Since I am under strict orders to NOT bend over or pick up anything heavy nor to get "over heated" (in this weather?? Really??), I am cleaning my what-you-want-to-call-it room -- craft, sewing, weaving, knitting, spinning, quilting... Oh, Geez. No wonder I am having problems with it.
We have a guest, a real honest-to-goodness guest, coming to stay with us a few days in July. Now, the only person who has stayed in this house in years, besides us, is the Airman. And, he completely gets the bed being in the library. However, we think no one else will.
So, we have decided to rearrange the upstairs. This isn't an easy task, frankly. When I lived in this big, old house alone, it was quite simple. Library, sewing -- et al -- room, guest room, workout room -- all were upstairs. When the Mister and I married, well, I lost a lot of rooms. He was supposed to just take a closet, but there you go, he had stuff.
The upstairs has a really fine layout of four large rooms and a huge landing along with a bathroom. So, we are taking the back two rooms and bathroom and making a guest suite. This means all my stuff has to move to the front bedroom (my favorite room in the house) which currently houses all the Mister's instruments (he plays everything except bagpipes). His music things are going to the other small room until his recording studio is done this fall.
In my infinite wisdom, I decided I needed to clear out and reorganize before I move my things. Bad idea. Really Bad Idea. I have so many unfinished projects that I am ashamed. And, I have found, to date, six pairs of embroidery scissors, two pinking shears, five pairs of fabric scissors, and three rotary cutters. We shall not speak of the buttons and rick rack.
I am determined to not spend one thin dime on anything for storage. Thus, I need your input. What is your favorite way to store items from your what-you-want-to-call-it room? What works best for certain items? Help! I am drowning in stuff!
Hi Matty, we went through that big time when we moved six years ago across country. My heart goes out to you, but on the bright side, it felt so wonderful once it was all organized that it was worth all the effort and then some!
ReplyDeleteIt really helped to reignite my creativity and it was so much easier to finish projects. What I did was go out and buy a variety of clear plastic bins, some are quite large and others are the size of shoe boxes. That way I can always see what is inside.
I also cleared out a space in the garage to keep some of the bigger items. They were sure worth the money investment. My husband also took the closet in my craft room and stacked two book shelves, just cheapy ones from floor to ceiling, and they hold all of my books. There is also room in the closet for a file cabinet. I keep various tools in the drawers along with my pattern booklets. I keep my yarn in two wicker baskets with lids that sit under my craft table. Once I got organized I stuck to the motto of not buying anything else unless I made something, or gave something away. Six years later, I'm still doing well. There is a really fun magazine out there too called "Where Women Create", that has a lot of nice ideas for craft and studio spaces as well. You'll get through this all soon! Hang in there. Delisa :)
I wish I could give a wonderfully creative idea that I use - but I have none. My "stuff" storage is very basic. I use one small 4 drawer dresser for sewing notions & tools. And my fabrics, yarns & unfinished projects are in labeled cardboard file boxes. They stack nicely in my closet and are easy to grab with their built in cut-out handles. Not exactly Martha Stewart. I'll be very interested to read what others use.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a lot of sewing and craft "stuff" since that is how I earned extra income when Christopher was little. I made craft and quilted items (just small things) to sell in craft fairs.
ReplyDeleteSince that time, I've had to slowly but surely give things away until I now have all of my fabric in one large box and most of my sewing items in a large sewing basket. It took years...
I did learn that if you want to get rid of anything, senior citizen centers often love getting extra sewing and craft items.
Also, in my area there are ladies who sew quilts and blankets for a children's charity and they are always in need of such items.
I know, you look at your stashes and think of how much you paid for them...
You know, I don't mind what I spent on them at this point. I'd like to see them used! I do catch myself thinking: "What did I buy this for??" LOL
ReplyDeleteI keep looking at those wonderful 'craft rooms' some folks have. I think it isn't me... I would spend all my time cleaning it up! LOL
We are clearing out rooms and reorganizing the attic this week also. Big bins properly labeled helps a lot. Have given bags and bags of stuff to charities. As for the scissors, I found that hanging them on one of those old coffee mug trees and placing them on my work table, makes them easy to find, and more importantly, easy to remember to place back on the stand when I was finished with them.
ReplyDeleteOooooo I would love to go through your rickrack...lol.. This doesnt sound like you are staying down and doing nothing??? Is that were my scissors walked off too? They always disappear!
ReplyDelete