I recently went through the process of cleaning out my craft room/office. I still have a few finishing touches to complete, but the hard part is done. I’ve organized and reorganized my office many times, but I finally came to the realization that I didn’t have an organization issue, I had a “stuff” issue. Too much stuff, to be exact. I was trying to “fit ten pounds of flour into a five pound sack.”
The result was an office that was always messy and cluttered and impractical and impossible to work in. I had no incentive to keep it cute or clean, so it was chronically a disaster.
The first step was sorting. This took hours. It was the kind of work that was hard to get motivated to do. I would just sit and stare at the stuff piled on those wire shelves and just wanted to walk out of the room and close the door, but we got through it. Here are some tips if you need to clean out your “cloffice” as someone on Twitter called it. (Who was that?)
Focus on one small section at a time.
If you look at the entire crafty/creativity bomb as a whole, it will be overwhelming. I worked on just one shelf at a time, so my progress could be easily measured and I had a logical place to stop when I needed a break.
Work with a friend.
I had Mini Mustard Seed to help me and she was tough. She saw the clutter for what it was and helped me think through decisions as well as how to reorganize things. Overwhelming work is easier with an extra set of hands and it’s also more fun.
Watch an episode of a hoarding show.
I say this seriously. If you’re like me, you are a prime candidate to become a hoarder. I see potential in almost everything and I don’t like to get rid of things I might need down the road. I also don’t like the thought of having to buy something in the future that I got rid of. When you watch a hoarding show, pay attention to the excuses people make about why they can’t get rid of something. While cleaning out my office, I found myself saying things that could’ve been on one of those episodes. “I keep these broken dishes, because I want to make a mosaic out of them.” It sounds harmless enough, but I’ve had them for about seven years. That mosaic project isn’t going to happen and those broken dishes are just taking up space. The truth is, I was holding onto those dishes because I was really sad they broke. I needed to admit that and let go of that emotional baggage, small as it was. I donated or trashed about 60% of what was in that room, because I really didn’t need it.
Keep what you REALLY use.
I love having a great stash of paper, ribbon, paints, fabric, feathers, glue, glitter…anything that I might need for a project. The truth is, my office was so cluttered that I would just go out and buy what I needed for a project, because I didn’t know I already had something that would work. I was so busy keeping things I thought I *might* use, that I couldn’t get to the things I really *needed* to use. Getting rid of the superfluous craft stuff has made my space functional and I thnk it will save me money in the long run.
Set limits.
I will only have fabric that will fit in my mirrored armoire, unless I buy it on a bolt for a specific project. I will only have paper that will fit in my paper drawer. You get the idea. I’ve set limits for myself, so it doesn’t get out of hand again. This means I have to change the way I shop and try to only buy exactly what I need and not extra stuff to have “on hand.”
Allow for overflow
There were things I needed to keep, but I didn’t need them in my office. Things that were seasonal or only used a few times a year were moved to the basement. I know not everyone has that luxury, but put excess in an attic, under a bed, in a closet or dresser. Just get it out of your way, so you can work unhindered by things you rarely use.
Make it pretty.
You (we) are more likely to keep a space beautiful if it’s…well…beautiful. I put the pretty things on display in furniture and containers that are my style. It’s functional, but looks nice, too. It’s a great incentive for me to keep it clean and tidy.
Contain.
Group like things together and use containers like crazy. Plastic bins, wire locker baskets, zipper bags, and pitchers keep everything contained. It also reinforces the “setting limits” rule. And it just looks and functions better. You don’t have to spend a fortune on this stuff, either. I used empty baby wipe containers, shoe boxes and glass jars until I could afford storage solutions I liked better.
Lastly, remember stuff is just stuff.
As I had much angst over getting rid of a huge pad of beautiful scrapbook paper that I used once, I had to remind myself that having a great office to work in was much more important than that pad of paper. The stuff has been gone for a few weeks and I haven’t missed any of it. In fact, I’m now ready to wage war on my basement to get that space clutter free and organized.
I realize I’m not offering any advice that’s revolutionary, but I hope it’s helpful and inspiring to you to get your work space cleaned out, too.
Nope…not revolutionary…yet reasonable, rational and realistic! Now, I just need to get off my bahookie and make this happen in my clouse…{cuz it ain't just my office that's afflicted…it's pretty much my whole house! ;}
THX!!!
m ^..^
Not revolutionary but encouraging. I'm going through the same process. In fact I made it a campaign called 20 Days of Wiping the Slate Clean to get ready for 31 Days of Art. On one day when I was muttering to myself about my packrat ways I had a little epiphany….
What if I looked at this process as a gift and not an evaluation?
I like it that people who present beautiful rooms also show the seamy sides of their houses. It makes me feel as if there is hope…
Thanks for sharing your mess and the idea of limits.
