Monday, February 04, 2008

Remember this? And this?

That was a year ago. Almost to the day.

Here's the thing. There's always a thing. I love having my craft room. Love it. I dislike that it's in the basement and so far from the kids. There's no room for an ironing board. It makes a great storage room, not so great for actually working.

So in bits and pieces, things have been moved up to the least used room in the house - the dining room. My sewing machine and several dozen half-finished projects later, it was time to do something. And by 'do something,' I mean take it all back to the craft room and see if I can re-work it somehow. Make my space work for me, rather than just holding my stuff.

I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but you all need to see it. Maybe that will shame me into doing something about it.

It's not that I can't keep a room clean. It's just... so mundane. See the white door?


Who knew behind that door would hold this*... My desk. Bah.

And this...

I'm to the point I just have too much stuff. Do I really need two pair of old Chuck Taylors? Ok, three? Do I need all the kids' daily reports from daycare? A box of t-shirts from High School?

I can put shelving on every wall and it wouldn't be enough. I would find a way to fill it. This is no longer a 'sorting' issue.

Right now? Now I have two projects I need to finish. Two things that I've already been paid for and people are patiently waiting on. While I'm working on those, I'm going to try and come up with a real, workable solution for the space.

I need to work on my list of wops (works in progress) and then work on them. Maybe that could be blog-worthy material - before and afters of wops.

And on a completely, wholly unrelated note...
I'm getting really tired of the red.

Even though it goes beautifully with the red and green kitchen. It's just getting to be too much. I'm thinking brown. Or at least a very dark taupe. My husband's going to love to hear that...

*If you can tell me what's missing from this picture, a gold star for you.

11 comments:

Mitzi Green said...

watch a few episodes of "clean house." niecy nash will make you want to "rid yourself of your foolishness" in no time. because no, you don't need all the kids' daycare daily sheets, or 3 pair of chucks, or a basketful of high school t-shirts (and don't hit me, but you're starting to sound like my husband). it's time to purge--out with the crap you don't need so you have room to breathe. i assure you, when your space isn't full of clutter, you'll find it a lot easier to get those works in progress finished and out the door. now if you'll excuse me, i have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do in my office while bossman's in cabo this week...

Builder Mama said...

I think one of the hardest things to do is purge things. It took me a long time to get to a point where I could let things go. I set boundaries for myself - like as far as keeping school artwork, anything with a handprint/fingerprint/footprint is a keeper. Otherwise it's one piece of artwork a month that gets kept. Daily daycare sheets with really significant things on there. As far as clothes and shoes, I only keep things I've worn in the last 2 - 3 years. Chances are if I haven't there's a good reason why - doesn't fit, needs mending, faded/old/out of style, etc.

Believe me, when Monkey Man was born I had let things get so bad that you could barely walk through our bedroom. Life is so much better now without all that crap. There is only one room in the whole house that I'm embarrassed about, and it's Joey's home office...which has a door that can be closed, ha ha.

Loralee Choate said...

Hmmm...Your two end chairs??

I have NO storage at all. NONE. I am constantly chucking stuff out and it never seems to be enough.

Sigh

Unknown said...

I knew I'd been here before! I remember the craft room redesign.

Don't det rid of all the daily reports and t-shirts. You can live without them but you'll want to kick yourself later. (I know.) Pare it down. Purge what you can but keep the important things.

As for your unfinished projects... I happen to know one of those people. :-) They're not freaking out about it.

Anonymous said...

I save all the daily reports too. I guessI figure that when my daughter has grown up and left, I can relive her toddler days. Or something.

Gretchen said...

Mitzi - I know I just need to take my 'big girl pill' - I know.

Builder Mama - I'm the same way about handprint/footprint. At the time, I was just saving them out of rote, and they kept multiplying!

Loralee- I know I shouldn't complain about the space. It really is wonderful.

Bryan - thanks - it's good to know. ;)

Midlife Mommy - I just started wondering - what are my kids every going to want with daily sheets that detail their input/output? Eew.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I made quite a bit of progress last night on my must-do order...

Rachelle Jones said...

my first thought was hey there is no crafting in the DR?

I love a chocolate clor, or taupe in the dining area, I am over the red. It seems as though all of the houses we have been looking at have a redroom and it is starting to drive me nuts...

Rachelle Jones said...

my first thought was hey there is no crafting in the DR?

I love a chocolate clor, or taupe in the dining area, I am over the red. It seems as though all of the houses we have been looking at have a redroom and it is starting to drive me nuts...

Karen said...

Oh, to have a room to craft in.. sigh!!

I remember your room revamp from last year. I know you'll have it back to spick and span in no time! LOL

Karen said...

Not sure what's missing but isn't that small sideboard at the back a new addition?

Penny said...

I know the feeling of having a room in the basement and not really being able to use it. I rarely use my computer because it is in the basement and I can't use it and watch the kids at the same time. One day, hopefully, I will be able to buy a laptop!

Good luck on the organizing! I keep a binder that has become a tub for each year of my son's schooling. I know I need to pair it down, but that would take time and right now, it is just easier for me to stuff it in the box.