Craft Cave Reveal

Two + weeks into my Craft Cave clean up project and I'm now 3/4 of the way done.  Phew!  I've tossed some things, set others aside for my next yard sale, and re-organized many other items.

Remember this is how it looked before the latest clean up:

When it gets to this state I have to say I feel pretty overwhelmed.  I really struggle with where to start and how to tackle the mess.  Every time I turned around I would find more 'stuff' and wish it would all just go away.  But only partly, because then I would recall exactly what I had intended to do with most everything in the room.  It was pretty debilitating and I'll bet that some of you would think it wasn't a particularly good idea to tackle a project like this when I had just lost my job again and probably didn't need anything quite so taxing in my life.  But, I persevered and today I'm feeling pretty darn good about it.

And this is how it looked this afternoon after much effort.  Notice Maggie sitting like a statue?  She would neither look at me or move -- sassy girl!

The first Expedit is all sewing and quilting stuff now.  I bought the dotted and black cubes from Target, a big outlay of cash but I wanted the fabric protected from the sunlight and dust.  The second Expedit is now all yarn but I think some of that will be sold in my next yard sale in September.  It is actually quite freeing to have much of my yarn stash gone already.  I know someone else will love and use it and I no longer have to feel guilty about trapping it in my Craft Cave.

I've added several organizing pieces that I picked up for 40% off at Michael's on Sunday.  The picture above is a table I got at IKEA a while back as a yarn winding station.  Now it holds my AccuQuilt GO cutter and dies.  I'll be able to cut fabric right there and won't have to search for a table or use the floor.  That's my swift next to it with a cover my Chicken friend Sue made for me.  Next to the table is the basket from my first paper shredder that my roommate destroyed.  Notice I said 'first' -- the second one he destroyed is banished somewhere else in the house, awaiting disposal courtesy of me.  The basket now contains interfacing, fusible web, Silamide thread, etc.

Here's a couple of close-ups of the organizing pieces from Michael's:

I love finding new places for my craft items but I think even more, at least today, I love getting rid of things that are cluttering both my space and my mind.  It truly is freeing.  But remember I said I'm 3/4 of the way done.  There's still one corner I need to tackle tomorrow:

My computer desk has all sorts of things on it that truly do not belong there.  I've got documents and manuals to put away in my accordion file box.  Spent ink cartridges that need to be recycled.  This list goes on and on.  But.  I know I can do this.  I have to have a clean space so I can start launching my next career move and be prepared for what lies ahead.  

So tonight when I go to bed I'll be feeling much better than I have for a while.  Cluttered space leads to cluttered minds and that just makes me sleep poorly.  Not to mention that when I work hard I always sleep better and now I have something to show for my efforts.  Tomorrow I'll finish with my desk and then I'll be done with this room.  Yeah!