Project Planning - The Craft Room / Home Office / Guitar Room

Okay, so I have my compilation of photographs showing the areas I wanted to work on in my home. Well, the ones that came to mind as I was touring my house with the camera the other day. :)

What I really need to do is look at each photo separately and set out what needs to be done and the priority of the task. I should also maybe think about a budget, but I am aiming to spend as little as I can in each area. Probably a great reason to have a budget in itself!


The first job that needs to be done is to organise the office/craft space. 

Sigh. Remember how this used to look?


Well, life just kind of got in the way of keeping this room neat. That and the magical magnetic power it seems to have in attracting all of the homeless gibble from all over the house... Admittedly, this is a particularly messy day. The ironing board isn't usually there and neither are those clothes that you see piled up. I was having an ironing day.


This room has to be tackled first because I am going back to work!! :) My boss has oh so kindly allowed me to work from home, which means that a) I can actually return to work at all, b) don't have to commute = less time and less money and c) I get to create a cute home-office space. YEY!


My deadline is 12th September. This is my first day back. 


I'm actually trying to source a better desk than the one I have in there at the moment. This one is very cheap in construction, so it is literally falling apart. You can see into the drawers from the back and if it needs to be moved, the top of the desk comes away from the bottom part. The structural integrity of this thing is like zero. Plus, as a workspace, it's teeny tiny. I need room to spread out!


Sooo... From taking a look at my photo I can see what needs to be done:

• Design a plan for the space with working as a primary function and crafting/guitars as a secondary function.
• Take out everything that doesn't belong in there - dining table & spare chairs etc.
• Work out what needs to be stored in this space and that can move elsewhere.
• Find storage solutions.
• Replace the desk if at all possible.
• Declutter all unused craft items to eBay and put funds in new camera savings fund or towards the new desk
• Budget = as little as possible. Look in the loft for things to repurpose and try to get a secondhand desk or a table to use as a desk. 

As I think about this job more I realise that this cupboard is within that scope.

It's in the same room and currently houses the mop, sweeping brush, ironing board and hoover etc. It really does need rejigging though. I am note sure that cleaning things are best stored in the office. Perhaps they should go under the stairs instead. I don't know. I'll see how things look once i've cleared out the space in the office / craft room.

Craft Room / Guitar Room / Home Office Overhaul

Remember this?

Well, a couple of hours, a couple of recycling boxes, a couple of binbags and a couple of strops later it's been decluttered, cleaned and organised to perfection!

This room is our combination craft room, guitar room, and office space and it is actually what used to be our old kitchen. If I get some time later I'll post photos of the old room and pictures from when it was being renovated. The vintage wallpaper we uncovered is worth a post all on its own!!

So, without further ado here are the before and after photos from my latest decluttering and home organising mission:

 You may notice in that last one I had a little helper. Not much help mind - he was asleep! Tut!

Now for the after photos. Please try to ignore how wonky some of these photos are. I think some of it is lens distortion and some is just because I was stood in a cupboard to take the photo. 

Ta daaa! I am very pleased, even if I do say so myself!

The only downside from sorting out this particular room is that I found nothing that I am able to put on eBay. However, I did manage to throw away tons of paper recycling and filled a binbag with normal rubbish, so not too bad.

Remember that cupboard I stood in to take photos? It's the door to the left of the desk. Inside is our boiler and other household bits and bobs. You would think that it would be a useful cupboard, and it kind of is except it's not really big enough for the clothes horses (yes, we need two) to fit in as well as the ironing board and hoover. I do have plans though, so watch this space!