Okay folks, this is one of those true confession posts. I think it's time to do a little spring cleaning in the sewing room. I had a resolution in January to organize and store my supplies more efficiently. Here it is, a couple of months later and I still need to work at it. Who's with me? My son casually mentioned the other day that he (and his wife and our three small grandchildren) would like to come visit. "Wonderful," I said, "We would love it!" Then I walked into this room, which is also the guest room, and began to panic. You can see the bed under the pile...
I know! You are probably thinking "How does she even work in that mess!" Even more importantly, "Where is she going to put three small children?" I didn't clean anything for the pictures and I apologize for the early morning light. I wanted to clean it, but decided to reveal my problems, in the hope that you might have some good suggestions for storing stuff. Especially small stuff. Well, and large piles of fabric. And yarn! (sigh...) You can see that I don't have a lot of real estate in this room. The rest of the house is just as bad - no room at all. But I need my stuff! I do most of my crafts right here in this corner. The ironing board is my work table.You can see my breakfast is there as well. I'll confess that I emptied the overflowing trash before I took the picture. I didn't think you needed to see that.
I admit to being a pack rat. I think it comes as a consequence of being frugal. (I guess you could just read cheap.) I love to be creative and that means I need supplies, often expensive supplies. So I'm always on the look out for deals and sales and good stuff from other people's sewing rooms. I try to collect ahead for when I might have a need and I always save leftover supplies (even scraps) for the future. Sometimes this gets out of hand.
My husband teases me still about the two boxes he moved into our first apartment. They were labeled "large material scraps" and "small material scraps." I guess you could say they were part of my hope chest! He has been moving them around ever since. I don't think I'm a hoarder, except perhaps with fabric, and maybe fiber. But I do have a lot of craft tools and supplies and I find that it is hard for me to pass up a good deal. I've been thinking and realize that I have to do something
I took a picture of the hope chest. It has been sitting open because I need to re-organize that as well! You can see there is no room for the Pink & Brown kitchen set in there. Time to shift some things to the "auxiliary" hope chest!
We who are frugal have the biggest trouble organizing. We want to save everything, have smaller homes, and larger families! Or something like that. Sorry that I don't have any suggestions, except to pray for guidance. I visit taught a sister who had thirteen children (in sixteen years). When they moved to a new area for her husband's job, they bought the largest house they could afford, but it was still too small for their family. She prayed for inspiration on how to organize things. She related that the ideas just flowed into her head and she instituted them immediately. Life was smoother and they successfully raised all those children. I met her much later and knew her oldest daughter who corroborated her mom's story. He who organized an earth can help us organize a sewing room.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Rozy Lass! I really should exercise some faith here. Thanks for the reminder. ;o)
DeletePinterest has some pretty good organization ideas for small space living.
ReplyDeleteThat's my problem Carolyn, I follow crafts stuff on Pinterest, creating more fun ideas, which in turn requires more supplies! I guess I need to find a great organizing board to follow, as well. I have done a search for "fabric organizing" and found a few ideas, some beautiful and out of reach and some more doable. Now I have to find the space to implement, sort the stuff and afford the container.
Deleteuse the search phrase "craft room organization on a budget diy". you may already have some of the stuff in your craft stash
DeleteThanks, Carolyn! I'm finding a lot of cute ideas. Don't hesitate to send me pins if you run across them.
DeleteWhat a wonderful problem to have! People who love you and want to visit and lots of fabric! Good luck! We don't have a "sewing room" so my fabric is tucked in sweater boxes under our bed, the sewing machine is in the front closet, my rotary mat is under the couch and a couple baskets of ribbons and needles are tucked into a kitchen cupboard. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true! I've been without any space for a lot of years, when the rooms were all filled up, so I should really feel grateful and I do. My other crafts are still spread out. Other crafts are still spread around the house. Books and some supplies on a shelf in the middle of the hallway, industrial shelf filled with supplies by the linen closet, 2 spinning wheels and wool in the living room, a loom for weaving out in the shed (instead of the living room) and more stuff in my bedroom. I'm in terrible shape - really!
DeleteIt might not be the most aesthetically pleasing option, but maybe some simple open shelving on the wall above the hope chest? Some cute baskets or boxes to store things in would make it easy to organize things and make it look nicer. You can get simple shelf brackets at Home Depot, and they'll cut the boards for the shelves right there in the store for you. You and Abby could probably install them yourselves (or I happen to know this handy guy who could help you out when he's in the neighborhood).
ReplyDeleteI've actually been thinking about that very thing Diedre - because it is vertical space that is unused. I'm trying to think of some kind of free standing shelf that could span the hope chest. When Abigail moves out I'm going to confiscate her room. Then this room will revert to a guest room only, (and if you believe that...) so I'm hoping to avoid holes in this wall.
