Turning the Dining Room Into a Sewing and Craft Area

Last night I was so burned out from pushing myself, that I swore I'd take today off and not do anything on a to-do list. I'm not sure why that worked but this morning I woke up so full of motivation, I leapt up and starting reorganizing the sewing room and archery workshop (i.e. living room and dining room). I realized I was not optimizing the natural lighting that I need so desperately to do fine work like beading or cross stitch or wood burning. So I drew a diagram of a better layout. The main issue is every area is full of boxes, inventory, supplies, junk, food, and tools. Every square inch is encumbered. So before I can move anything big I have to sort, clean, reorganize and discard. But so far in under 2 hours I've made great progress. But my hands are started to shake and the task is overwhelming me so I'm taking a break to recover. So much stuff and nowhere to put it.

And even if I get the big pieces moved, the boxes will have to be put back in the leftover space. So whew! If it was easy I would have done it already. I want to clear off my drawing table (which I haven't seen the top of in 2 or 3 years) and move it in front of the giant dining room window. If nothing else, my cats will enjoy snoozing in the window. Then I'm going to move the rolling tool chest and dresser into the spot where the drawing table now sits. I'm hoping they will fit. If not, I'll need to move another giant stack of boxes so I can slide the sewing machine over a foot. Thank goodness my boyfriend is here to move the things I can't budge.

Storage Caddies and Other Ideas

I am up to my eyeballs in making things to organize my stuff. I just bought PVC tubing to make caddies to hold knitting needles, paint brushes, dowels, pencils and pens. I bought plastic chain to make a hanger to hang up hats, gloves, scarves and other accessories so they won't keep falling on the floor. I do have hat pegs in my closet but every time something gets pulled out of there, the hats get knocked down.

I also bought pegboard to make storage areas for tools like scissors and pliers.

Cubby Finds a New Home

Yesterday I put a coat of polyurethane on my 3 cubicle cabinet to protect the paint until I have time to collage it. I found it fits perfectly on my dresser laying on it's side. I am happy to have a cubby to put my library books in now. And all the stuff that was already on the dresser can now go on top of the shelf, if I wish to store them there. Half of it just needs to be put into boxes or thrown away. All the nice stuff was buried anyway. It's so much better now, and one of the cubbies will serve as my bedside table since I always need to set something down at night like my glasses and a book or a box of tissues.

Painting a Cubby Shelf Unit

In an effort to be more organized, I bought a 3 cubby storage unit yesterday. It was bare wood so today I painted it with Gesso and acrylics and used up some of my older bottles of paint to use them up and not waste them. It was warm outside when I started, but around 4 PM the clouds were making me pretty chilly so I finished for the day. As time allows I'm going to collage over the painting and make it a cool and special shelf for my art studio. I had to fight tooth and nail to get it. My boyfriend didn't want me to buy it because he couldn't think of anywhere to put it. I think I'll lay it across my dresser and use one cubby as a nightstand, and the other two slots to store my journals and magazines in. And I can then use the topside as a shelf for the things that are cluttering up my dresser right now.

Kitchen Shelf Uncluttering

Today my boyfriend was hard pressed to find more kitty treats on the shelf. I decided it was high time to purge that shelf of it's unloved contents.  So I got a big wicker basket and offloaded the shelf. I'd say about 1/3 of it went into the trash.  But I found a giant unopened bag of dried mushrooms and a package of unopened spaghettini. My boyfriend walked in and said, "Wow, I didn't even know we had those."

If you don't want to waste money, eat your packaged food in a timely fashion.

I also had to eradicate a number of spiders that decided to live behind those unloved boxes. 

Once the shelf was clear I used it to put all the canned cat food in one spot. I used the rest of the shelf for all the bottles of various cooking oils and sauces my boyfriend likes to use. Oh how he loves his Asian fish sauce and Hirachi sauces. It was also a good spot to park two standard cook books.

Sadly I never did find the cat treats.

Major Reoganization of Apartment and Garage

Our apartment complex is being sold so I'm cleaning like I've never cleaned before.  I'm trying to get all clutter in covered bins and boxes.  If we get to stay here, at least I'll be more organized. And if we have to move, then I will have less to pack when that day comes sooner or later.
I'm going to try real hard to keep all yarn under control.  If it falls on the floor or gets tangled in boxes of other craft things like wire, it's a nightmare.
Plus we just had to rearrange the garage to replace the hot water heater, so we still have those boxes to deal with. We have about 20 boxes stacked in the backyard that need to go back in the garage once we get the shelves put together.

Did I mention something is wrong with my left arm? It makes lifting boxes very painful, so unless my boyfriend is in a cleaning mood, there is not much rearranging I can do myself when it comes to heavy boxes or bulky furniture.  That puts me at a distinct disadvantage. After six months my arm shows no signs of getting better. I think I have a pinched nerve in my back by my shoulder blade and my Dr. was no help whatsoever. It even hurts to put a sweater on.
Here is a photo of the old hot water heater once the repairman got it out of the garage.

Putting Things Away

My goal today is to put 100 things away. Blogging about it makes it a little more fun. I'm carrying around a tote bag and filling it with things that don't go in this room.  Then I go to each room and drop off what goes where and then I start over. I've done about 40 things so far. I needed a break.  This kind of cleaning gives me an instant headache.