Friday, December 31, 2010

Craft Room Organization

Jayne over at The Kelly House always talks about how old home renovation is a lot like  nesting dolls. You start a project and find another and another as you go. I couldn’t agree more. We’re ready to remove the doll wallpaper border from the parlor walls but before we start, 10 million other things need to be done. So, I’ve been working on getting some things organized around here and I’m starting to feel like I’m in the middle of a game of whack-a-mole. I’m tired and needed a break so I thought I’d show you some of my progress so far.

When you live in an old house you have a shortage of storage space, it comes with the territory. There is no such thing as a walk-in closet. The attic in this house is only accessible by a tiny hole in the ceiling of a bedroom closet and the basement is too damp to store anything in. If you suffer from IMBATUTS (I might be able to use that someday) syndrome like I do, it’s a real issue. Living in an old house without visitors noticing that you are a hoarder is impossible. So I have to force myself to purge and organize occasionally.

There is this awkward little room at the top of the back stairs that really is more of a large hallway than a room as it leads to all the other rooms. It’s one of those spaces that decorators despise because it is impossible to arrange any furniture in. It has been the dumping station for my knitting, spinning and paper crafting supplies for quite some time. I used to be a scrapbooking and rubber stamping demonstrator and I have an entire room full of supplies. I’ve vowed to simplify and reduce the amount to only what I can fit in a desk and a few shelves. That method of self-imposed space limitation has worked for my quilting supplies so I figured I’d try to apply it to all areas of my life.

I’m not going to show you any before photos because it would be far too embarrassing. Let me just say there was a plethora of shopping bags and stacks of stuff everywhere. To say it was not pleasing to the eye would be an understatement. I decided the room needed a makeover but I didn’t want to spend any money. Or very little money if I could help it. Here is the 360 degree tour.

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The only new thing in the room are the cheap inexpensive cube shelves and baskets from Target (the French pronunciation) to store knitting and spinning supplies. Every thing else in the room has been dragged from other parts of the house.

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Ethel volunteered to pose so you can get a sense of depth perception. Wasn’t that nice of her? The old trunk stores fleeces ready to card.

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While it looks like there is a lot of light shining in that window, this is the darkest room in the house.  I had long drapes before but switched them out for this simple valance, which I happened to already have. It’s still dark in here but I can watch the sheep grazing easier.

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I still have some artwork to put up and I think I still need some sheepy accessories, but I’m pleased with my progress. At least I don’t feel like I need to pull my hair out when I walk through here.

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Now that this room is finished I have to clean the room where all that stuff I took out of here went, and so on and so on for three more rooms.

All because I wanted to strip some wallpaper in the opposite end of the house.

christinesig

21 comments:

Kathy said...

Wow! You did a wonderful job with that space. I love the Target storage cubes and think I'll hijack that idea for my craftroom in progress. It's on the top floor and has dormer ceilings, so I need storage that is low and long rather than tall.
Thanks for sharing your re-do. I hope you still have enough energy to strip wallpaper!

Robin said...

What a delightful space. You've made it so inviting. I've always wanted one of these little breezeway spaces. I'm going to have to figure out how to turn one of my stashing corners into something fresh and usable.

The Barn Door said...

Very impressive!!! When back home in Indiana, I too have one of those old homes with little to no storage space. You have done a marvelous job!! Oh.....btw....do you hire out?!?!
Happy New Year!
Karen

Michelle said...

I agree with Robin; I love that space! (I love old houses, too.) Sitting in front of that window to spin and watch the woollies would be wonderful. :-)

But seriously? One truck and some baskets holds all your fiber, spinning and knitting????

Christine said...

Yep Michelle, that's it. I'm deprived!

Actually I have a few dirty fleeces waiting to be washed and sent off but they're stored in the laundry room.

Michelle said...

TRUNK; I meant to type TRUNK. A TRUCK full of fiber I could relate to, but a TRUNK?

Conni said...

Oh, I can sooo empathize with the old house stuff! Living it daily! Everyone thinks because we have such a large, old house, that we have loads of room to store their stuff!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the inspiration, Christine! You were right, I'm getting my own Sheville soon and I need lots of ideas on how to best use this space.
After we get our projects done perhaps Jayne, you, and I can go into home renovation rehab. I really believe it's an addiction.

Nancy K. said...

I think I hate you...

I'm seriously debating whether I want to hire a skid-steer and a dumpster for my place!

Cindy said...

Your room looks wonderful. I especially like the desk, is it something you made or did it come like that> I have the same sort of problem only I live in a small apartment so you add one new thing and it looks cluttered.

Christine said...

Cindy, I bought the desk from Pottery Barn about 10 years ago. It is great because it comes apart and can be moved easily.

Karen Anne said...

I always wanted one of those landing rooms. In my fantasy, it has a comfy small couch and a bookcase or two.

Debby said...

What a wonderful room. I am hoping to change my sunroom into something like that, if I can control the temperature. It is freezing in the winter and hot in the summer.

Patsy said...

Happy New Year!
I have enjoyed your blog very much and look forward to 2011. The room looks great.

thecrazysheeplady said...

EXCELLENT!!!

Benita said...

Sweet! I agree these rooms are hard to deal with, and the romantic name of "room at the top of the stairs" isn't much help, either. So glad to see that spinning wheel. So how many of your vast collection of fleeces have you washed and are spinning?

Jayne said...

WOW! That space looks great. I love how everything has its own place. That makes it easier to keep things organized. I had to laugh when you said "whack-a-mole"--I feel that way a LOT in my own house!

Lori said...

I understand the snowball effect! Your room looks lovely and worth all the moving and rearranging.

Mary Ann said...

This room is perfect!

Penny said...

Love the space. I'm also quite jealous of the space! And the wheel .. I'm jealous of the wheel too! Jezebel is still being ornery. =(

Meaghan said...

I'm late getting here, but that's a great little space! I love it.

And I know what you mean about playing whack-a-mole with the clutter in a house. I moved into my grandmother's old farm house, and she never really moved out - she moved into a nursing home unexpectedly. So not only do we have all of our things here, all of my grandma's things are still in this house. It's an interesting game of musical messes trying to store her things (in a house with no closets) while trying to maintain my sanity and the level of clutter.