or
Keepin’ It Real
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My Dirty Little Secret
It is a New Year. Usually I don’t have New Year’s Resolutions (as you will see from the photos below), my life is just lived a bit more haphazardly. Remember that girl up there in my header is me—skipping along, stuff falling out of the wagon and while I never want to let go of the shear bliss of creating, it is time to let in some organization.
I would love to open this up for a group project as I am always willing to receive help and take advice. However, I remember not too long ago when I asked for your best organizational tips many of you seemed as befuddled as me (hehe). I will put it out there again. What should I do? How do you do it?
I will post a new photo of my room the 1st day of each month this year. Hopefully this will document the progress I have made! Any companies out there that want to take me on as their personal project—don’t hesitate to apply!
Turn away now if you are squeamish!
The Room
The Closet
A crazy shaped nook built into the wall where I stuff fabric
I have started reading Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
. I would love to implement his system. I do wonder what he would do with all of the #6 plastic containers waiting patiently to be made into Shrinky Dinks? You can take a little quiz to test your Getting It Done IQ at his website.
I realize by posting these photos Martha will never want to be my BFF! I do feel the need to explain the photos (my husband even said he was embarrassed for me)—-it takes so much stuff to do all the projects here at Skip to my Lou, the room is too small, I don’t have money to buy more organizational aides(and obviously don’t know how to use what I do have), I have three kids, I am so busy, on and on………but really!
Help!
I think that you should fly me out and I will do it for you! I am just a simple stay at home mom but I work really hard to keep things in order. I would organize it for you as long as you would work me on a good/normal budget for boxes and containers to keep you all together when I am not there! I live in Washington. Let me know I am serious! –emily
About FlyLady: people seem to love her scheme or hate it. Just so you know ahead of time, in case you’re one who doesn’t love it.
About #6 plastic: don’t cut off the sides! (someone up there suggested that) They make some of the neatest effects. I used cup shaped ones from a store bakery muffin container, and was quite surprised and pleased when they went flat as they shrank. It makes it all the more magical to watching kids…
I have no advice but LOTS of sympathy because I’m in the EXACT same place. I odered the David Allen book. I wish us both luck!
Oh thank goodness, I’m not the only one!
Thank you!
I so know the pain of a messy craftroom! I finally (cross my fingers) have a place for everything so it’s much easier to clean up when I’m done with a craft frenzy. 🙂 I love flylady (especially her advice to set a timer). I also really love Julie Morgenstern’s book, “Organizing from the Inside Out.” I think I only read half the book before I could get to work and that part was a fast read. Definitely worth buying in my opinion, but the library has copies, too. Once I did a room or two using her system, FlyLady got much easier for me.
best of luck to you!!
Hi cindylouh,
I’m a newcomer to Skip to My Lou, but I thought I’d chime in anyway. Except, my comment kept growing, and growing, and growing. Before I knew it, it had grown into it’s own blog post:
http://thepassionatemind.blogspot.com/2009/01/treatise-on-organizing.html
I hope this helps, and that it’s not too redundant (as I’ve used up all my bloggy time typing that, and have to go make dinner instead of reading previous comments! lol)
Hth, and thanks so much for the great projects you’ve posted here!
That book looks like a good start. I can’t say much because my room looks worse than yours BUT I know that it can be done. I do have pockets of organization in my life. I have used the FLY Lady and the Slob Sisters and have had a lot of help from them. They understand the disorganized mind. They know how we think and how to work with it instead of telling us just to put things away they tell us how WE do it. :o) We aren’t lazy just busy.
I think I should take your challenge to take a picture of my craft room but and very chicken. It is frightening.
This was an awesome post. Thanks for sharing! Its hard to be an organized creative person!
Also, I fold my fabric this way:
http://sassypriscilla.typepad.com/sassy_priscillas_craft/2007/06/fabric_folding_.html
I did it a couple years ago and it stays that way. I think it is amazing (and not my own idea).
For patterns, I put them in comic book sleeves with the comic book backing. It keeps them stiff and neat and also archival safe!
Oh thank goodness that I am not the only one. I don’t have a craft room, though. Just the dining room which is smack dab in the middle of the house! The thought of unannounced company puts me in a panic.
