The Neverending Story (of a room organization without a plan)

August 21st - Weary Wednesday

I don't know about you, but I used to make plans.

Whenever we would move into another house or if I planned to change around one of my rooms, I would haul out my graph paper, draw out the room(s) to scale, measure out all the pieces of furniture that would go into the room(s) to scale, and then arrange my room(s) on paper.  It was anal, yes.  But it did not result in a broken back or a broken spirit.  Is my back truly broken?  Probably not, although there are muscles and ligaments in it that are insisting they will never function normally again.  Is my spirit broken?  Ask me after I have another cup of coffee.

This time I'm taking it straight from the bag...

Yeah, that hit the spot.  No, this room has not yet broken my spirit.  I finished my coffee and moved everything around again.  When I didn't like the way things "felt" the way I had moved the furniture around and I knew it was disorienting, I realized it wouldn't work.  Let me just say this:  I am really, really getting tired of moving extremely heavy pieces of furniture back and forth around my room.  I'd rather be creating.

This is what I began with early this morning.

Note how each side is "stuffed" into the corner.  This is the layout I woke up to.

And after feeling totally disoriented typing on my laptop and looking around the room, I knew I wouldn't be able to live with this layout.  If I had stuck to my former graph paper ways, this would never have happened.

So, after some very strong coffee and a whole lot of ugly language and some screaming muscles, I wound up with this layout.

Note how the table and the desk are both up against the window wall.
Sad to say, the two towers from Ikea are back to being side-by-side
 which is what I began with yesterday.

Okay, after taking this layout for a spin I can honestly say it doesn't make me feel claustrophobic or disoriented.  So I can begin the chore of clearing up.

August 22nd - Clean-Up Thursday

As I was beginning this ordeal, someone told me "Small bites, Heidi, small bites."  If I could have done this over the course of a few weeks it would have been easier.  Sad to say, I could have started earlier, but my natural-born procrastination got in the way and, of course, I'm working to beat a deadline now.  Why a deadline?  Well, Friday, Saturday and Monday will be my Open Houses.  Three of them?  You know what summer is like--it's hard when dates don't work so this way I can accommodate more people on days that they can make it to my house.  In theory, this is a great idea.  With the upheaval in my Craft Room where all the Open House "magic" happens, I am definitely becoming a tad stressed out.  

Bottom line:  this is the way the layout will remain because I have to begin getting ready.  There are samples to make, make-n-takes to prepare, and countless little things left to do.

As I move into the afternoon, this is what the room looks like.  

Clutter, yes.  But I have managed to give myself more room on each side of the room by having the brown table and my desk at the end of the room, by the window.  Today's job is to tidy up, move the table that you can just see a piece of into the centre of the room, and get prepared for my first Open House.  Tomorrow is going to come quickly.  Luckily no-one will arrive before 5:00 p.m.

Stay tuned for pictures of the finished result.

P.S. Hurrah for cork floors.  All this moving around of furniture and not a mark to show for it.