before and after

a few weeks ago, i hosted a craft club meeting at my house.  it was the perfect excuse to finally clean out my craft room.  my craft room is my happy place.  it’s where i go to re-charge my creative batteries.  but usually when i’m in a creative mood, i’m not in a cleaning mood and can’t be bothered with finding new, appropriate homes for my current crafting obsession (whatever that may be) so… things pile up.  hide your eyes–here’s the before shots:

check out that huge stack of flannel prints on the floor!  and the overflowing wicker basket of “in progress” projects (and also a bunch of wool sweaters in need of felting).

and here’s my beading table.  i haven’t really done much beading lately, so it’s getting a little dusty (gross!).  there’s also a giant pile of “i’ll deal with this later” between the table and the door.

and after enough hours of working that the sun is no longer shining through the windows and the lighting for my camera has gotten really weird… the after shots!

hmmmm…. maybe, to the casual observer, this doesn’t look a whole lot better, but… trust me!  you can see the floor!  that’s big news in my craft room!

and here is my stash–sorted to better accommodate my most recent crafting obsession–quilting.  hidden away are the felted sweater scraps of yesteryear.  buried deep are the silky and velvety fabrics from my wrist-rest and eye pillow sewing days.  granted, i do still have an entire shelf of flannels (the only shelf with no blue plastic bin) which i use for things other than quilts, but the shelf below is stacked with fabrics appropriate for quilt backs.  and the blue bins are filled with quilting type materials, sorted by color.  the bottom shelf houses decorator weight fabrics and “waterproof” (vinyl, oilcloth, etc.) pieces.  and the best part?  no big stacks on the floor, blocking access to the stash!

and my beading table–all beading materials put away and covered for dust protection.  and that big blank space between the table and door?  helps me to breathe more easily.

it’s no perfect yet (ahem, don’t look in the closet.  and i’m not sure what all of that stuff on the corner of the table above is doing there), but i can once again relax and let the creative muses lead me where they will without tripping over anything.