Studio RE-Organization

I love to organize things.  Like...really LOVE it.  I am constantly thinking of ways to re-organize my classroom, my home studio- MY LIFE to make it more efficient and visually calming.  I love organizing closets, don't get me started.  So much so that I volunteer to organize my friends' closets- for real. (JESS, LET ME IN THAT CLOSET!!) I really find joy in re-ordering a space to make it neater, more functional and bonus if I can do it on a budget, which is always a goal of mine.

Looking back on it, I know that my love for organization comes from the way I grew up. Things were kind of crazy sometimes, much of my early childhood it was just me and mom.  We stayed in all kinds of places, single wide trailers, with friends, in apartments...we didn't always have money- we really never did. Mom made sure that I had everything I needed, I was always fed and my clothes were matched...but we struggled.   The house I lived in when I was in high school was a small rental house with no central heating and air.  We just didn't always have nice things, so I learned from an early age that I could improve my surroundings by cleaning and re-organizing.  If I had a dollar for every time I 're-decorated' or moved things around when mom was at work, so excited to show her every single little change that I had made...then I could have bought us nicer things, nicer places to live.  I wish I could have done that for my mom.

In many ways I think in my mind I identified with Pollyanna and Shirley Temple's character from the Little Princess.  Both characters always super positive in the face of adversity, relying on their enthusiasm and creativity, their imaginations to make the best out of any situation.  It's funny how you realize these things later in life. I still find so much joy in my small cleaning and organization projects.  My mom is all the way up in North Carolina, so now I drag John in to see 'come see what I did'.  He knows how much I love it, and it is my way of creating calm, finding peace, staying in tune with my inner Pollyanna, my inner Sara.

 My first summer project for the past few years has been organizing my studio space (seriously, its a 'thing'.  Here is another blog post about when I first set this space up!).  There were already pockets of sanity, but not enough, and it was just too chaotic and visually over stimulating.  I needed to calm it down.  And of course, maximizing the space is always a goal.

So, here is what I started with (top)​and the final product (bottom);

This is what the space looks like if I pull out one of my hidden table for extra work space.  I have two hidden :)

And here are some detailed pics with a little more information;

It feels like a much more calm, organized place.  

​Much of the items I already had, I just moved them around.  The other items I bought with coupons when possible.  The nice thing is that more of the storage/furniture items could be used somewhere else, like in a closet, or even in my classroom  if I need a change.  I am always thinking about how to better use items that I already have.  I am excited about my summer creating in this re-vamped space.

...and Mackie, well...he's excited about sleeping in the warm sunny spots.  So I guess that means it really IS a calm, relaxed space!

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