Thread Storage...I bought more (of course!)...Now What?

There are a multitude of ways to store thread.  It seems that between my mom, myself, and my friend Cindy we use just about all of them.

I currently store my thread by brand.  Aurifil has it's own drawers (these by color as I have so many) and each other type has it's own drawer including one of truly miscellaneous thread.  To store what I just bought I'd probably need at least 3 new sets of drawers if not 4.

My mother has a truly amazing thread cabinet a friend of my father's built for her.  It's gorgeous as you can see.  She separates her thread by color.  I can see the advantage in this as if I want red thread I currently have to look in about 8 places to see what all my options are.  Since hers are all stored by color she can see all her reds at once.

This is large height drawer in my mom's thread cabinet.  She has her thread separated in shoebox lids by brand.  Each drawer is a different color.

This is the small height drawer in which she keeps her thinner spools, again sorted by color.  If I need thread she usually has it!  She does a ton of hand applique so she likes to have every possible color.

This "leaning tower of thread," as my mother calls it, is how she stores her long-arm thread.  It is stored strictly by color so that she can find the color she wants quickly.

My friend Cindy has a lot of ways to store thread.  I'm impressed!

Se has some threads in boxes.  I'd forgotten about these kind of boxes and I have a few of them myself.  Two small Sulky boxes and one larger box for larger spools.

These are silk threads I believe.  Definitely sorted by type of thread here.

These are Robison-Anton Embroidery threads all hung beautifully on a wall rack.

Here are some more threads hung on the wall.

And here are some more threads stored in a drawer.

Here's what Cindy has to say about how she stores thread:

I mostly organize by "line" - so all of my Bottom Line threads are in one area, though not organized by color anymore...just wherever there is an open spoke. All "regular sewing threads" are on a rack closest to my sewing machine. The emrboidery threads are all stored by line, then by color code/color, from darkest to light in a color. Threads I use for hand-sewing are stored in portable plastic storage bins so that I can snatch them up and haul them around. Overflow embroidery thread is stored in drawers (again by line/brand), and the embellishment types (such as RazzleDazzle) are all grouped together on one rack. Basically, I keep them sorted by brand then purpose and color.

smile emoticon

Now I have to make a decision as to how I want to store all the new thread I bought.  And I just went to Jo-Ann's to get a Christmas present and I totally meant to look at plastic storage, but other things happened to catch my eye....needles, marking pens, buttons, etc.  Oops.  Next time.

Here's what needs a home as it's still in my Houston bag!  Lots of fun new things to try!

I have found a home for some of the new WonderFil threads.  The larger spools are 40 weigth rayon embroidery thread and the smaller spools are 100 weight Invisifil thread.  It is convenient to have it in a bin I can easily carry with me when I go to sew with threads.  I happened to have this one at home that was the right size.  The clear part with the small Invisifil spools is a tray that sets on top of the larger blue part.

The real question is whether I want to do this or put them in drawers like I currently have.  I also have all of my Glide by Fil-Tec thread in a reusable lunch bag so I can easily take it places.  However, I HOPE Santa will bring me more Glide and then I will need a bigger container and will have to rethink it.  It would be nice to have it more organized so I can find the color I want.  Choices, choices.

How do you find it best to store thread?  I'd love to know!
Suzy