We live in a 4 bedroom home with 2 kids. Our little guys share a room (by choice) and use another as a playroom (that will morph into a nursery when the adoption is finalized), but that left us with the final bedroom as our office. Since it was full of things we didn't want the kids touching it became the room with the door always shut, and eventually the dumping ground for anything we didn't know what to do with. It also meant that any time we wanted to use the computer we had to shut the door to keep the kids out. Last spring we decided to change that and move the computer downstairs and to make some space for it, we moved the sewing machine upstairs. For several months I would lock myself in that room whenever I wanted to craft, but it was so crowded and messy it definitely didn't provide a comfortable creative spot.
Two months ago I just couldn't take the mess and disarray of it all and at about 10 at night I suggested an all out clean-up and swap around with some furniture from our bedroom. My sweet husband obliged and we spent the next 90 minutes switching and moving and stacking till we settled with the sewing machine next to the bed, our bedroom chairs moved to the office and a lovely little spot in our room that was just for me! It was wonderful... until I tried to sleep. I could hear all of the unfinished projects whispering at me from the table next to me and found it completely impossible to sleep. First thing the next morning I told my husband I just couldn't stand it and that, with his permission, I would switch and swap all day till I got it right. Which I did. In the end, I pretty much settled back with everything the way it had started, except for switching some bookshelves from the office with the chairs from the bedroom. I did a lot of organization and cleanup and ended up with this:
I love it! I've got a whole side of a room for my things: a storage shelf to house all my yarn, books, and accessories; a board to keep all my current and future projects in mind; a large desk for all my sewing needs; and not pictured: crates for storing fabric and batting and even some chairs to sit in and knit or crochet, or read a story to the kids. Now its still not perfectly clean, but it is a room the kids can enter. They love to help me put pins back in the pincushion as I pull them out while sewing or look through my button stash while I search for the right one for a project. Its a room that invites me to come, create, and leave a mess if I need to go be with my kids in the middle of a task. I can still just close the door and clean up later.
This is the site I ran into yesterday morning when I entered what I have lovingly come to think of as "my space". I left this quilt top partially finished yesterday because my little sweeties needed some time with mommy and it just couldn't wait. This is proof - evidence that this crafting thing I do is no longer a hobby, but is actually forming into part of my daily life and someday maybe a sustainable living. On the machine you can see one quilt top, and on the chair another. These two will become baby quilts (like this one) to given by a friend to a lovely woman expecting twins. On the little table to the right is my bluebird and one of the burp cloths from the matching set. Under the chair is a bag of yarn waiting to be turned into another baby wrap sweater, this one being a commissioned baby gift. On the chair is a box of yarn and patterns for Christmas presents.
Now I said we decided to make room for the things WE love, not just me. So the other side of this space is partially taken up with my hubby's hobby, home recording and music. The rest of the space is for our books; we're a family that loves to read! I hope as the kids age that this will become a special room for us - a place to create, to imagine, to express ourselves. (I also hope its a room I can figure out how to organize a little better as time goes on!)
That's wonderful! Looks great!
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