A Craft Room Re-do

I can't believe I haven't posted on this blog in almost two years. I shouldn't be surprise though since I haven't really done anything crafty during this time. I'd like to say that things are going to change but who really knows what tomorrow will bring. But if by chance I get bitten by the bug again ... I'll be ready!

Over the last couple of weeks I did a complete overhaul of my craft room. I decided it was time to purge the clutter from my life and get rid of all the "stuff" that was never going to be brought to completion. I have a friend who was sickened by the ruthlessness that led to thirteen bags of "trash" and a jam packed van of donations for Goodwill. 

I assured her that it was something that had to be done and the end result just might open the door for me to actually get back into doing something creative. And if it doesn't? Well, at least now I have a clean space that is opened up to the rest of the house and isn't an embarrassment for visitors to see.

My only real regret ....

I thought I had some good "before" photos to show so you could compare them to the end result but sadly I think they were lost in the computer crash of 2012. The only two I could come up with were this

and this

As is clearly obvious, it is completely chaotic in this room. There was just so. much. stuff. So, while I pretty much knew where everything was, anyone else could get lost in a nano second. I'll admit it was at times claustrophobic, and am pretty sure that one of the reasons my desire to create died was because it was such an overwhelming and depressing room.

The first thing I did was relocate all of my sewing paraphernalia to one of the bedrooms. Since Andrew chose to stay in Knoxville after graduation I decided to designate his room as the guest/sewing room.

There's still a bed for sleeping, other than that it's not a "bed"room. The chest of drawers is full of fabric and the bookshelf holds felt, yarn, ribbon, buttons, etc. 

An old but trusted sewing machine, what's left of my felt bag inventory, a chest full of unfinished projects, 

and for when the mood strikes to get my exercise on, an elliptical and weights (Haha, those are NOT my weights. Don't you just love that ancient TV? I won it in a raffle at work waaaaay back in 1997!)

It was now time to return to the disaster area and focus on restoring order. It took about four days of purging, cleaning, storing, and re-arranging but the final result ..

Another look at the befores and afters ...

My goal was to organize and store as much as possible out of sight

Here's a run down of what's stashed where:

1. Card making supplies, punches, embellishments, idea books
2. Photos, photos, and more photos
3. Crafting tools
4. A whole closet of books, tools, and supplies, and shelves of stamps and the stuff that goes with them
5. 12x12 paper, 2 totes under the table
6. 8 1/2  11 paper, 2 6-drawer carts under the table
7. Totes of family members memorabilia 
8. Display board of various  competed and in-progress projects
9. A chest of jewelry supplies, polymer clay "stuff", stickers & embellishments, specialty papers, and misc.crap that I just couldn't let go of

Everyone needs a little inspiration right? 

Art work by my children looks down on me while I work and makes me smile. But, it doesn't stop there...

while going through the boys' totes of memorabilia I found a painting by each child depicting Van Gogh's Starry  Night. Andrew drew his in chalk while in Kindergarten 

and Ian's painting is from our co-op days (2004/5)

 . 

Dale had a poster that use to hang in his office. I bought the three together, and voila!! 

Isn't this awesome?! Sadly neither of my children followed in Mom's footsteps when it comes to artistic creativity. They lean more towards Dad's musical and athletic bents. Oh well, I can always hope for daughters-in-law and granddaughters to share my enthusiasm for paper and fabric, color, paint, chalk, and things that shine. (Boys, if your reading this, can you get on that pronto please? Mama needs some crafting buddies.) 

Meanwhile I am hoping that my new-found craft space will inspire me to return to creating. And if it doesn't .... well, at least I have a clean, organized space and a clear path from the living room to the kitchen!