I think you have a lot of great components of organization. The thing you might want to do is organize on a monthly basis by getting rid of some things and rearranging the others. It helps you keep stock of what you have so you don’t overbuy, donate what you wont’ use and it can be inspirational! This way things don’t get out of hand, either.
I don’t see a bulletin board – you may want to add that so you can organize your projects, or even a calendar.
Finally, I’ve been thinking a lot about something I read in Mary Englebreit magazine that Amy Butler said. She said that she doesn’t bring something into the house unless she absolutely loves it. Now that doesn’t help with some craft necessities. However, it may very well help with people like me who keep adding to their fabric stash just because of a good deal, or vintage, or cute.
Can’t wait to see your transition!
Check out the book “Where Women Create” by Jo Packham. The entire book is dedicated to showing off the studios of women artists. Perhaps you’ll feel inspired by the darling photos!
I just found your blog recently while searching for crafts to do with my children…thank you for the great ideas!
Allison
Do you know why your room looks like that?….Because you are creative. Creative people are messy. Keep in mind that Martha Stewart’s stuff only looks neat as a pin because she PAYS people to come up with the creative ideas, PAYS them to do all the prep work for a craft project and get it ready so that she can slam it together in 2 seconds flat on TV, and she PAYS someone to clean up her mess afterward, and she PAYS someone to organize her room with things donated by manufacturers for free publicity, and you don’t have a team of paid assistants helping you, so you can’t really compare yourself to her, because you aren’t comparing apples to apples. Does that make you feel better? I hope, because I have memorized the whole thing and recite it to myself each day to help me rationalize MY OWN mess, that, sorry to say, doesn’t stay confined to a single room – it spills out into every nook and cranny of my house. I’m just like you. If I have 30 extra minutes in the day, I’d rather scrapbook something, or make some sort of craft…cleaning and straightening up would rank right up there with root canal for how to spend that time. I have found that it helps to clear the room completely first so you can start from scratch, and you are not so overwhelmed by all the clutter that you can’t focus if it is all in the hallway or another room. Also, it gives you a deadline of sorts, because you certainly can’t go to bed tonight with the hallway full of your stuff. Also, after speaking with my doctor about how messy my house was and how difficult it was to concentrate on things and prioritize, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, and she gave me a prescription, and I have to tell you, my house has never been cleaner in nearly 20 years of marriage. Something to think about. And ADD’ers are known for being creative…..:)
Nothing like organizes chaos…..chances are you know exactaly where everything is…and how ironic that there is a bad from the Container Store in one of the pictures….ROFL
I don’t think I could ever give advise or make a sugestion I am in the process of giving my home and “enema” I got a 20 cubic yard dumpster and started in the attic and worked my way as far as the garage….dumpsters full so forget the basement….and what I didn’t throw out I freecycled( love that freecycle and you can find a ton of craft stuff through it!!!!!
If I come across any suggestions in the next few days I’ll let you know…I have a g/f that is a professional organizer and she told me that if I gut the junk out of the house she would organize me for free!!!!! FREE every crafters favorite word!!!
I love you for posting this. Thank you!!
Craft Spaces are very hard to organize. MY advice would be to start by sorting EVERYTHING…group like items together, fabrics, tools (glue guns, sewing machine, etc…) paints, ribbon…
Then Contain everything. I would get some clear plastic shoe boxes (which you can get for about $1 at Walmart. Use those for Ribbon, paint, glitter, buttons…..and LABEL..
For fabric, I’ve done this with mine and it is so worth it–go to a comic book shop and buy a pack of boards…(they are relatively inexpensive…I think a pack of 100 is less than $10…Fold your fabric in thirds the long way and wrap around the boards..they all stay the same size and stack neatly.
Put everything in those shelves…I bet it would all fit, once you organize it..
I know you don’t want to spend extra money but just in case…
I would, if possible extend those shelves to the end of the wall, I can’t tell from the picture but possibly hang another shelf above the top one(and use baskets to store and hide stuff) Also, I think a large work area instead of two smaller ones might work better in a small space. It would be simplify it a bit and open up more floor space so it feels a little more open in there…
If you were in FL I would so come do your craft room..
Good luck. I LOVE your tutorials–keep up the good work.