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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Organization and disclaimer

They say that creative people are sometimes disorganized and a little messy, well , I am a little embarrassed to show you this picture because, I must be very creative!  This was my craft room before Christmas, ( I am really trying not to look at this pic, because it is quite disturbing!)  I have a craft room in my basement and I am so grateful to have it but because it is out of the way and sometimes out of site, and because of that it becomes a little disorganized, (who am I kidding, A LOT disorganized!)  I decided that I couldn't work like this any longer so I was on a quest to become more organized.

Here is my after picture and let me tell you that this transformation did not happen in one day!  I decided to move my machines to the other side of the room, ( before they were behind the door) and with 3 machines it was a little crowded.(Yes, I use all three machines.) One is my embroidery machine and although it does everything I kept my trusty Bernina, (which I have had for more than 30 years)  I mainly use it for sewing on leather and heavier materials.  Then of course I have my serger.  With this arrangement I am easily able to move from one machine to the other.

In my organization I went through all of my baskets and got rid of what I don't use, (and found things I didn't remember having.)  I put all alike things in the baskets and labeled them with tags.  I thought I knew where everything was but when my daughter came down to make something, she couldn't find any thing!

All alike things in one basket!
I organized my thread and ribbon and it makes it so easy to find what  color I am looking for.

Went through all of my fabrics and got rid of more, then put similar fabrics in their rightful stack.

Flannel

This is the other corner and now looking at this picture I can see that I probably still held onto too much fabric, I think I will be the winner when I die!
Love the convenience of this, there is a disclaimer coming about the thread in the window though.

All of my other thread, (some I have had since time began) in a drawer next to the sewing machines!

Elastic and bias trim in another drawer.

Bobbin thread.
Zippers!

Buttons on cards!

Doesn't this just make you want to sit down and sew!


More ribbon, tulle and tape.
More buttons in an organizer, (I love buttons can you tell?)  Now to tell yo about the disclaimer of this story, It's kind of sad.  Yesterday I went down to go exercise and when I got to the bottom of the stairs, I started screaming because there was water at the bottom of the stairs!  It has been raining here for 3 days and a lot of water has come down!  This is quite unbelievable though because at this time of year we usually have 6 feet of snow!  Because the ground is frozen the water has no where to go but down to the lowest point and because there is a ditch above our house, it got clogged and the water came pouring into our back yard.  The lowest point of the house is the window wells, they filled up and because the water had no where to go down it came through my house.


So, yesterday this is what my craft room looked like. (Can you see the water running down the wall and over the counter?) Yikes! it was bad!   See those bolts of fabric on the floor, they were a little wet and muddy, because with the water came the mud!  I have been washing fabric for 2 days now.

It was not a happy day.  But with the help of neighbors, family and friends we got rid of the river coming through our house.

This morning it looks like this, (I don't want to repeat yesterday ever again.)  So the disclaimer is this, if you are more organized and a river comes through your house, it is definitely better that you had the room looking like this.
Instead of 
This!!!
Can you imagine what the cleanup  would have been like if my room looked like this!
I do have a goal to be more organized this year, this was a little set back but maybe just what I needed  to get the rest of the basement organized, (even if it was forced!)


28 comments:

Unknown said...

Hahahaha...that first picture looks like it could belong on the hoarders show. But your after pictures are awesome...minus the mud.

Jenn said...

Are you sure that is the same room??? Ha Ha! Looks so good. I love the name of your blog. By the way, I have a great cookbook giveaway going on right now if you would like to enter? http://eatcakefordinner.blogspot.com/2012/01/rush-hour-recipes-review-and-cookbook.html

Giggles said...

That's what you call a blessing in disguise!!Wow glad you got it cleaned up before the muck descended! Poor you, what a horrid mess to deal with...the mud that is!!

The final conclusion is wonderful though. The truth be told more people have messes like this, especially when they have busy lives...just not enough time to get everything done!! When the creative bug bites you have to get cracking!!! Thanks for your candor!

Hugs Giggles

Rachel said...

I don't ever think I have seen the room look like the messy room. Maybe you messed it up for the picture :)

I am glad you got everything cleaned up okay. I am glad it wasn't a disaster when the water came. That would have been even more overwhelming.

Feral Turtle said...

So sorry for all that water that came in after all your hard work. You did an amazing job in your craftroom. It always feels so good when you can get organized. I just cleaned mine too. Hope you pop on by and take a peak! Cheers

StasaLynn said...

