Where I Work

The New Year is a week old. Has yours had a good start? I'd say yes to my own question. As I am putting away Christmas, I am cleaning, sorting, reorganizing, and purging.

I began with the hall closet that should serve the guest bath and bedroom; however, when we moved in here 8 years ago, I just loaded up the closes and kept piling stuff in it. At the old house I had two closest that held the junk that I pushed into this one. I wanted to have a better, easier way to store my good serving dishes, so I unloaded this closet, put all of the junk in a storage tub, which my husband moved into the guest bathroom, and I piled that counter high with more stuff. My serving dishes have a safe, nice home and the bathroom is a mess. I have sorted the tub: throwaway, give to the daughters, and donate. Then there are the things that I don't know what to do with sitting on my coffee table.

I have 36 glass punch cups that I use for the holiday parties that have been awkwardly stored on a high shelf that requires a average height man on a short stool to get them out and put them away, so I bought those Christmas ornament storage tubs with the little compartments to store the punch cups in. Love it. And I reorganized with the help of the Head Gardener, those high, out of my reach kitchen cabinets.

I purged the closet in the guest bedroom and reorganized my yarns. I am also redecorating that bedroom which has been the Lady Bug room with red and white since we moved in. I like to display the only patchwork quilt that I will ever make, but it has to come off the bed when company comes, so I have put it away. The room will be pink and shabby chic. Girly. I am sure that our farmer friend will enjoy the frilly pink when he comes to stay.

Then there is the closet downstairs that spreads underneath the stairs, an odd, awkward place to work with. The majority of the closet is easily accessible, but it gets really cluttered, so as I put away all the tubs of Christmas decorations and the village, I sorted and purged. The storage looks great. I even unloaded another closet in the downstairs family room, asking the HG to go through a couple of boxes that he had in the closet--I needed more room to store Christmas boxes. Lucky for him, he found battery operated head lamps that he hadn't been abel to find since we moved here in 2009. He showed me his closet where he stores his hunting/fishing gear. I am never opening that door again.

I am sure that you have seen the beautiful magazine in the supermarket magazine rack Where Women Work Create. (After a note by a reader that I had the title of the magazine wrong, I have made the correction, thanks, Anke).I take time to browse through it, awed by the beautiful work spaces that these professional crafters and artisans have created with their vintage, shabby decor, their beautiful antique furniture and their perfectly organized art and crafting supplies. Would like to see where I work?

My Space: Office/Craft Area

When we decided to finish the basement, I had the opportunity to design my own workspace. the HG's uncle, a talented finish carpenter, built the cabinets, but not quite exactly what I wanted, but the layout works as long as I don't overload it, which I have done. So I am purging this area, too. Now I am sorting through the clutter. That's what I did most of this afternoon.

The nice counter that I had built was supposed to be my workspace to scrapbook, sew, make cards, and house the computer and printer, but I never have enough space so I put up a table as a work space.

Two summers ago my daughter talked me into buying this desk because it was so cheap at the hospital thrift store. It spent a long time in the barn after I sanded it down and painted part of it. Last summer I determined that I would finish it, so I had the HG move it into the garage where I painted it. It took many coats of paint. This is as close to an antique I can get: a junk desk purchased at a charity 

shop. It works.

I like this shelf, but it needs some help. It is supposed to hold ribbon and wrapping paper. It has a razor sharp serrated edge on the bottom bar to tear the wrapping paper. Now the shelf is unhandy because the desk is underneath it. 

Photo Storage

Some years ago I was introduce to Creative Memories scrap booking. Then we were still doing film. I have a box for photos for each family member. Now all of my photos are in iPhoto, Picasa, and Shutterfly. I do a mass printing when I want to do a photo album. I bought a lot of scarp books paraphernalia to create photo albums, and that all has to be stored, too.

The open shelves on one side hold more boxes, buttons all sorted by color and stored in spice jars, and the bottom shelf holds miscellaneous dollhouse minis--part of my stash.

Chaos

I worked on this pile this afternoon sorting a variety papers: computer paper, stationary, miscellaneous envelopes, notepads, and writing pads. What a collection. More purging and piling.

This oak biology lab table from a school district is my favorite work area. On the wall, sweet memories of my tour of Ireland in 2003.

Sewing Center

This computer stand has been in the family for a long time. I purchased it on sale for $40 at Office Depot. It was a great computer table; still is. I wanted to get rid of clutter to make the downstairs family room look clean and uncluttered, so I had the HG take down this computer stand that I was using for the sewing machines. We hauled it to Denver to our grandson. His parents decided that he didn't need it, so we hauled it back home. It is a great table for sewing. It holds both of my sewing machines. Side Comment: The serger and I are not on very good terms. We are not the of friends.

The map has pins on it representing the general locations where my blogger friends live. 

Here I am, a few years decades ago. I was 15, barrel racing at a Little Britches Rodeo.  My foot is roughly bandaged because it got stepped on by a horse. That's my best friend at the time Sailor, a young gelding, a throbbed/quarter horse. What grand steed he was. 

So this is where I work. I'll spend the week bringing order to the chaos, with the hopes of getting rid of unnecessary stuff. 

An alternative blog topic might have been about the weather, but I am sure that of many of you are experiencing the same cold weather, unless you are in Florida.

The snow turns the Garden Spot into a winter wonderland, and it has been very cold. -20 early one morning last week. 

The birds are hitting the bird feeders pretty consistently. The HG spotted a new visitor to the avian food court, a male ruby crowned kinglet. This part of Colorado is their breeding ground, so he is hanging around a little late. He should be out on the prairie down by the river. 

Thanks for visiting. Stay warm. Drop by Maggie's at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday.