Organizing

I admit that I am not a very good house keeper.  Martha Stewart has absolutely no need to feel even remotely threatened by me.  I never learned how to keep a proper house, and envy people that can keep things organized and tidy while actually living in their house.  How do they DO that, anyway? 

My crafting space reflects this lack of knowledgee and disorganization.  I don't have enough space to effectively store what I have (man...so much!) and therefore things are just PUT somewhere.. .anywhere...because they don't have a home.   My craft room is sort of the "catch all" room for the house, too.  "Just put it on Mom's desk" is a familiar sentence in our house.

I have scoured various organizing and decluttering blogs and websites, books and magazines on the subject.  I have come to the conclusion that I have too much stuff for the storage that I have.  I also don't have a specific plan in place, with a place for everything. 

John has been talking about putting a wall up to enclose my craft area a little better for a while.  He reasons that it will provide me with 8 feet of wall space for cabinets to go, giving me a fair bit more storage/organizational area.  It also will give me about another 3 feet of usable floor space, making the room less cramped.  It will also provide a visual barrier so that people coming into the home aren't assaulted by the view of my less than spotless crafting space. 

SO...I now have a new wall.  I mulled and pondered it over for a while and decided that I liked the idea.  I had helped my friend (and demo extraordinaire), Margaret to put her new crafting room together and was inspired.

My rotating cubby tower is on the outs.  So is my teak bookcase.  They don't fit into the room and I don't have space for them elsewhere in the house.  I won't miss the tower too much, but I really will miss the bookcase.  Or at least I think I will.  John has said we can put it on the side of the wall facing the door but I am trying to be realistic and recognise that it will just become a clutter magnet there.  Besides, I have plans for that wall that involve a certain Definitely Decorative tree.  :)  This necessitates me getting rid of some books, but I have been meaning to do that for a while anyway.  I am also unhappy with the CD tower I am using to store my punches and have plans for something different there, too. 

These are the before pictures... as horrifying as they are.  I had already begun sorting things a little bit in the first one, but I would be deluding myself to think that I could explain the mess away because of that.  In the second one you can see John starting the wall.  He has the upright attached to the wall and the footer on the floor.  That gives you an idea of where the wall is now.  You can also see the ever present (and helpful?) Sierra's behind.  :) She always has to be close to me, even if it means being under foot.  I intend to get her a new doggie bed once the room is done so she will have a spot of her own in the room. 

I have plans for cabinetry, pegboard and track lighting, and I will keep things updated as we go.  I am looking forward to sharing my updated and newly organized crafting space!