We call it the study. But that’s not quite it. The study. The walls aren’t forest green with dark walnut moulding. It’s not filled with old legal books and vintage atlases. It does not smell of tobacco.
What this room truly is is a 3-fer. An office, a sewing room and a guest room. But cramming three rooms into one has taken time. And it done been ugly.
It’s a small room to start. There was a closet that was hard to access. Doors that swung wide and limited our usable space. So we took ’em out.
We chose birch plywood and designed built-ins to maximize the workspace. The very talented woodworkers at Anderson Plywood built and installed it for us. 20 feet of desk space means I have a place to sew and craft and a place to write and pay bills.
Last week I couldn’t even walk in here.
I asked my Facebook friends how they would attack this mess and I got a lot of great feedback. Divide everything into “keep”, “throw” and “give away” bins. Call a friend. Do the edges first like a puzzle. What worked for me was not stopping once I started. If you stop you just might look around and see how truly screwed you are. Especially since it always gets worse before it gets better.
I have another craft cabinet in the “lobby” of our house that the kids have access to, so most of the supplies in this room are sewing-related, non-washable paints, and things that drive me crazy when they can’t be found. Like tape. I’m currently hunting down all scissors for the same reason.
Decorating is a work in progress. I got this chair and the Charley Harper print above it at a yard sale last week. I’m still playing around with the art. We have a lot of prints from Jonathan’s mom’s life as a dancer/choreographer.
I desperately need a new lamp and end table. But those are just another flea market away. At least there’s a little place to sit and read for now.
And the girls can climb into the chair and see this pic of their grandmother (whom we never met) dancing her heart out.
We’ve now come to the Guest Room portion of the show. Sleeper sofa from IKEA. So comfortable. Rug from Overstock. Wall hangings from shows hubs has worked on. I knew those were a given in the room, so I drew from the red and black when putting everything else together. As you can see, craft supplies are still creeping into the frame. Where to put the giant roll of kraft paper?
A freezer paper stenciled pillow made with Bigs. A drawing from Israel. A 16mm camera. A pillow made from scraps with Smalls on my lap. Once thinned and organized and relocated, the things that remain can finally be seen and appreciated. The things that remain tell the story of our lives.
*Update: It’s already messy again. The story of our life is chaos.