Dixie
This is right on time and it turned out so pretty. I was working on my cloffice today which looks exactly like your before picture. I am in the process of purging. It's amazing how fast things accumulate and I have tiles waiting to be used in a not sure what mosaic project. LOL. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you for pushing me Marian! A little bit at a time. It feels so good and your right..it's just stuff!!
Your room looks beautiful — and makes me want to start purging the excess! I do have a question — where did you find the rug that lies near the mirrored armoire? I need one 🙂 My email is sconnor273@google.com.
Talk about timing! I am in this exact same process. It is hard for me to let go of "the cool things I can use for some great craft project" however like you some of them I have had for years. Too much stuff and not enough space. I am slowing getting there though and it feels great! Thanks for posting this as it will help me stay focused!
Thank you for the tips. 60% needs to leave here too.
You said everything I try to tell everyone. You just can't have it all. We all just don't have the space and it just makes us live much better without all the extra around to clutter up our thoughts and homes! You have done an amazing job. My hope, when I blog, is to inspire and motivate…and I believe that you have done that with your office! I don't struggle with hanging on to stuff, I'm quite the opposite, but I am so glad to see that you were honest and let others know that you can do that! Great job!
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
I have just spend way too much time dreaming of Stella and Dot, good for Heather! If I had $50 to spend I would stretch it like crazy with silk wrap bracelet, in pink of course, and some fun and sassy charms. Beautiful shop Heather, great job.
I am not going to live long enough to get through EVERY project I have in my head! LOL!! So I am constantly cleaning out and trying not to replace the old with new. It's hard! It's an addiction! And I love it! Your place looks awesome!
I giggled a bit when you mentioned watching a hoarding show, because I usually do that whenever I need a boost of motivation. I really see how you can let things slip, and it's good to be reminded of that.
Love the "Watch Hoarders" tip! My husband always points out that I sound EXACTLY like someone in need of help when justifying craft stuff. I can throw away anything but potential cool projects. Love your new space.
Thanks for sharing such useful tips. Timing couldn't be better for my plan of Oct. 1st date attempting to organize my studio space. My husband watches the hoarder show and often comments he see hoarder tendencies in me. Love your blog!
Hi MMS,
Great tips. I actually love getting rid of things, I mean really love to clean out the closets. Seriously some women shop for shoes, I'll organize your kitchen any day 🙂
I just did some of that in our attic today, now that we've been in our house a year I know what I use and what I don't need. I'd add that as a last tip: Clean out your stash regularly!
Love the Make sign 🙂
I just did some posts on this topic! Having been in this business years longer, my shop, workroom and house had all taken a 17 year 'hit'.
This was the summer of the big clean out. I now have my workroom almost organized, and my house is very close to being called my own – perhaps for the first time. Take a look!
http://bittersweetdesignstudio.blogspot.com/2011/09/project-900-sqft-purging-and-organizing.html
I laughed out loud when I read the hoarders show part. I was sick a few months back and watched a marathon of the show. As soon as I was better I went on a complete organizing frenzy. So I totally get it. Great advice.
I love how you stored your brushes! So organized….makes me want to organize…well maybe another day! 🙂
Well the day I slipped and called mine the awfulice I knew it was time to get crackin on doing something about it.. organization is betting better but still no "pretty" and I just have to have that to feel good in a space!!.. Excellent inspiration as always!
Maddie
arg…how timely….I have spent the day cleaning out a walk in closet, and dh has been to the thrift store twice…and will have to go again…to DONATE….not to purchase. I am a painter of glass, wood, anything, so I keep all that 'stuff' to be painted, well not all, but overflow….but not any more. I store my brushes like that also…but mine don't look that clean!
and I buy way too many clothes…going to stop doing that…no person needs 75 tee shirts….
hooray for you and for all of us who are keeping the important things!
Thank you! beverlee
The key to organization is having the tools to organize in the first place. The armoires, shelves, bins, containers, etc. Great job on that. Oh…the armoire full of fabric? If it were mine I would just sit and look at it. Seriously. A sight to behold.
Oh my goodness! I totally relate to the Hoarders and it motivates me to get rid of stuff. I laughed about the broken china for a mosaic – I have had a collection of my own for – oh about 7 years 😉
Thanks for the motivation tho I'm not sure you shoulda gotten rid of that scrapbook paper . . . .
I love your blog!
xo ellie
LOL just before I looked at your blog I told my husband I was going to set up my craft room/office and carport space so that I could quit working in my kitchen & always having a mess! I once had it set up neatly but like any "hoarder" after several estate sales & flea markets its out of hand again. I'm taking your advice & making it pretty maybe that will help. Thanks for sharing.
