is not very easy for me. I have too much stuff. Anyone in this boat with me? I am really frustrated that I have so much. I have been in my studio all day trying to sort through the mess. I thought I would get up here, clean up a bit and get crafty......NOT! I haven't even made a dent in it! So, I have no wonderful post about organization. Can you help a sister out?
I have this book, The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker, and I can't even look at it. It's so depressing! All the rooms in there are so cute and neat and tidy. I have lots of cropper hoppers, paper racks, drawers, cabinets, counter space and rubbermaids, buckets, jars, and baskets.....just no sort of organization. They are all really cute, too!
I would love to have ideas, inspiration, motivation, or anything you might have to get this place CLEAN! If I can sort through it all, I might just put together a big box of goodness to share with the comment that gets me through it! (don't forget I am a former store owner and have LOTS of stuff!) I promise it won't be old, worn out Heidi Swapp......did I just say that out loud? No offense to Heidi....I used to LOVE that stuff!
So, I will surf the net and send you to some of the best ideas I've found! How about this....I mean, if you have an unlimited supply of money or you do this stuff to make a very nice living, you would do something like this: Donna Downey I could LIVE in there! Or, if you don't have a room designated for "Scrapbooking and all things Crafty", you might do something like this: Virginia Tillery. I couldn't get it to link directly to the pictures of her craft space, but you should dig around on her blog anyway....you will find lots of cool stuff to inspire you!
Don't forget to post your inspiring and motivating comments. I need HELP! I promise to make the box REALLY big!!
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if i could help you, i so would - but my stuff is such a mess right now. i have that book, too and i love looking at all the pretty organized rooms, but i wonder what it would look like when they actually USE it - you know it gets messy!! i think for me the trick would be that i need to get rid of stuff. if i'm not using it - maybe it should go and make room for other goodies, the things i really like and use often!! this is so hard for me!!!
0h I am there... cleaning out my CTMH this week- I am having a Junk in my Trunk sale on Saturday at the store, I also have lots of STUFF , old and new... my Favorite storage lately is I store all my kits on a paper rack, I hung a piece of slatwall and use really long hooks to hang all my un-pened by type thickers, christmas, baby, the ones that I open and I only use part of go in small storage drawers, I have six sets from target, glue, inks, tools, etc. I am not convinced that these perfect rooms exist... good luck
The only way I got organized was I moved! Seriously!! I put up floor to ceiling shelves. Before I even opened a box, I labeled all of my drawers, jars, magazine holders, etc. then started to fill them. If they got full, a labeled another item and put a "2" on it (I had to do that a lot with my embellishments!!). It worked for me!!
GOOD LUCK! I know how much stuff you had when I worked at the store!! :D
PS--I'm not an angel. My room gets messy when I work, but I've had to force myself to clean the room at least once-a-month.
I love your space and think the best way to tackle it is to begin on the far left and go top to bottom all the way down and then move to the island and then move to the closet. It is ok to throw things out, put things away, or give them to a friend if you look at it and can't envision what you would do with it. I know you can do it! Spring is coming and the inspiration that you can get from the beautiful flowers, birds, and budding trees you will want to use in your projects. So get that room in tip top shape and ready to create!
It is so funny to read your post. I was just there. I also have the book, even subscribe to Aby's blog and newsletter...
For what is is worth here is my 2 cents...
I just decided to ruthlessly go through all of my stuff. If I didn't love it and want to scrap with it right now then I sorted into several boxes. For scrappy friends (new or really good stuff), for my niece who loves all crafty stuff, and then to be donated (I take stuff to peds unit at the hospital where I work, the will take anything).
After clearing out all of this stuff I really thought about how I scrap...and decided to set up my space based on that. I organized my embellishments into colors because I am not someone who thinks, oh I need a brad, I am a I need something blue kind of girl. I keep my basic colored ribbon in a pull-ez and all others on a super cheap curtin rod so I can see everything. I have small bins of bling, rub-ons and basic chipboard within reach. All other embellishments are sorted by themes in artbin boxes (which are labeled and stacked up on an old buffet). My frequently used tools and supplies are in bins on my table. I have a basket of to be filed and new goodies on my side table. I used whatever fit best for the item and in the space (not based on how cute it was or what worked for other people).
