, and pet it, and occasionally wind some of it!! i have 1 big winder (sold my small one on ebay), 2 swifts (had 4, gave one away, and sold the other one on....you guessed it...ebay!!), 3 nostepinnes.... right now, THOSE are the next big thing for me....now i'm considering an electric winder, love the nostepinnes but they ARE slow going..... i'm so lucky that my hubby doesn't take issue with my collecting yarn....i have 5 beagles, i think that is a big enough collection of puppies....he kept saying *what's one more?* (!!!).... although if i had a yarn wall, i'm sure i would find half of it strewn across the yard....i have one who likes to eat it (just the cotton yarn) and the tags....i have so many skeins/hanks with no tags.....and then another of mine just loves to grab a ball of yarn and run everywhere with it....i swear, i think she was a cat in another life!!!! i too, have yarn in tubs, totes, bags (the vera bradley's with zippers make PERFECT yarn bags!!) cubes, chests, endtables...you get the idea....i have a wonderful wicker cabinet filled with yarn that i also tried to organize by fiber and color....that turned into pfffffffffttttttttt!!!!!! i do NOT have too much yarn, i simply have too little space!!!! and so of course, my sister and i are planning our next yarn hop (to add to the yarn that we need more room for).....12 stores in 5 days....can't believe i found that many in the western carolinas!!! lookin' forward to your emails!!! keep on hookin' honey!!!
    Reply

  14. marg waters says

    July 14, 2017 at 8:31 am

    I am not a knitter at all... however do understand there are dye lot numbers.. where are they kept on the rewound balls of wool?
    Reply

    • Ashlea says

      July 17, 2017 at 9:30 am

      Hi Marg! If I want to keep track (I didn't on the super old yarn I had) I'll wrap the label up on the inside before winding the yarn around it. Hope that makes sense!
      Reply

  15. Rosamunda says

    June 20, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    You must not have cats! I love the concept and the way it looks but .... it would never last in my house. Oliver is a large 20# cat with long legs and an over whelming belief that everything is to be on the floor so he can lie on it. He won't even let books be on a bookshelf. I have learned so much from your blog - thank you!
    Reply

  17. Lesa says

    February 19, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    The yarn wall looks really awesome. One thing you are overlooking is the collection of dust that will gther. For those with dogs or cats, fur will gather in addition to the dust. Pet hair ends up everywhere no matter how often you clean. I have developed a wall yarn storage system of my own using cubicles put together and wall mounted and before each ball of yarn is put in the cubicle, it is put in a clear zip-lock bag to keep it dust and animal fur free until I use it. I think you could use the clear Zipper bags with your current system. Just put each skein in a bag and then push it through the holder on the peg board. You'll have a small hole in each end of the bag where the holder goes through but its still going to offer much more dust protection than if you had nothing.
    Reply

  19. Angie says

    February 1, 2017 at 11:15 am

    WOW I love that idea.. and easy to access.. when I have mine in cubes and pull one out the entire bunch comes rolling out.. grrrrrr I would find myself sitting and staring at it all day...
    Reply

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