Oh Marian ~ thank you for your advice ~ You have totally helped me ~ It is funny because even if you know those things it is good to hear them from someone who has
"been there done that" ~
I am still working on my studio/office but it is getting there ~
xoxo
Lori
Love what you did with your space. My space (a section of our unfinished basement) definitely needs a complete makeover. I just keep dumping stuff into the area. You have inspired me to clean it up and organize it. The "Hoarders" comment made me laugh. I think crafters tend to be potential hoarders … all those projects that we want to do but don't seem to have time or an organized space to do them in. Thanks for the much needed push … I'll be organizing my space this week.
Diane J.
Thanks for sharing. I have a small walk in closet that I am trying to store all my stuff in. I love looking at your ideas. The room looks amazing!!
I say this (lovingly) almost everytime I visit your blog (daily), you are a brat! Once again, my mouth is agape and the drool is running down my chin. The aesthetics of your space and all the "pretties" are absolutely inspiring!! I don't want to turn my head away from my computer screen because I will be violently ripped from serenity into the black hole that is my studio. I will continue to stare and imagine I'm sitting in the middle of it and then try to walk out of my office with my eyes closed, hopefully without breaking my foot or cracking a shin. One day, when my commissioned projects are caught up, I will have time to tackle mine!!
Thanks. I NEEDED that! MaryC
Love it! And so true! Last winter I read Clearing your clutter with Feng Shui and it seriously changed my whole house! You don't have to be a Feng Shui fan to get a ton of benefit from this book. It has many of the same ideas that you stated above. 🙂 If you fall off the clutter free wagon….it's a good read! 🙂
great tips! You gave a great reminder that it's only stuff. Sometimes that is the hardest part. 🙂 thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for the motivation…your space is beautiful and this post has lit a fire under my butt 🙂
THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Just what I needed! I have been in the same organizing, reorganizing, ignoring "vortex", for years…you have inspired me and given me some excellent insights and tips!!!!!!!!!
two words, thank you.
now to follow straight forward advice. xow.
That was awesome. I have kept so many things that i might need or use later, or that have potential, and have been stuffed someplace in the house for years, it's not even funny. It's really hard to let go of stuff, and occasionally i will think, i wish i had that so and so that i sent to the thrift store, but more often than not, i don't even miss it, or know it's gone, and i feel relieved to have cleared the clutter out of my life… I love the reminder to keep it pretty, it keeps you motivated to continue to toss stuff that is just more baggage…
Cindy
I love how your space turned out..
Janet
No. Not a new revelation, true. But, needed to be said.
I get caught up in the picture perfect blogs I come across– but a handful of the ones I really love DO KEEP IT REAL. So glad you put the facts out there– it keeps us accountable. I too, have a tendency to 'hoard' or let clutter take control.
I needed the reminder– and have left here inspired.
Thanks, Pat
Thanks for the inspiration. I never would have imagined that you had any room that was less than impeccable hidden away in your house! I posted photos of my little horror shop some time ago and still have not managed to do anything more than walk in, look and walk back out. This week I intend to get in there and get to it! I might not be quite to the point of needing a therapist but I could probably use a friend to stand in and play the role. lol
As I get ready to embark on the office makeover, I will use your words as the good angel on my shoulder. I too, have a hard time letting go of the glitter, feathers, beads, etc. that I used for a project at one point and will likely never use again. I am hindered by my own creative clutter. I did a summer purge but alas, it's a nightmare in there again. Sometimes we just need a little reminder, so thanks!
Wow, I really needed to read this. I am a horder. There, I said it. I look around and see that I really need to clean out. You have inspired me to make a stab at it. So true about having something around for just that project that never happens. "The project that never happened" – must be my middle name.
Wauw your studio looks beautifull! What a work!
I cleaned my studio a while ago,working in it now is so much more fun!è
Have fun in your clean buth cosy studio!
Love from Belgium,
Sonja
I was just listening to HGTV and them talking about how they're putting their new magazine together, and Antonio said, 'there is a fine line between hoarding and collecting'. I, like you, am going through the clutter, with the thought that it will be much better once done. Yours looks so nicely organized. Praying I can get there soon!
Great advice and I will take it to heart for sure. Ridding myself of studio clutter is now my goal. And if I haven't used it…then out it goes!!
Sigh!
I have begun! Ha!
Hugs
SueAnn
Your post comes at the right time for me…my husband and I are cleaning out the computer/craft/storage room and the task is overwhelming!! Have already begin to sort out, but the one thing in your post that got my attention is "work on one spot" – looking around and seeing all that needs to be done can be defeating. BUT, we are determined to get this room back in order – thanks for the encouragement and the pictures to prove it can be done. Judy B. Houston, Tx
Oh you give me hope! We recently moved and I had to combine my business office with my craft business area. The room also temporary stores all sorts of extras. Not pretty! I'm in the process of trying to organize and it's ever so tedious! I too have some broken plates that have been sitting untouched for years because I thought I would make a mosaic. Ha! Stuff is just stuff time to let go. I like that you say that having a great office is much more important than some of that stuff.
