Close your eyes and think of a craft room -- UFO's (UnFinished Objects) and current projects (entirely different because the first is abandoned, but the second is
being worked on or there is a plan for working on within the next year), and future projects jumbled together, supplies of all kinds strewn all over, books, boxes of books, mismatched furniture, several different kitty-nesty areas clearly defined, tools, cupboards and bookshelves and bags and containers littered around, a path to the most frequently used areas barely and dangerously defined. . . Perhaps a mental image of your own craft room, past or present, comes to mind, and you sigh, both in mild frustration and a little bit in comfort and pride. After all, this is our domain.
But then something catalytic happens -- for me, it was my mother dying way too early (she'd been retired approximately a year and a month). And I realized that I didn't have time to screw around with stuff I'm never going to do, or do projects that aren't really interesting to me just because they're logical, or I made a plan, or I bought something. I don't have time to maneuver around all the excess stuff. My prized and precious supplies were hidden away, safe but hard to get at, and useless stuff was cluttering work surfaces.
I didn't tear into it right away, of course. My second catalyst, my inspiration, if you will, was when I found multi-colored wire cube shelving at a garage sale. And there was a vision, and then there was a lot of work. Intermixed with heartbreak and more work.
Here are the promised tips:
1). What are your real hobbies? Not what you want to do someday, not what you did 20 years ago, but what you do now. Everything else goes! Okey, okey, you can keep your Grandma's hand-held loom that she taught you on (I did), but, for goodness sakes, get rid of the wood burning kit that's taken up the corner for 4 years!
2). If you haven't used it in years, give it up.
3). If you had forgotten you had it, give it up. You'll just forget again, anyway.
4). Even if you have serious plans to do something with it, if it is inexpensive, give it up. More than likely, you'll want updated materials anyway.
5). Decide what is staying, prioritize by wish and size, then make a schematic. I used graph paper, some rough measuring, and crayons to work with. I cut out shapes and moved them around to find what was pleasing and sensible. What gets used most should be easily accessible. What gets used in conjunction together should be close together (for instance, quilting cutting area should be near the ironing area which should be near the sewing machine). Remember to make a piece for yourself. You don't want to make anything too narrow to fit through. Have friends play with the pieces, too. You'd be surprised at how narrow minded you can become.
6). Get help. Yes, yes, no one else can make these decisions for you, but, once you make the decisions. . . And they can clean. And they can encourage you. And they can keep you from backing out or procrastinating. And they may take your stuff home -- then you can store it off site and still use it ;).
7). Make four piles outside of the room (and assign someone to them :) ). A pile to pitch. A pile to donate / give away. A pile to put away. A pile to put back. If it's a multi-stage / day project, set a goal (tabletop or bookshelf or corner or whatever) or a time limit and leave 15 minutes to help deal with the piles.
So I did just that, and was so relieved to get it back on track! Now, if someone could give me hints on how to keep it on track!
To end, everything was peachy, then I switched my old-fashioned ironing board out for the ultimate cool cabinet, needing an ironing board top. But more on that in the next blog.
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