Organizing Garage Room/Crafty Space

Last night, the hubby asked me if I could work on clearing out some space in the garage room  this week for the soon to come weight bench. I got to work right after my breakfast.

I needed to clear out under the table that was positioned like a peninsula in the garage and tuck it away. To do that, I needed to clear off some modular shelves I had sitting on it. I got an idea to use those shelves in the closet in the house for storage. Okay, for more efficient storage. I took some pictures of the closet before I got started and again as I finished up for the morning. And I'm willing to share the ultra embarrassing photos, just in case it might inspire someone else.

Before:

Top portion of the closet. Sort of had some organization there, but stuff still ended up getting stashed haphazardly

Middle/bottom of wire shelf unit. All of those milk jugs with water are for the fish tank (20 gallon, I think) when Steve cleans it. He changes the water every single week. It used to be just one shelf, but for some reason, he needs a lot of water for the task. Oh and he warms the water up, too, before he puts it into the tank. Spoiled fish, huh? LOL

Okay, the shelf above all the water had Steve's rockets on it and a couple of kites that belong to the girls. Oh and a pair of ice skates for Steve. All of this stuff got moved out onto the same shelving unit in the garage.

Other half of the closet. Stash and dash, what can I say?

Too much stuff in too small of a space, for sure. It has been a bugger to get that ironing board out, I can tell you. Good thing I don't do much ironing or I might have to break it in frustration. LOL Steve irons his own shirts. Am I a good wife, or what? LOL

And now some after, but not quite finished pictures:

Top shelf area.

Mid shelf, where all the rocket stuff was.

Other side of the closet...I think the ironing board will be easier to get in and out of the closet now. 

Yay, for Steve!

And the top portion of that side.

I also moved into the house another filing cabinet I had under the table that is now tucked away in the garage. I took the drawers out and lugged it into this room. Then I had to keep it on its side so I could put the drawers back into it, before tilting it into position. Why did I have to do that? Because the bed that is also in the crafty space got in the way. I can't open the drawers all the way, but enough to make them functional. I need all the storage space (preferably hidden) I can muster in the room. I took a picture, but it's super blurry, so I'll have to take it again later.

I'm going to ask Steve if we can move move the bed to where the computer desk currently sits, and move the desk along the wall where the bed currently resides. Then that file cabinet will be fully functional. I'd do it myself, but I don't want to mess with the computer stuff. She says, with the voice of hard learned experience. 

And that's all the time I had today to devote to the project.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you have a great week.

Look At What I Found!

I got an idea this morning, but wasn't sure if I would be able to find the item I needed in the right size. I thought it would be neat to have a work surface that was separate from the shelf unit. That way I wouldn't have to fiddle with being on one side or the other of the shelf unit and making sure my knees would fit into the cabinet space. Well, due to the size of the cabinet doors I couldn't use something larger than 36 inches long or the door wouldn't be able to fully open. That's why I wasn't sure if I could find something that would work, that's not very big. But I went to look anyway, armed with my trusty tape measure. I could not believe my luck in finding something at the first thrift store I stopped into. 

Granted, it's not really pretty or anything, but I think I might be able to dress up the sides or something if I really wanted. This desk/work surface was actually LESS than 36 inches long and...it was on clearance for $6.99! Works for me! I knew it was a little wobbly, but figured I could tighten the screws and it'd be fine. I actually needed to replace a few in the legs to ones that were longer, so the screw would have something to dig into (had some in the laundry closet right outside the room). A clean up with multi-purpose Windex helped quite a bit. I suspect hubby won't really like it (more clutter), but I sure do. AND I don't need to pull in another chair. The one we have in there is too short for me to use at the cabinet, but it'll work just fine if I sit here. Yay!

Did you happen to notice that lamp? That was my other lucky find at the same thrift store. The lamp base was the color tag that would be 50% off today, so I got it for $3.50! I fell in love with the spindle shape and that white dish at the bottom (it's all one piece). I picked up a plain white shade that I could probably dress up (while it wasn't a sale color, I figured I did well for the other two items, it'd be okay to pay the full price...LOL)  Check it out!

Unfortunately I couldn't put it to use today. The girls are off from school for the next few days, so it may have to wait until sometime next week before I can actually try out my new work area.

If you have any ideas on how to dress these up or if I should leave well enough alone, be sure to let me know!

Moving In *Ü*

Since the tub is now caulked and the house is fairly clean, I thought I would tackle the spare room, where my new crafty shelf unit lives. I took some pictures of what it looked like after I cleared out the desk I gave to Amy and Jessica and after I had to clear out the floor of the entry closet so Steve could get to the back of the tub.  Brace yourself, because it sure isn't pretty!

ARGGGHHHHH!

The paints you see are from my tole painting days. I don't know if they are any good anymore, but it seems like so much to get rid of, so I put them back in the closet where I have been storing them all these years.

When I've gotten a few minutes here and there, I've been slowly working on clearing out the items from the desk that I no longer needed or wanted. Yesterday I had a decent chunk of time and got a lot of it done. I have a big bag of trash and a big bag of donations...Yay!

This morning, I reloaded the entry closet with the items that belong in there.

And then I started bring in some items from the garage to have in the house. I'm not bringing in everything as there is not enough room, but I've tried selecting supplies/tools I use most frequently, or want to use more often in my crafting.

This is as far as I got today. I've got my acrylic blocks in the big wicker drawer in that shelf unit. Another drawer has ink pads like Versamark or those I own that are not CTMH. The other drawer is waiting for an idea of how to use it most effectively. I am seriously thinking of finding a new way to store the Cricut cartridges. Those boxes take up a lot of space! For now you can see where my work area will be. I thought about moving it to the other end, to be closer to those drawers, but I would need an extension cord or power strip to plug in the light. I want to put some embellishments in the glass jars (maybe buttons?) to have  pretty looking (and hopefully not too cluttered looking)storage.

Here you can see how my cardstock and smaller pads of pattern paper fit. That they all fit in there thrills me! I have to figure out something for the larger 12 x 12 pattern paper stacks I own. Maybe another paper holder or two when they go on sale will be able to hold the ones I really want to use.

This is the side where I'll be sitting. For now it's got sewing/crafty stuff in it (and not too neatly). I need to come up with some storage ideas here.

That's as much as I was able to get done before I had to get the girls from school. I'm hoping to be able to work on a card or two soon!

Thanks for stopping by. I did end up calling about the dogs that are barking so much. They were out super early this morning (like around 5am when I got up and let our dog out, so I got serenaded by their barking straightaway). The owners must be home from work today as they have been inside a lot or outside with him while he's been out there. I thought about saying something again, but chickened out. Animal Control is going to give/send them a notice about it. We'll see if it helps. I just feel really bad about complaining so soon. I'm probably getting the reputation of a cranky old lady who can't stand barking dogs. LOL 

Anyway, hope you've had a good day!

*Ü*