I unexpectedly ended up cleaning up my craft closet a bit yesterday afternoon.  I’m trying to make room for some sewing machine accessories which led to pulling down containers, exploring the contents, putting them aside, pulling down more containers… You can see where this is going.  Ugh.  So much crap.  But I might use it again…someday.

I am torn.  I’ve been inspired by Gran who recently emailed me that she’s trying to get rid of something every day, and is trying to be very honest about whether the item is really going to get used. Keri made me think about how we use 20% of our stuff 80% of the time.  I have some things in my closet that I have not touched in years.  I think I just need to bite the bullet and let them go.  I need to make space for the things I do and will use.  So I should throw out the craft paint that I bought 7 years ago and only used once, right?  I’m usually able to make these tough decisions. For some reason, it is easier for me to do with clothes than craft supplies.  Sigh…  Even Bill has made some tough decision with electronics recently.

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I took a break for a couple of hours and came back with a fresh perspective.  I emptied out a bunch of things and ended up with two shopping bags worth of stuff to purge.  The closet doesn’t really look all that different, but it is.  I’ve put new stuff in to replace the stuff that I took out, but I guess that’s the point, isn’t it.  To create more space?

I put together a list of the stuff and Bill’s going to put it up for sale at work.  Whatever doesn’t get sold will get donated. Bottom line, I’ve got less stuff to deal with.

Over the summer, I found a dresser at a garage sale. It was in need of some serious TLC, but I saw potential. Fast forward three months or so, and I finally got around to working on it. I sanded it and primed it and painted it and then realized I hadn’t done a good job of sanding it. Or washing it before the priming. Back to the beginning; I resanded it. The top had some serious damage to it, lots of scratches and stuff etched into it. I thought the paint would fill in the scratches (lazy talk). This time around, I sanded the crap out of it. And then I really did a good job washing it. I re-primed and re-painted and this time I was very happy with the job. I used spray primer and paint to get a smooth finish, and I used glossy paint. My big splurge was the hardware which I got at restoration hardware. I looked at Home Depot, but wasn’t impressed. Anthropologie had/has some nice hardware, but RH had the look I was going for. I lined the drawers with wrapping paper from the Container Store. It can’t be seen, but if the drawers ever empty out some, it will be there. Bill installed the hardware for me, and my dresser was finally done. $25 for the dresser, around $25 for supplies (paint and sand paper, etc) and let’s say a bit more for the hardware. Not a bad investment for a pretty & very solid piece of furniture. Whatcha think?

I’m using the dresser in my craft studio for my sewing stuff. The top drawer is for my notions (zippers, ribbons, bias tape, purse handles, etc.). The second drawer (in the photo) holds he majority of my crafting fabric (as opposed to my garment fabric). The fourth drawer holds some of my more special garment fabric as well as some heavy weight fabrics. And the third drawer. Well, that’s the one drawer that is left. It will hold more crafting fabric, and I’m hoping there might be space for my buttons.

The folding of the fabric is quite tedious. Bill has been a treasure and helped me with some of the folding. And if there’s a good movie on, the folding goes quickly. I’m hoping that I can finish the third drawer today and be done with the project. That will be a big accomplishment!

I’ve been working on my craft room, trying to get stuff put away once and for all. I know I’ve said that before. I’m trying hard to get to the point where everything is away and tidy and I can concentrate on the projects. This is the closest I have been to that goal.