This was a hard post to write. I realized after I had spent time putting it all together that it is basically a post about cleaning a room. I told my husband that the topic is probably not very riveting. My problem, though, is I find it very difficult to be creative in a chaotic environment. How ironic, since by the time November rolls around each year my Art/Craft/Sewing room (it needs a name) is a certifiable disaster area.
Exibit A:
This room has been used to create oil paintings, Ghost Buster costumes, choir costumes, Christmas crafts, and acts as a general dumping ground throughout the year. These photos were taken near the end of December and I thought I would clean it up quickly, take a few photos, and post about how nice and clean I made it. That was over two months ago. Please notice I could not actually walk anywhere in the room. I couldn’t walk to the craft shelves, I couldn’t walk to the closet, I couldn’t walk near the art desk or sewing machine. This was not very conducive to creativity. Frankly, I avoided being in this room because it was like one of those obstacle courses on Ninja Warrior.
So, I began at one corner and worked around the room clockwise. I went through every cubby and drawer. Two months later I found the floor. In the process I disposed of three large garbage bags of junk and filled the back of the car with Goodwill donations. I did not tackle the closet. Fiddle-de-dee, I’ll do that another day.
Now if you’re expecting the typical blogger post showing new flooring and fantastic storage solutions, sorry you’ll be disappointed. Nobody got no budget for that! Perhaps I should title this post “How to make a Creative Space on No Budget”. Yeah, tip one: clean the room.
Exhibit B:
I did make two physical changes to the space. This room gets very hot in the afternoons summer and winter. I changed the light weight floral drapes for some lined brown drapes that I had left over from my master bedroom. Even so, you can still see that light is shining through the heavier drapes. Now, light is great for painting, but not when you have heat exhaustion. The best time to paint in this room is the morning. I’m at work most mornings, so I have to compromise on the light situation.
I also changed out the drapery rods from heavy, hand-made wooden ones to slimmer black wrought-iron look rods. This is what I have been changing all the rods to throughout my home.
Secondly, I bought a basket for my small canvases. They were just piled in a mess under the desk. This desk by the way is an old mechanics bench that I bought at a local antique mall. It is the perfect height for working on paintings and crafts. The metal drawer at the front is where I now store all my extra paint brushes. I usually stand to work here which is why the stool is on the side.
And yes, that is a plastic Christmas motif table cloth over the desk. Not beautiful, not chic. The desk has a beautiful wooden surface that I can’t stand to see get paint and glue on it and that’s my current temporary solution to protect it.
A room ready for more creative processes, and plenty of walking space to each area. No Ninja Warrior moves necessary. Space for more messes. Space for more creativity.
I still have a mental list of things I’d like to do to improve this room. First of all, paint and carpet don’t mix. I’d like a wood laminate floor. Next, I’d love to reveal the wooden desktop. I want a glass sheet for the top. Expensive! I also would like a solution for storing the large canvases, both painted and unpainted. Finally, it could use some major redecorating, but since new purchases for this room are not at the top of my to do list, it will be awhile before this can be accomplished.
So now it is a place where I can create again. Wonder what it will look like in November!
Next post, I’ll show you more on the Baltimore Ravens wall plaque I made for my son. You can catch a glimpse of it on the desktop in the photo above.
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Thanks for reading,
Celeste
You did a great job organizing, and that is so hard to do in some places. I like the idea of wood laminate floor. Very practical.
Thanks Linda, it is a beginning. I hope I can show some more improvements in the future.
Wish this had been posted two weeks ago. I had a brand new framrless glass shower door that we never installed that I needed out of the way…it went into the dumpster still in the box. I have a feeling toot coukd have been cut down. That think was in the garage 6 years;I kept thinking surely someone would need a large piece of glass!
Congratulations on your forward progress. And, those were some pretty awesome Ghostbusters costumes that were created in that room!
Isn’t that the way it goes, too late again. Well it sounds like you got a little cleaning out done yourself.
Each year I vow to keep my costumes simple and it never happens. Next year I’m going as a church secretary.