Tuesday, April 2, 2013

It is Finished!



Well, I didn't think it was possible, but my sewing/craft room has been decluttered and organized!  I totally did NOT think it was possible!  And all in one month!  I can't wait to sew (I have several projects waiting on me) and scrapbook (again, more projects waiting)!  I didn't have the space before, but I do now!  Woo hoo!

As part of the 31-Day Organization Challenge, I have some questions to answer.

1.  I decided to organize my sewing/craft room.  It tends to be the room where stuff is placed when we have people coming over and we need to clean up quickly.  Or, we didn't know what to do with something, so it ended up in here just to get it out of the way.  However, this room was so junky, that I couldn't sew or scrapbook!  It just made me sick and tired to even look at it, let alone go in there!

2.  To ensure that I met the deadline, I tried to work on the room a little every day.  There was one whole week where I didn't touch it because I had another project to work on, but I just tried to spend more time in there on other days.  I started with the easy stuff....the trash.  I had no idea that I would collect 2 trash bags full of trash!  We moved a year ago, and I still had boxes that needed to be unpacked, and there was stuff to throw away in there!  Couldn't believe it!  After the initial trash, I just started taking one box or one space at a time throwing away trash, putting away items, and placing other items in the donate box.  I didn't have a keep box.  When I found something that needed to go somewhere else in the house, I took it right then.  I knew that if I put those items in a box, I might get sidetracked and they would never find their homes.  (I know this from personal experience.)  :)

3.  The hardest part of this challenge was when I was nearing the end.  My sewing desk was covered with things that I just didn't know what to do with.  I refused to just put them somewhere to get them out of sight. I had to make myself go in and really think about an item.  However, once I got on a roll, everything seemed to fall into place!

4.  I purged a lot of stuff from this room.  I threw most of it away, but several things found a home elsewhere in the house.  And it went there as soon as I found it.  :)  I just asked myself, "Where would I look for this?" and I put it there!

5.  One of my proudest moments during this challenge was when I found the floor behind my sewing desk.  I didn't realize all the stuff that had accumulated there.  It just became stuff I didn't see anymore.  When I found that brown floor peeking through, I just about jumped for joy!  It was then that I realized that I really could do this and it inspired me to keep going.

6.  I'm not sure what organizing tools I used in this space, but I did learn something about boundaries.  Well, first, as I emptied boxes, baskets and totes, I saved them so that I would have them ready when something needed to be organized.  (My 4-yr-old daughter even got involved.  She found a little basket in my stash and put all of the cat toys in it beside his food.  They had just been thrown on the floor.)  I bought a stackable drawer to match one I already had, and when I unpacked a box of school supplies, they went in those drawers.  Oh, and what I learned about boundaries.  I used to think that if I had too much of something to fit in a drawer or a box or whatever, then I should just buy another box or whatever.  Now I realize that if I have too much stuff to fit in a particular space, I need to get rid of some of the stuff so that it fits inside those boundaries.  That is why I have neat shelves on the bookcase now instead of stuff crammed on top of everything else.  I did re-purpose some tote bags to organize my sewing projects by hanging them up in the closet.  One project per bag.

7.  The one piece of advice I would encourage someone else with is what I learned about boundaries (mentioned in #6).  It seems like it makes so much sense, yet I never thought about it like that before.  What an "Aha!" moment!


 Remember all of these plastic bags that I'm saving to crochet into a plastic tote bag?
 I sorted them out and saved the colors I want.  I put them into 2 larger bags and found space in the closet for them.  Now when I have plastic bags, I recycle them instead of saving them because I'm sure I have enough.
 I wanted to clear out this bookcase so I can use it for homeschooling next year.
 I found art supplies and other things I can use for homeschooling next year, so I placed them on this bookcase.

Hung up the ironing board, hung up the picture and decluttered all that stuff on the floor!

 How can I sew in a space like this?  There's no room!  I even found a towel laid out under all that stuff that I used for changing diapers.  I haven't changed a diaper since November!!
 Now I have space to sew and cut out fabric, or I can move my chair to the other side and scrapbook!  My white bookcase that my husband made me would be right behind me and easily accessible!  I can't wait to get started!

 This is much more pleasant to walk into...I can't wait to actually USE this room for its designated purpose!  Oh, see that little pink basket on the floor over there?  That's the one my daughter used to organize the cat toys.  :)