resolution time: get organised

gah!!

today i started on a big task: organising the stash. i have way too much stuff. it's crazy. most of it tucks away in the bay window seat, which looks innocent enough when closed...

but when opened, reveals a horrible mess!

i have a bad habit of starting projects and not finishing them. i cut and pin fabric, and then put it away. mostly this is because it is difficult to find the space & time to work with fabric and pins and scissors and machines with a 6-year-old boy in the house. i get as much done as i can, and then get interrupted and put it all away. because of this, i tend to cut out multiples, say, four shirts at once, and then get one sewn if i'm lucky. but with extras cut out, i am theoretically read to go at any time! theoretically. here we have four shirts, three or four skirts, and cushion covers.

ideally, by the end of this endeavour, all the uncut fabric will be measured, packed, and labelled like this:

instead of giant bags of mixed-up misery, like this yarn:

i got my "projects on the go" down to one bag from two. and i did manage to fill a whole bag of scraps and leftovers to get rid of. embarrasing, really.

and, i managed to cram it all back in - plus all my sewing patterns as well. i have another box of sewing notions that need sorting, and knitting patterns that need to get in there, too.

it all looks remarkably civilised when the lid is closed!

busy day!

after spending the holiday going back and forth between running around and sick in bed, this new year is going to be all about finishing what i've started, and putting the past - including past projects - behind me.

we'd given the kiddo a challenge: finish 200 chapter books by the end of the year. he did it! his reward, was to get lights back in his room (we'd taken his lightbulbs out of the ceiling fixture, as he kept turning it on and staying up late to read), and a new ceiling fixture to boot - one we'd bought a good year ago, actually, which had languished since then in the downstairs closet.

which meant digging in that closet, which got me in the closet mood, and taking on another half-started project: the kid's closet. used to be, we could put stuff in there, and it would have effectively disappeared from his life. now, he crawls through there, and because the curtain road was grownup height, he'd make a mess anytime he wanted a proper shirt. i'd measured, and tg had cut a couple of shelves down to size, but that's as far as we got. today: done!

here's his reading corner (i do need to cover that chair, i have the fabric and all, another project to finish this year):

his bed:

homework station:

and dresser with photos of friends & family:

the downstairs closet, meanwhile, got a bit of a re-org:

and most importantly, a new set of cupboard doors (built from some of the same leftover lumber from my old work bench that i used to build my bay window seat):

it used to be a real quagmire in here. coats would fall off of hangers and the kiddo would decide to "play" in there, and it would turn into a jumbly mess and you couldn't find anything. i'm hoping this will keep some of that at bay. i want to put a lock on it too to keep the beenster from getting back there!

and speaking of, i've put a new set of hooks at his height - no more excuse for not hanging up his coat and snow pants!

this was all done with stuff that we had on hand - lumber, hinges, knobs, the works. i do want to add extra hooks and a lock though, those will need purchasing. but i think the fact that this stuff could be built without having to leave the house for any supplies at all shows that i am too much of a packrat!