DeleteIt's too bad there's not one of these stores in NM...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.containerstore.com
Yes! Would love that. The website looks so good. I would love to visit a store. The nearest is Tucson or Phoenix.
DeleteWhat a great opportunity to give Abigail some experience and education on frugal organization. I would suggest starting with some boxes (getting as many of the same type and size as possible), covering them with fabric or paint, and using a bit of decoupage. These can hold fabrics and other larger items.
ReplyDeleteNext, collect those wonderful cereal boxes. Use the same techniques for decorating, but they can be used to organize office supplies, become magazine holders, desktop storage, etc.
I love the idea of bracketed shelving. A pretty trim around the shelf edge can really change the look.
For the closet, you can purchase inexpensive sweater cubbies, that attach to the rod, which can hold both storage boxes and in-process projects.
Finally, I would move the furniture around a bit. If you move the sewing desk closer to the closet, then you have a work station. If the bed can be rotated, with the head under the window, then I would suggest moving the storage cabinet to the current location of the desk. The rocker could be moved a bit further into the corner (where the boxes are) and keep the hope chest in the same location. It could be used as a surface if you are sitting in the chair.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!! I am going to be moving, in the next month, and will have a dedicated sewing room. I am sure that I will be asking the same questions. ;-)
I love this blog. I am starting a hope chest for my 9 year old daughter. Many dreams to follow, I'm sure.
Thanks so much for your thoughts Michelle - I can tell you've done a bit of organizing in your time. I do like the idea of covered cardboard, not just because it is frugal, but because it seems prettier than plastic. Unfortunately, I can't move furniture because when the bed is turned it is too long for the room. Closer under the window, it just sits in the middle of the room taking up all the space. Closer to where the desk is, it is too long for the door to open. I don't think this room was designed for a double bed and anything else. Now that you mention it though, I will think again - and the closet is certainly underused as well.
DeleteWow Kathleen, thanks for the mention. And now my craft room is in total disarray. We totally cleaned out 1/2 the room so we could start ripping out the old, stained carpet and put down vinyl tile ~ so much cleaner looking. So my boxes are stacked on the sunporch and my sewing machines are blocked by the bookshelf ~ hopefully the project will be done by the end of the weekend. One urge to clean my space it is the cut through room from the driveway to the kitchen (used to be a carport the former owners enclosed) ~ everyone goes through this room to get into our house. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Another suggestion for containers and baskets is Dollar Tree is y'all have one. Or even Walmart at their after Easter sales for baskets. Have fun organizing!
ReplyDeleteWell, it is always one thing or another that causes disarray, isn't it - in real life that is! And people trooping through your space would certainly be a motivation to get things organized! I was pretty impressed with the thought of you cutting up all your fabric into designated pieces - that certainly gives you a head start on your projects, as well as organizing.
DeleteThank you, Kathleen. It heartens me to know I am not alone. Our house has 2 1/2 baths: master, jack & jill between the 2 guest rooms, and the half is inside my craft room. Since I don't really want people going into my room all the time, and it's somewhat of a maze getting to the j&j, every guest has to see my mess of a craft room! It is a large room, and has tons of shelving, so I really have no excuse for the mess. Most of my shelves are free-standing bookcases and cubbies, but I wouldn't worry about putting holes in the walls to put up brackets. They can be fairly easily patched when the time comes, and if the patches aren't perfect, you could always hang a quilt or something on that wall. Also, I wouldn't hesitate to put floor to ceiling shelves in the closet...you could always put some over-the-door hooks on the back side of the door for guests' hung clothing. Now I need to get to work on my own organization. :)
ReplyDeleteKath -- I am glad for your commiseration. Magazines and now the internet certainly make it seem like everyone has it together in a perfect home. I think we are more alike that we think, behind the scenes! Thanks for your suggestions. We rented for so long that, even after twenty four years, I'm still afraid of holes in the wall! And, yes, that closet needs an overhaul.
DeleteI laughed when I saw your photos and read your post, Kathleen, especially this: You are probably thinking "How does she even work in that mess!" I understand how you work there because I do very much the same thing (except my room is a tad larger). A year or so ago I photographed the room where I work (we call it the library because it started out as our homeschool supply room when we first moved here) in segments so they overlapped. You know how looking at a photograph somehow makes the view more objective. What a shock it was to look at those photos and see the mess that I can so easily overlook when I'm intent on some project or other.
ReplyDeleteI have just a few ideas, though I know you're already in progress with this. The shelves that are above your sewing machine could be wider, giving you more space. I know lots of people use under-bed plastic storage containers on wheels. They don't give much depth but they would hold smaller craft supplies. I agree with the shelves above the hope chest.
I'm like you and buy supplies for a future (possible) need when I see them on sale but I'm at an age where I need to begin thinking about using up what I have instead of adding to it.
I think you have another post about this room. I'll go read that now.
--Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)