Great tips! Had to laugh at the broken dishes for mosaic projects. I had a bunch of them too and never got around to the mosaic. 3 years later I finally threw them out. It's so hard to be realistic about what we can actually get around to. My new test question is "I know this will make a great "insert project here" but do I really WANT to tackle that? I've found my time is so much more limited than my imagination, so I have to only keep the items I truly want to work on.
It helps.
Love your reorganized craft/office space. Very inspiring!
yes yes yes and yes!!! you have inspired me to start my own business and encoraged me to "stick with it" and now the timing is perfect for me to read this post! My inventory has slowly taken over our dining table and evry afternoon I'm packing my supplies and shove them in a corner. I have a craft room… sort of. It's a pile of bins and stuff. I knew what needed to happen but needed a push. so… i will probably re-read this post every week, ok, everyday to keep me on track. This WILL happen and I am very excited. PLUS, I got a solid wood dresser that is a perfect fit for my space from Craig's list (we like to call it "craig an dem's list") for a whopping $20! I am refinishing this week and moving it in to help that organization/beauty piece of the plan. THANK YOU for your INSPIRATION!!!
I definitely needed these reminders today! We has just finished painting and laying a new floor in my craft room and I'm now in the position of trying to find a home for everything. Thanks for posting this, very handy
Great post – we've all been there (or are there) where it's just easier to throw things in and close the door and leave it a disaster. But my sewing room would be so much enjoyable if I cleaned it up and got organized…you've inspired me! And you are right, one show of "Hoarders" is enough to get me to quit bringing "crap" in – or else it has to be "crap in, crap out!" where I toss/donate a bag if I bring in new things. Love the look of your new space and know you'll be enjoying your time there so much more!
That comment you made on hoarding and see potential in all these. This is the story of my life, I feel like I can "save" things, so I hold on to them forever. Thanks for letting me know I am not alone.
I am not a hoarder, in fact I can easily throw things away, except when it comes to my art room. It is a small room and right now I cannot turn around in a circle in it. I find that clutter in this room translates to baggage in my head. I must, must de-clutter! I haven't been doing well physically. That makes it hard to move forward in the cleaning process. I WILL start this week. One square foot at a time. Thanks for being transparent. It helps and encourages me!
Hey, Marian, based upon the num er of comments, clutter is near and not so dear, to most of us. It seems that when I start on a new project, everything, everywhere, pops out of it's place and turns crazy. What does that say about me?!
When I know I need "a talking to", I do the same thing- watch Hoarders! It's like shining a light on my soul! The office is looking great- I can't wait to see more room shots of it.
My office could definitely stand a week or two of me in there doing just what you've done. I understand exactly where you're coming from when you said you would just want to walk out of the room and close the door… I've done that several times lately! Motivation is such a hard thing to find sometimes, isn't it?? Reading through this post and looking at all your stuff all organized and pretty might just be the kick in the butt I needed… thank you for that!
my room, worse than yours. and everything down to the broken china for mosaic. its disheartening to say the least. i think youve given me some inspiration on "where to start" as im a doorshutter @ this point. son in law calls me a hoarder. im "sifting" thru things, a bit at a time. so that helps, but you have truly given me a little "something to look forward to":) thank you very much…..susy
at 1st i went straight to comment, but then sat and sped read all the rest. makes me feel much better that were ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. im making myself a pact to get it done within the next month. by say halloween anybody up for the challenge!!!
Well said. I also like to make it pretty. If something is a joy to look at you are more likely to want to keep it looking that way.
Well done
Kylie
thought you might like to know, i am tossing an entire bag of children's clothes into the salvation army bin today and actually threw out a few articles of clothing too. i am too busy to write more since i am alternately patting myself on the back and throwing more junk away. great post, inspiring post, timely post.
again thank you. xow.
I'm so glad to know that I am in good company! I've just moved into a new place and have an entire room for my creative stuff. It's the perfect time to clear out and organize my new space. Totally agree with using whatever containers you can get a hold of now…. Down the road you can always improve a little bit here and there and it's not so overwhelming!
This is a great post. Very good suggestions/reminders. Thanks for sharing! Connie
I love to watch hoarders and remind myself not to fall into the same trap those poor people did. Whenever I find myself saving bottles "because I might use them" I just tell myself, "Only crazy people save stuff!" After that, I am able to throw that empty bottle, scrap of fabric or paper, and/or piece of flotsam in the garbage. Easy peasy!
The other thing that helps is the fact that my guest room is my studio. I have to muck it out -uh, clean it out – if I have guests coming to stay with me. It works every time!
Thanks for your post! It was absolutely lovely to see the changes to your studio. So very inspiring. I sure enjoy visiting your blog for a breath of fresh air.
Liz