Mini inventory / organization?

[Tigpuppy]

I recently finished paying off my car, so I decided to splurge and put the money from what would have been this last month's payment towards a mini furniture shopping spree.  I just placed my order early this week and it included an adorable mahogany dining room set.  Today I was digging thru boxes and totes trying to find something.  I THOUGHT I have it, but I can't remember for sure.  Did I just look at it and think about buying it?  Or did I actually buy it?   Then while looking thru things, guess what I found?  An adorable mahogany dining room set - nearly identical to the one I just ordered.  

I was wondering how you guys keep track of what minis you actually have?  Do you keep some sort of inventory or log?  Do you keep everything in your houses or do you keep them stored away somewhere?

Right now I keep a lot my furniture pieces in different Christmas ornament containers that I have found over the years.  The ones with little compartments to keep the ornaments separate and safe.  But I still have a ton of stuff in totes and cardboard boxes too.  Every time I have a 'play day' where I drag stuff out and place items into my unfinished dollhouse I always end up finding little treasures that I had forgotten I had.  And like today I would swear I have something, but can't find it.  I spend so much time looking at catalogs and browsing online stores that I can't always remember if I actually purchased an item or just dreamed about it.  Other times (especially with crafting supplies) I buy something to make into a mini and tuck it away in a 'to do' drawer, then when I get around to digging thru my 'to do' drawer for a quick evening or weekend project, I realize I have bought the same item multiple times.

Right now I'm toying with the idea of creating an electronic picture inventory of sorts.  I don't currently label all my containers because when I drag everything out, it doesn't always end up back in the same place.  I organize and rearrange things each time.  I think I may need to assign slots to things and label that slot so that things get put away the same each time - then if I label or number that container I can put that into my mini picture inventory.  Then if I'm shopping I can search my inventory and see the picture to know whether I actually have that item already or not.  Or if I need to lay my hands on something quickly I could search for the item name and my inventory would tell me exactly which container it's in.

If anyone has any other ideas for how to keep track of what minis they already have I would appreciate it!

[minilover62]

I started writing down everything that i buy from the very beginning. I have a general log of everything that i get, and another  where I separate everything : furniture by room, houses, accessories, scales, building materials, etc. When i sale something, I cross it over. I include the prices (yikes!!).

I keep the accessories in plastic labeled bins, and the furniture pieces in labeled boxes by room. Smaller scales in a cupboard, inside labeled boxes by scale. 

if you create a system from the beginning is easier. To do this after a few years will be fun but harder. 

[grazhina]

Having owned an online miniatures store, and having wittled down my inventory to pretty much only the things I know I may still use for myself, I still have lots of stuff. Not so much furniture anymore, since I've found I prefer to make more of that myself, but I do have a lot of accessory items. I must be the queen of organizing and reorganizing my miniatures.

Having a picture inventory is helpful, I've done that, especially when I still had a lot of furniture onhand. I took a photo of each item or furniture set and sorted them into groups by room. For the little bits, the accessories, I found it helpful to store them in groups, kitchen items together, bath and bedroom together, etc., like in a department store I guess.  I have several of those plastic lidded bead sorting boxes, the kind with movable dividers, also the plastic lidded boxes they sell for storing scrapbooking paper. I would always buy some whenever I found them on sale. For other things I use small cardboard bins which I label and leave open so I can see the contents easily. Keeping furniture in the original boxes is best. When I made my photo inventory I printed thumbnail photos of the boxed items, then taped them to the end of the boxes so I could see the contents of each little box on the shelves. Hope this is all helpful.

[FurMama]

This time last year I moved my inventory from 2- 8 cube cubbies purchased at Walmart with the fabric boxes to 3 metal /plywood shelving units I had from Lowe's. The  idea was 1 unit for my holiday minis 1 for the southwest Coventry/new Orleans/thornhill and the last for my village projects. I wanted everything on shelves laid out where I could see what I had. I loved the cubbies but eventhough i had written out what was in each cube it was out of sight out of mind. I tried to upload a pic but couldn't get the image small enough to be beneficial. Anyway, the shelves worked. I do have the smaller pieces in embroidery floss plastic storage boxes and other miscellaneous plastic containers. However, it's too much visual overload and there's no room for Pepperwood Farm so back to the cubbies we go and I'll just have to read my notebook whenever I want something. Either that or take over the living room. I've already taken over the dining room so why not!

Edited May 31, 2020 by FurMama
Correction

[blueirishmoon]

I have a system, using excel spreadsheets. I'll designate each sheet as a specific project, or if it's a large, multi-room project, each sheet is one room, and the file is for the project. I list every possible item I need to complete the project, wallpaper, lighting, furniture, accessories...then, I'll italicize an item I ordered, and when I receive it, I bold it so I know I have it. Anything not italicized or bolded I know is something I don't have yet. I try to designate things for projects in one large container so I have everything together. Multiple containers for keeping multiple projects separate.

[LeeB]

I guess I take a different approach - which may not apply totally to your situation. But here's what I do.

