The end of 2012 ended up being a little hectic in my world. I ended up juggling working three contracts for IT Training on top of doubling my commitment in running the shop, and trying to get stock made for Christmas. Unfortunately there was also a bereavement in my family – my father passed away in November.
Because I was constantly just trying to keep my head above water with everything that was happening, my workroom, which is usually terribly disorganised (to say the least) has descended into utter chaos. Which is sad, because just before everything started getting so hectic, one of my good friends had come over and helped me start out on a big reorganisation project (she loves organising things even more than making things, so I sat and sewed for her while she tidied for me. WIN/WIN!).
This state of chaos can no longer continue – I need a massive tidy up.
In my head, I have long had visions of transforming my basement into the kind of studio that people want to pin, or that gets featured on Design Sponge or Apartment Therapy. The catalyst for my actually getting this done (I hope!) came the other day, when one of my friends who is moving house posted on Facebook that she had a large desk to dispose of… it was listed on TradeMe, so I made sure I had the winning bid. And then I foolishly went around to pick it up from her while my husband is at work, forgetting about the fact that we have one of the most convoluted driveways you’ve ever come across (it is steep, it has a hairpin turn, at the top of a cliff). I’m sure my friend thought I was crazy picking it up on my own, especially as I failed miserably at trying to back the trailer into her driveway (which is not quite as convoluted as mine, but does have a bridge that needed manoeuvering around). As I drove myself and my new desk home, I quietly reassured myself that my parents bought me up that I can do whatever I need to. And so, I managed to back the trailer into the narrow entrance to our house. What you can’t see from here is how steep the bend actually is – so steep the car refused to go any further up.
From here, I managed to drag the desk along the rest of the driveway, and into the garage. Where it is now sitting.
In order to be able to fit it into my workroom, I’m going to have to do a bit of a tidy up. I tweeted about this yesterday, and a lovely local crafter tweeted asking if I took
‘before’ photos so us other messy studio people feel better?
Actually, I did. And I’m about to make every other crafter on the planet feel better about the state of their workroom.
I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t actually bring myself to take photos of what’s through the door that leads to the garage, where my cutting table lives. My cutting table did double-duty as a dining table when we had a bbq last week for Waitangi Day, and there is a massive desk hanging out there right now, so things are a little disorganised in there at the moment. You’ll just have to use your imagination. 🙂
So, ultimate plans will include some actual renovations through this area – painting at the very least, but also possibly adding in some underfloor insulation above the ceiling, and maybe relining the external wall so it looks tidier. But that will all take time. Stage one of the make-over is just to get it tidy – and keep it that way!
