Decluttering My Non-functional Craft Room: My Process

I am starting this post off with a picture or two.  It is my reality check.  It is my in-your-face, face-the-facts realization that my craft room is non-functional.  It is a depository of craft supplies but not a working craft room.  Creation and making cannot take place in such a place.  The chaos does not allow the mind to access creativity.

It is quite an overwhelming place but I knew I would need to remove a lot of things in order to just move around.  The long table in the middle of the room is covered and no work space is available.  The floor between the long table and the stamp cabinets is full of stuff and the office chair cannot roll an inch either way. The chair is full of stuff.

It is bad.  There are many bags of purchases that I have not put away.  A very unusable space.

Now I say that I like my craft room but in reality I don't treat it like I like it.  I say I love my craft supplies, yet I don't treat them like I love them.  My reality is not matching up with my belief system.  I work hard to get hypocrisy out of my life and so I need to line up my craft room with how I say I feel about it.

I gathered up many boxes large and small and put them out in the den/gaming area.  I used the top of the pool table as a staging area.  I started at the door to the craft room.  I decided that I would just keep my scrapbook, card making, paper craft and polymer clay supplies in my craft room.  Other hobbies such as oil painting, needle/yarn work, and stained glass supplies would have to find a new home (not sure where yet).  I picked up each item on the floor first and sorted it by categories.

Some categories that I had boxes for: mixed media supplies, adhesives, paper, pencils and markers, stamps, stencils, embossing folders, and dies.  I also had a box for donation to DAV and another donation box for craft supplies for the boys and girls club or youth center.  I had a garbage bag and a recycle bag.  This system of boxes and containers worked well.  If I picked up an item I knew I would not use, it went to its appropriate box. If it was a keeper, it joined other items in its category.

The first pictures were taken on the 12th of January.  Today is the 29th.  The room is not done but there has been progress.

I have dumped 3 brown bags of trash and packaging.  I have recycled 3 brown bags of paper, cardboard, and carrier board.  I have a brown bag and a large box for  donation and I have a stack of 12x12 paper, freezer bag of stickers and die cuts, and a box with markers, glue, and various other art supplies and kits for the kiddos.  

It is so good to see the progress.  It is good to realize the possibilities.  I continue with the journey and the decluttering and organization.  More to come.