A few weeks ago I felt like my office was going to collapse under its own weight. It used to be this neat and organized little room of my house that I enjoyed working in. I do all my blog design, real paid work, quilting, handbag making, landscape design and any other messy project known to man in this one little room. It has to be confined otherwise it will consume our entire house. I have a tendency to not put away anything. This includes, but is not limited to, shoes, coats, handbags, clothing, dishes and especially coffee cups. The same goes for my office. I will start a project, mostly finish it and then leave the supplies out for weeks. I will work on a quilt in a 1’x1′ space. I used to sew standing up because the only other table than our dining room table to put my sewing machine on was my drafting table. The top of it was 3 1/2′ off the ground and the pedal cord was too short to make it all the way to the floor. I had to put the pedal on a step stool. Despite the fact that my office is simply too small to hold all of the supplies I need to do all the projects I do, I still manage to find a home for all of it. Unfortunately, it had gotten to the point that I was shoving and stuffing everything into nooks and crannies that no longer existed. It looked like this:
and if you turned around it looked like this:
Then if you turned to the side it looked like this:
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I cleaned. There wasn’t that much stuff to actually throw away. It was more a lot of putting things where they are supposed to go. I also got rid of the drafting table and moved the original desk from here back in to replace it. I can now sit down to sew. What a concept! The sewing machine sits on the cutting mat so I only have to move the machine rather than drag the mat into the dining room. This eliminates the worry of am I going to get gooey macaroni & cheese on a project. I took out the rug that the cat was using as a scratch mat, but I still use the ironing board as a makeshift table. Actually it is used more as an ironing board, but I have it low so I don’t have to stand up. I roll to the ironing board and roll back to the sewing machine. I have a rolling rubbermaid cart that I pull out from under the desk to make more space too. It’s a room I actually enjoy working in now rather than wondering if Jimmy Hoffa is going to jump out and scare me half to death.
See:
And again:
And you can turn all the way around without losing a limb:
I cracked up at the Jimmy Hoffa comment. A few years ago a prisoner gave a tip to Jimmy Hoffa’s body’s location — buried in a home right across from my parents’ house. Seriously. Alas, he wasn’t there. The people that lived there and had their yard dug up by forensics crews were PISSED!
Did I tell you that in my new house (when we sell this stupid house and I build my next adventure) I am going to do a jill and jill set up for the girls. One room the watermelon we have now and one room your turquoise!
Nice job.
Your “messy” office looks way cleaner than my “clean” office, reading this felt like a dare. I don’t want to clean my office!
Ooh, looks great. My back bedroom is my ‘project room’ but I need to get it more in shape. At this point, I’ll just be happy to get back & see that room. And we are on your bulletin board!!
Look’s nice.. Love the blue color on the walls… I so need a space of my own ( sigh)
Hmmm…my place is in need of a good cleaning. I pay reeeaaaal good too.
Your office looks great! I just cleaned my hotel room for the first time- I mean cleared out all of the millions of papers we have been given since we arrived. It is a really nice feeling- so I bet you are feeling really good too.
Great job but my question is – Where did the “bag of yarn for starfish go??” JK no rush on that, I’m just going to add it to the mess over here.
pretty impressive work! I, like Lauri, love the color of that room… very happy blue!