I do occasionally come up with some good organizational techniques.  (I just need to get them all at the same time and with time to implement them.)

So - controlling beads and keeping the space down - here is one of my techniques:

[1]

These were coca cola trays that I spray painted a neutral silver.  Then I used the watchman’s storage cases to separate the crystals.  And how do they stay there?  Well I helped them - I glued a magnet on the back of each of the containers (oh - BEFORE putting in the crystals - those lids don’t always hold!).

[2]

I can stack the trays on top of each other.  Easy to carry and easy to see at a glance what I have.

So then controlling and separating my stones from my beads is another problem.  Here is how I store those.  Of note - I usually have the drawers closed but I wanted you to see they really are full of stones.

[3]

My sorting approach on these - by color.  I just could not come up with another method to sort by.  So drawers have sophisticated titles as - Pink, blue, green, black - oh I have two called pearls…so I do have different colors in those drawers.  The sign turned sideways?  Well its a mix of two colors, lol. 

This is a CD holder that looks like the old file card systems in libraries.  Fairly shallow drawers - maybe 4 inches?

I have one other way of storing beads but that will wait for another day…