It's Coming Together

Before I ever began the process of renovating I took some graph paper and drew out a scale version of the new room’s shape. I then measured my furniture and took a piece of heavy cardstock and drew and cut-out squares and rectangles the size of all my furniture. I labeled each one so I would know what they were. 

This really helped me in designing my space. I must have tried a hundred designs before I settled on what I felt would work best. Before I decided to get my Kallex from Ikea I went online and got the measurements for the piece I wanted and made a rectangle to size to figure out the placement. It turned out to be too big, so I went with the next smallest size.  I also decided to get rid of several items because they were either not needed anymore, or I was able to consolidate my things to fit in 1 cabinet instead of two.

One end of the room complete

 As you can see, it was a perfect fit! I still have some more paper packs to put away, but I've gotten my stash to a much more reasonable amount.

  As I put things back into my newly renovated craft room I asked myself, “Do I really need that?” If the answer was “No.” then I would put it into my give away pile. If the answer was “Yes” then I would quiz myself.  “When will I use it?” “What will I use it for?”  ”How many of these do I really need?”  (you know what I mean!)  This question helped me really narrow down my paper stash. I had multiple sheets of the sane themed paper. I’d keep 2-3 and get rid of the rest.  And in the case of storage containers I asked myself, “Do I have something that will work better or hold more?”

Any paper that was faded, torn or wrinkled I threw away. The good sheets I packaged up by color and gave them to anyone that was interested. The rest I donated to a women’s shelter for their store.  I went through all of my paints, pens, and color pencils. If they were dried out, hard to write with, or I had duplicates they went into my give away box. Once something went in there it stayed in there and I tried to remove at least one box from the house weekly. I sold some of my equipment and furniture on an online garage sale. I’ve kept the money from the sales in an envelope and it’s now my rainy day craft fund.