How to do a mini studio makeover

Last week I sorted out our children’s art area and moved my husband’s office out to the garage.  It has been a very successful move around.  It took 2 days to sort out the inside rooms but it was worth every bit of effort.  The children are using their new space every day and my new scrapbook area has been used 4 times.  This is more than it has been used in the last 4 months. I really agree with the theory the less we have and the more organised it is the more we utilize what we have. 

To read about this go to......

http://catherineparkinson.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/post-christmas-organisation.html

 http://catherineparkinson.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/making-your-space-your-own.html

The outcome of sorting these 2 areas out was a very cluttered and untidy studio (which is in the garage)  because it goes without saying that the excess has to go somewhere for sorting.  I find that sorting out a house is like a disaster zone until the whole process is finished and if you do it with kids in tow it is doubly difficult because while you are doing one room the rest of the house is getting ‘used’ and needs to be done again when you are finished.  So the process to sort out the studio and my husband’s new office work area took 3 days.

Before

Every thing had just spun out of control

Piles of art work and quilting supplies were everywhere

 Even Paperwork was out of control

Projects half finished lay everywhere

Books lay in the floor ready to be shelved

Materials spilling out

Fallen stencils out of the shelf

A broken set of drawers still waiting to be fixed

Objects form the house with no where else to go

Everything was such a mess out there.  There were a couple of old beds, the Christmas time pile of ‘we’re having visitors so where shall I put the…….’, and piles of tools and fabrics not put away after making gifts.  The room was not a pleasure to work in and it zapped me of my creative energy.  This year is all about being creative and I knew that if I didn’t do a clean-up and a sort out, I wasn’t going to be achieving anything this year.

So how do you begin such an overwhelming task?  Use the APE method. (my own method)

Analyse, Plan the space and Execute the plan.

First..

Analyse the space

• ·        What do you want this space to do for you?
• ·        What is working for you?
• ·        What is not working for you?
• ·        What large pieces of furniture do you need to keep in this space?
• ·        Is there anything in you space that you cannot do without?
• ·        Are there any problems with the space you have?
• ·        Do you have positive features that need accentuating?
• ·        Is there anything/ or anyone sabotaging your space? What steps can be made to sort this out?

My analyse looked like this

•   What do you want this space to do for you? I needed an office space for my husband and a studio for me and a bed/couch that could work for a bed for sickies and a meeting place for clients and staff of my husband.
•   What is working for you? It is a great large space with a concrete floor which is so easy to clean up.  I love my design/photography wall and art table
• What is not working for you? no heating, clutter,  people in family using the area as a dumping ground.  No desk for paper work and blogging
• What large pieces of furniture do you need to keep in this space?Art desk,  sewing table, couch, air hockey table, desk for my husband, storage units and one set of drawers
•  Is there anything in you space that you cannot do without? my design wall and sewing and art table
• Are there any problems with the space you have? Daily clean up time,  can be cold, 
•  Do you have positive features that need accentuating? No
• Is there anything/ or anyone sabotaging your space? What steps can be made         to sort this out? Children coming in and using my art area and not tidying up afterwards, that the garage is used as a dumping ground. Setting firmer guidelines for the studio and sorting out as I go so that I don't end up with additional objects in the studio.

Tomorrow:  Plan the space and execute the plan 

and some photos of the finished room