We share the same dilemma.... however, even with muddy water - you fixed your problem.... I still have to work on my craft room. Thanks for the ideas and little nudge I need. Take care and have fun in your "new" digs... and yes, you are creative.

My Beautiful World said...

Wow it looks amazing great job my friend. We have had 4 days rain here too so over it QLD have had enough. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Always Wendy

marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings said...

this turned out great wanna come to my house ;) I hope you'll add it to my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW

Eilis said...

Thank you for inspiring me! I am working on a very similar situation right now :).
Eilis
my-heart-lives-here.blogspot.com

c. Joy said...

Didn't see the flood coming. Great job on your craft room.

{northern cottage} said...

wow! that is an AMAZING transformation - looks fantastic & so functional! great job!

www.northerncottage.net

Kristen said...

ah it looks great! I am so sorry about the river but glad you cleaned it up before it happened :) Thanks so much for linking up to Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings. www.ladybug-blesings.com

ArtfullyJune said...

My crafting area is often like your before too. I'm sorry you had water but I'm sure it was so much easier to deal with in the neatly organized space.

Karla Do More said...

Wow your craft room is amazing. You have so much stuff and its all organized which makes it look even more delicious.:p I can't believe all that water, lucky you to have such nice people to help with the problem. I can see an extension cord and plugs in on of the pictures.....how scary!!! Glad you cleaned it up and no one was hurt. :)

Alison Agnew said...

i gasped out loud
when i saw that muddy water
all over your counter and floor

so glad you had already organized
your things
so that the damage was minimal

thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded!

alison

Jami said...

Can you please come to my house?!?!
Thanks so much for stopping by and linking up to the Tuesday To Do Party!
Smiles!
Jami
www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

The Three Little Piglets said...

Mine often looks like the before space as well! I start so many projects and have the stuff laying all over. Or finish a project and move onto the next one without putting everything away...

The Quilt Ladies said...

Good for you ! I love it !

Boden said...

W-o-w! You've got one great and well organized craft space! I almost felt a little sick when I scrolled down to your flooded photos though, that must have been such a mess! I'm so glad that your craft room was cleaned up and organized before the flood - what a headache! ~Jen @ www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com

D+B said...

Cute blog!!! I found you on a link party!! I am your newest follower!!! I would love it if you would check out my blog to and follow me back, that would be great!! I would love to feature your blog sometime!!

-Brooke
For-the-luv-of.blogspot.com

Hani said...

Wow,, That is so inspiring.. I love the last two pictures.. So well done!
Thanks for linking at friday fun party

Trish - Mom On Timeout said...

Your craft room looks amazing! I can't believe you had to deal with flooding issues but at least your room was so nice and clean! I think there is a lesson in here for all of us :) I wanted to let you know that you are being featured this week at Taking A Timeout Thursday! Thanks so much for sharing :)

Linda @ it all started with paint said...

After I picked my jaw up off the floor felt oh so compelled to

1) Tell you WOW
2) Ask if I can come and craft at your house and
3) Beg you to please, please ... share this at our multi-blog "Imagine the Impossibilities" link party? I think everyone would really enjoy it as much as I ...

Here's the link: http://www.itallstartedwithpaint.com/2012/01/imagine-impossibilities-2012-link-party.html

We stay live until Friday midnight (CST). Hope to see you at the party!

Linda
itallstartedwithpaint@gmail.com

Linda @ it all started with paint said...

So happy to see you at the Impossibilities party ...

Linda
itallstartedwithpaint@gmail.com

Fifi said...

Can I come over!! Instead of asking for a cup of sugar, I'd ask for a couple of spools of thread, lol!!

Your room looks fabulous!! Glad the water situation was taken care of. I can't even imagine that, we don't have basements in TX.


New follower.

Tracy said...

Thanks for sharing your craft room organization with us -- congrats! it was our Top viewed linky on last week's T.G.I.F. Linky Party over at Craft Junkie Too! :)
Stop back by when you can and grab the Top 3 button for your blog. :)
Tracy
http://www.craftjunkietoo.com/2012/02/tgif-linky-party-43.html
ReplyDelete

Eclectically Vintage said...

Love your ribbon and thread display - looks like candy! Must feel great to be organized. You are so lucky to have great friends to help clean up that mess! Thanks so much for joining our Impossibilities Challenge. New follower!
Kelly

Karah @ thespacebetweenblog said...

Wow! So many great details! I love the baskets and the tags, I love your use of wall space, I love all of the colorful ribbon and thread. Just awesome!

Thanks so much for linking up to the challenge!
Karah

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