Thursday, October 1, 2015

Craft closet - Scrapbook studio renovation saga continues

I missed the deadline. I'm supposed to be finished with the great scrapbook studio renovation today. I'm not. I mean, there's hope that I could finish later today, but it's probably not that realistic. I'm a failure. This two week project has lasted a month. It's cost more than I expected. It's been more difficult than I expected. In my defense, I was pretty sick with a rotten sinus infection and nasty cough last week. I'm sure that put me at least a few days behind since my energy level was totally zapped.  While I enjoy watching home improvement television shows. this project has proven to me that I don't actually like doing home improvement myself. I keep telling myself it's totally going to be worth it. It took me several years to accumulate all this stuff, after all. Why should I be surprised that getting rid of it and organizing it would happen overnight?

For those of you who have been following along with my great scrapbook space renovation project, the end is in sight. I've been working on making sense out of the great abyss of my scrapbook studio - the craft closet. Cue scary music - dum. dum. dum. Honestly, I was tempted to ignore it and just keep throwing things in there randomly, but, deep down, I knew that was wrong. Here's a look at the closet in its before state:


Doesn't everyone keep random Halloween costumes in your scrapbook closet? Oh, wait, I'm the only one, huh?

And here's a look at it now, about midway through the process:


I'm not quite ready to share the final product. I still have to find my little stepladder and work on the very top shelf of the closet, but it's otherwise in fairly good shape at this point. Basically, what I've done is separate the closet into a variety of stations dedicated to a particular kind of craft. The bottom shelf and floor space are reserved for scrapbook related products like idea books, albums, stamps, and photos. The shelf at chest level is designated for sewing and embroidery supplies/projects as well as alterable fabric items.  The other lower shelves are for things like alterable wooden pieces, paints, ornaments, jewelry making supplies, etc. And the pockets of the shoe organizers are labelled with their contents - it's a little bit of everything, really. The top shelf will corral old picture frames, batting, foam, and other large product items. I may continue to tweak the order of things, but the stations organization system seems to be a pretty good one for me.

I purged three large shopping bags from the closet alone and divvied it up among my crafty friends. Most of the things I purged I hadn't even looked at in several years, much less actually used in a project. I feel good about getting rid of all of those things. Based on cleaning out the closet, I've decided that I will store a few things "off-site." For example, I am putting my crop luggage out in the bonus room attached to the garage. I rarely go to crops anymore and don't need quick access to those items. Eventually, I may even sell or give away the larger pieces. I don't really have room for my gift wrap materials in my scrapbook room. If I can't figure out a place in the closet where they'll work, I'll relocate those to my small guest room and create an area in it for them. My cross stitch magazines are already all stored in the trunk that I use as my coffee table in the living room. It's not an ideal system, but I see no reason to change it right now. A long term project for me will be to sort those magazines and relocate my fave patterns in a binder system of some kind that I can store in the craft closet. I also have a cabinet out in the bonus room that has other crafty items stored in it that I'll have to deal with eventually. I figure I'll worry about that when I get around to cleaning out that bonus room later this fall. For now, I have my hands full working on the scrapbook space by itself.

Here's what my modified to-do list is looking like at this point:

Today - put together 2 of the 3 drawer units I bought and sort/store embellishments into 9 categories to fit my total of 9 drawers; scrape stickers from windows; put another coat of paint on window trim; sand edges and paint tabletop for sewing area; continue de-stickifying floor sections that need it; clean off my work table; finish removing all crafty items from dining room area by sorting, storing, and purging as needed

Tomorrow - determine what additional storage items I need and purchase them; fill and arrange remaining storage items; hang chalkboard frames and other decor; sand and repaint work table surface; add another coat of paint to sewing area tabletop if needed; touch up paint any problematic spots on wall or trim
*(This is the last full day I plan to devote to working on my space.)

Saturday - make and attach labels to storage items; make wish list for remaining room items; store unneeded organizational items in bonus room

Sunday - wipe down furniture, dust, mop, and vacuum room; make banner and hang; put another coat of paint on work table if needed

Monday - Raskog cart should arrive; arrange items on cart; photograph room storage choices and blog about storage decisions/challenges/reasoning; photograph room decor and room in totality; blog about the experience and the finished product; video room tour if I'm brave enough

Hang in there with me! If this list goes according to plan, I should be ready for the great scrapbook studio reno reveal early next week. :)

In the meantime, if you're looking for me, I'm probably trying my best to enjoy a lazily decadent fall break and cleaning the rest of my house that became increasingly problematic as I focused on my reno project.




4 comments:

  1. Hang in there, take that figuratively, and not literally, please!! It will be worth it. I have to say that seeing you tackle this big project is giving me impetus to increase my productivity.

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  2. You are absolutely NOT a failure! This is a huge undertaking and you're spending the extra time you need to do it right. I really need to organize my supplies and I keep putting it off because I really don't know where to begin. Your posts and process are giving me lots of inspiration (and hope). You're doing a wonderful job - keep it up!!!

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  3. I have come to the realization over the years that my grand schemes ALWAYS take more time, money, and energy than I think they will. ALWAYS. That said, it doesn't stop me from embarking on them time and time again (like last December when I almost started crying in Pottery Barn as I was working on redecorating my daughters' rooms as part of their Christmas present...let me just say they did NOT end up looking like PB bedrooms (real kids live in there,you know...) and there IS a reason people go to college to be interior designers!)

    Stick with it! I have enjoyed following your process and progress and I just know you'll love it in the end.

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  4. Your are doing a great job. The end is near. I need to do a big purged also, I have way to much stuff too. Working at Micheal's does not help. LOL. I will be using some of your organizing tips . Thanks

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