Thursday, January 30, 2014

Warning: this is a long, pic heavy post!
I have some big news; my husband and I are moving. Well, at least we will be as soon as we sell our house. We haven't put it on the market yet though, because we have a few small projects to finish and we also have to de-clutter before we can even think about showing it. This of course means that my craft room will have to get packed up and moved, which is quite a daunting task! The room that currently houses most of my crafty belongings just happens to be the largest of the secondary bedrooms in house, and we will have to clear it out and make it look like a bedroom for showing. To say that I'm not looking forward to doing it would be a huge understatement! I thought maybe if I posted about it and shared some pictures, it would help me get motivated to actually start working on it. So, here goes.  I have a lot of stuff and I have never quite been able to organize it the way I wanted. I have started to go through it already and have some stuff set aside to purge.
This is the view into the room from the doorway. My husband made the desk that's in the center by the window. That's his side you're looking at and those are his shelves on the wall. That's pretty much all of the room he takes up! Well, maybe a small spot of the cabinet behind him.
We found this cabinet on the side of the road.  We stripped it and painted it and Tim made the top. As you can see, it holds my heat press, Ebosser and guillotine cutter. The drawers have paints and supplies for the Yudu, machine embroidery thread, washi tape and misc. tools. The shelves next to it hold some of my 6 X 6 and 8 X 8 paper pads.
And here are my 12 X 12 stacks, more 6 X 6 and loose papers. The drawers are mostly empty, I'll show you why in a minute. The wire baskets have stamps in them.

This is my big L shaped desk that Tim made for me back when I used to sew a lot. It was perfect for that, but never really has worked out for my paper crafting. I decided that I don't like having the cabinets because I can't see what I have or remember where I put anything. The shelves have more stamps, Stampin up and others that are in Iris photo boxes then stacked in plastic crates. My Cricut and Cameo are on the rolling cart, along with my Cuttlebug, more stamps in photo boxes and my Janome Mini sewing machine. My copic markers and Xyron machines are on a shelf underneath the desk where my chair is.
This is the mess that is my side of the desk! I have a small Clip it Up on the left side that has more stamps. The larger one in the foreground is one we made and it has some of my Nestability dies and embellishments. The black box on the dest was originally made for Quickcutz dies, but it hold my Distress ink pads. The black binders underneath have my embossing folders in them. There are also some Sterlite boxes with embossing powders and flock in them. There are shelves on the left side and I have boxes with adhesives, etc in them. I also have rolls of vinyl and my Copic paper there.  That pile in front of the window is some of the stuff I'm getting rid of and some packages of stuff I haven't put away yet. :/

This is the closet. Yikes! More paper, ribbon, beading supplies, Cricut cartridges and handbooks and just a bunch of other junk I thought I'd need for future projects.
And more ribbon!
But that's not the worst of it! I have so much stuff, I couldn't fit it all in one room!
My sewing stuff is in another bedroom across the hall. I do love this cabinet though, I got it from Walmart.com for $99!
Yes, there's stuff in this bedroom closet too. Fabric, yarn, patterns, thread, books and magazines. My embroidery machine is just under that bottom shelf, along with some other things.
This is the corner of the room that I've started piling things to get rid of in. The big plastic drawers have my photo lights and more Yudu supplies in them. I'm happy to say that the smaller plastic drawers are not mine! Haha!
This is the reason some of my drawers are already empty. I  invested in the Scraprack system last year to start organizing my embellishments. So far I'm liking it, but this one is already full and I need to get more supplies. I keep it on a rolling cart and right now it's in a niche in the hallway.  The second shelf on the cart has my Cricut Solution cartridges in Jukeboxes and the rest is just random stuff that I need to go through.
My plan is to start going through it a section at a time, deciding what I can't live without for the next few months, then packing or purging the rest. I'll be documenting my progress here, if for no other reason than to keep me on task. Wish me luck!
Oh, and I welcome any and all suggestions from those of you have been through this process. I've gotten a few ideas already from some the wonderful ladies on the Cricut message board. I will definitely be implementing a few of them.
Have a wonderful day and if you read all the way to this point, I thank you!

11 comments:

Michelle said...

Good Luck Maria. My DH keeps threatening that we should move, packing my craft room would be a daunting task indeed. Keep us posted.

Sara Andrews said...

Oh my goodness Maria!!! All I can do is shake my head and wonder if you REALLY need to downsize. ;) He he.

Good luck!!

Cindy@ Scrap-obsessed.blogspot.com said...

Maria I sympathize. I dread the day we ever move. I really want to move into a single story, but the thought of packing up all my stuff and clearing out the house is overwhelming. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to any tips you can give us along the way.

Carrie said...

We are talking about a new house in the next 6 months. I am going to use that as an excuse to PURGE and see what I really want to keep/need to keep! Good luck!

Lara said...

Moving really helped me focus on what was most important to me, but it was an awful process. Best wishes!

Nadia (WithGlitteringEyes.blogspot.com) said...

I think we can all empathize! The idea of packing all my crafty stuff gives me hives, but would have to happen for us to show our house too. The bonus is clearing out stuff you decide you don't need. That will make it so much easier in your next craft room.

Best wishes-- and how exciting to get a new house!

Diane said...

I sure can understand. We moved twice in 5 years and now my husband is telling me that I have to pack it all up and move it all out so he can finish the hardwood in there. But I have to say, you have a lot more goodies than I do! So excited for you about the new house!

Sis Patterson said...

While I am sure this part is challenging, I am sure the end result in a new room will be amazing!!! Best wishes in the process (both the crafty rooms) and the house hunt! Can't wait to see more!

Lori said...

Holy smokes! I say that because that is how it was like in my home until I had my first baby. All of a sudden I couldn't just leave things as they were. I moved to a small room in the basement and I am happier. My kids can't touch dangerous thing or break anything. The move was not fun! But the end result is so worth it. Just keep remember that when you feel like: this is not ever going to finish!

Francine said...

I do not envy you this process, but they "say" all that purging will make you feel better in the end. I say it will give you an excuse to go SHOPPING after you move!

Mary said...

I know this process is a lot of work. I need to paint my room again. The thought of having to move it all out of the room then back in again. I am procrastinating! LOL

NSD 2015 Challenge: Leave You In Stitches

Hi all and welcome to my blog. It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I'll fill you in on that another time.  Today, ...