I don't generally buy a lot of furnishings and accessories in advance at random. (An exception is when there is a great bargain or I get a group of items all sold in one lot.) I usually buy or make pieces specifically for a certain spot in a particular room in a specific house. I do a lot of advance planning and decide before and as I am starting to build the house what the color scheme, wall, floor and window treatments will be, what furniture and accessories will be needed, and so on. I keep a list of each room on my computer and itemize all of the above. As I purchase or make or find or improvise each item, I strike through it on the list, so it can still be read but is obvious that it is already on hand. I can color hilite items to indicate if I intend to buy or make it. I also keep a box in which to collect the pieces for each room so I can find them easily. 

I also make computer folders of photos I have researched online as inspiration and ideas for each room in each house: kitchen, bath, parlor, library, bedroom, etc.

What random and undesignated supplies I have stockpiled, I keep stored in boxes arranged by type: wallpapers in one, fabrics in another, little odds and ends of findings that might come in handy in another. I keep scraps and left-over pieces of paper and fabric in folders, labeled by the room in which they were used.

I use plastic silverware trays to sort and organize similar sizes and shapes of long wood dowels and "boards" and deeper plastic bins for larger and odd shaped wood. 

As I finish a house, my boxes of furnishings are emptied into the rooms and I can see at a glance where everything is. I may still have a few things in reserve, but everything has its place.

I don't keep a large inventory on hand for three reasons: 1. I don't have a lot of space to store stuff.  2. I am cheap frugal and don't want to spend a lot on stuff unless/until I need it. 3. It is easier to keep track of stuff if you don't have a huge amount of it around.

So that is my tuppence worth.

Edited May 31, 2020 by LeeB
clarity

[Tigpuppy]

Thanks for some great ideas!  @grazhina I am so jealous of how organized you are!  I have more of a piling system than a filing system lately.

I started my first dollhouse over 20 years ago and had one style in mind at that time.  I started collecting furniture and accessories for when the house was done - but life got in the way and the build was put on hold.  Over the years my tastes have changed and I have come up with a different plan for the current house that I've finally gotten back to building - so I've started collecting different minis to fit my new ideas.  I get a lot of stuff 2nd hand (garage sales, thrift stores, ebay, etc), so the original boxes don't usually come with the item.  I also found I enjoy making items from scratch.  I'd like to keep the items dust free and protected until the house is finished. 

I have 5 other house kits waiting to be assembled so hopefully the stuff I collected years ago will still get used somewhere.  That is if I don't forget that I have it in the first place!

[Island-Shack]

I've accidentally bought something I thought I didn't have before too. I'm a big fan of buying furniture lots on eBay etc, so I've acquired quite a bit. I have bins that store pieces by category and room, but recently I decided to set up all my furniture and accessories into room boxes, empty CD/DVD towers, Cabinets with shelves, etc so they're actually on display instead of in a box. I realize I'm sacrificing dust, light, affecting my pieces but I'm enjoying looking at them on display now instead of in a box. I have multi projects going so when I'm ready to use pieces on display I'll just swap it out with something similar. 

All my smaller pieces and bits are stored in clear divider boxes and also separated by category and room. I have to refresh my memory with that stuff frequently but I can see into the boxes so that helps.

[Bunny]

After accidentally purchasing 2 different items... twice, I realized I needed a system.  Stuff that I've bought to be used in a future house or a house still under construction gets safely packed away (bubble wrap, original packaging, etc) in a large rubbermaid box in my guest room.  If it's in a box, I write the item name on the outside of the box so I can find it easily.

Then, I have a spreadsheet that has separate tabs for types of items..  tables, chairs, beds, light fixtures, kitchen accessories, etc.  And I list each item along with any relevant details (manufacturer, color), any style keywords (art nouveau, victorian, midcentury modern, etc) and in many cases, the measurements.  I learned quickly that it's a huge pain to have to dig out something just because I'm wondering if it would fit somewhere or if it's too big/too small for a particular room!  

Sometimes I buy pieces that I wind up not using.  In which case, I'll either sell them on eBay or they might wind up being gifted to my nieces for their dollhouses.  And sometimes I start buying up pieces that I know I want to use someday, because they're no longer being made and I'm worried if I don't buy them when I can... I'll miss out.

I also tend to keep a lot of photographs of more interesting or unique pieces on my phone.  I like to play matchmaker with my furniture and wallpaper/floorings to "audition" different combinations.  And I'm always surprised by how much I wind up disliking a specific wallpaper/furniture pairing that I thought would be perfect, or wind up loving one that I randomly tried on a whim!  

I also have a habit of keeping a newly purchased item out sitting on the shelving unit in my living room for a week or so, so I can enjoy looking at it, before I pack it away!

[Tigpuppy]

5 hours ago, Bunny said:

 And I list each item along with any relevant details (manufacturer, color), any style keywords (art nouveau, victorian, midcentury modern, etc) and in many cases, the measurements.  I learned quickly that it's a huge pain to have to dig out something just because I'm wondering if it would fit somewhere or if it's too big/too small for a particular room

 

5 hours ago, Bunny said:

I also have a habit of keeping a newly purchased item out sitting on the shelving unit in my living room for a week or so, so I can enjoy looking at it, before I pack it away!

Both excellent ideas!