Through this process I realized I am a pretty simple scrapper as far as my pages go. I love new tools and techniques, but the most important thing is getting my stories recorded. My "art" or "creative" outlet is satisfied by mini albums, tags and atc's so those supplies are kept on another smaller table in similar categories.
I would say that just like finding you scrapping style you need to find your organizational style. It doesn't have to be cute or pretty, just needs to work for you!
As far as inspiration try...
http://craftystorage.blogspot.com/
http://wookiemouse.blogspot.com/
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
I put things away, but neglect to label them, so I forget that I have them. Hah!
Seriously, I think before you can organize, you have to declutter. Otherwise, you're just moving stuff around.
I've been going through my stuff and have thrown away or given away things.
I don't have a very good system, I blame it on not having the right storage containers, or shelving, etc. But really, it's just that I have too much stuff!
Purge!
By the way, I'll be happy to take your castaways! :)
Oh, I just reread your instructions for the comments, how they're supposed to be inspiring. Sorry that my comment wasn't inspiring at all!
I've been watching Clean House on Lifetime (I think it's lifetime) and the professionals are ruthless about getting rid of stuff. That's because there's no personal connection to the things. Maybe you can ask a friend to help you go through things and objectively decide what's a must keep, and what can be given away. :) Maybe donate to that girl's charity Jessica in TN works with.
I just went thru the same thing, my scrap room got so messy I just couldn't function. My suggestions is to pick one thing to pick one area and start there, for me it was paper and if I didn't LOVE it or had 10 sheets of it, to the yard sale pile it went, then I moved on to ribbon, you get the idea. I love the cubes you can get from Michaels and I have a variety of the different ones and it made a HUGE difference in my organization. Don't know how inspiring that was, but maybe it helped. And just think if you clean out how much more room you will have for new stuff!! :)
LOL i have that book too! as some of you may know, i am close to finishing up a 2 month overhaul of my space (i have 2-3 weeks left to finally be done!) i find that the real key for me was to take the plunge & box up everything in the room & empty the space completely. it's not pretty & has even been hazardous in my loft & hallway for weeks now, and 5 weeks in i was SICK of sorting- but it's really almost there & i can see how far i've come. i've purged TONS...and i LOVE everything that i decided to keep- and am actually more excited to create than ever! {{BIG HUGS}} and best wishes!
I think we are all in or have been on this slippery sloop a time or two or twelve. I also just went through this process...again. I am fortunate to have an extra bedroom that I was able to renovate a few years ago. While I did a great job then things definitely needed to be cleaned up again and I needed to really focus on my closet.
I waited until my hubby went out of town for a week then I totally unloaded that closet which took over my entire dining room and living room. Then my good scrappy friend came over and said "you really dont need that, what are the chances you are going to use that, I pitched mine of that item". It really helped me get rid of a lot of stuff. I also tried to only pick it up once and QUICKLY make a decision of keep/toss/donate. I purchased two of the 9 place cubbies at Target, I also spotted them at Lowes. I bought the fabric boxes that go in them, hung a tag off the front to say what was inside and wholah...lot's of things stored away neat and tidy. I stacked them next to each other with a little space between them. I put a long board on top for a counter top and a place to put my sewing machine and a my stool goes underneath in the space between the cubby shelves.
Now my CLOSET...YEAH!! It was a standard double bedroom closet with bi-fold doors. I removed the doors which instantly made my room seem more open. I removed the bar and shelf above it. I then installed a new bar way up high and all of my scrappy kits hang from pant hangers, easy to reach but out of the way. On each end of the closet I installed shelves. CHEAPOLA and easy. Again, I used the cloth bins from my cubbies, labeled them and put them on the shelves. I built a shelf all the way across that sits the same height as my work table. This is where my lap top and printer sit. Now I can easily move between my scrap table and computer. I had three cupboards that I put underneath the work table in my closet. I store books, and other things I don't get at too often. Again, these are the build-it-yourself cupboards that you find at Target, Lowes etc. Relatively inexpensive. And finally, I purchased two 4x4 sheets of metal from the hardware store and attached them to the back of the closet and now I have a fabulous big magnetic board.
Did I say how much I LOVE this new space. And I did it all by myself. Sorry this was so long. Good luck you can do it. Just go in with the right frame of mind and git-er-done.
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