Organizing, or the Creation of My Oasis

We have two bedrooms in our home. Hubby and I have the larger master bedroom and it encompasses not only our sleeping area, but also our hobby stations. Hubby plays the saxophone and has various music equipment for making arrangements and recordings and the like. I, as you know, sew and knit and do a variety of other crafts.  From the time we moved here over two years ago, we were short on storage space. But storage devices require money and, frankly, we didn't have the money to spend on shelves.

The room got worse and worse.  As I did projects I had to quickly whisk things up off the floor out of the kids reach.  Things piled higher and higher on what was supposed to be my crafting table and with nowhere else to put it, it all just sat there.  It was embarassing.  It was depressing.  It was a block to our creativity.

I finally decided something had to be done about it. Hubby said I could buy some needed organizers after we got our tax return. Around the same time the 9-cube shelves I wanted went on sale on Amazon — only $40 each and free shipping!  I ordered two for our room and one for the kids' room.  Delivery was delayed twice by the big snow storms that swept the nation, but eventually I had my shelves, assembled them, and set to work.

It took two and a half days to rearrange everything, partially because I didn't really know how I wanted it when I got started and partially because organizing always starts by making an even bigger mess first!  Plus, I had to be sure to keep hazardous items out of the kids reach at all times.

I banished some of Hubby's ancient music equipment to the garage (it wasn't hooked up anyway); I put away my serger and old sewing machine; and I shifted the bed over about two feet.  That gave me a bit more space to work with.  Then I gave my empty sewing cabinet to Hubby for his USB keyboard and Mac Book (I couldn't keep sewing items in the drawers anyhow because the kids could reach them) and leveled the top of the drafting desk to use for my sewing machine.

The thread shelf my grandpa made is now mounted on the wall, as is the cork board you see propped up against the wall. (It was too late the night I took the photos to bang nails into the walls).  I have a little sitting area with a rocker and foot stool -- perfect for nursing Little Guy or reading a book or doing a bit of hand stitching. There's a shelf by my chair to catch my latest read or hold a cup of tea. My crafting supplies aren't organized yet -- just thrown in the cubes --  but now they can be made to have a proper place. After all, it's hard to live by the mantra, "A place for everything and everything in its place," when everything does not have a place.

The room is amazing! It's such a pleasant place to be now especially when the afternoon winter sun shines through that northwest-facing window.  It's my oasis. A place of peaceful retreat.  So much so that the kids and I have spent quite a number of our recent days hanging out together crafting, reading, and playing games.  And the best, the absolute best part of all? It has stayed clean!  For over two weeks now, the room hasn't gotten out of hand at all!

You can see I'm still at a loss when it comes to window treatments. But I am determined to get some up. Any suggestions?