Dining and Craft Room - Day 2.

Today I tackled the chimney breast wall. Hmm what a mess - all that junk is the various boxes, plastic containers, bottle tops etc. that I keep for our craft projects. Up until now it has lived in these plastic boxes but as you can see it's a bit of a chaotic eye sore.  The home cinema system went up to the landing ready for hubs to put in the loft as we're not using it at the moment.

Chimney Wall Before.

Luckily we had a spare garden container in the back garden, I decided to put it under the front porch (after a bit of a tidy up) to keep it drier,  it provides the perfect home for our crafting supplies. 

Much Better.

Front Porch Before.

The white bag was full of stuff to give away so I took that to a local charity shop. The buggies are past using so they went on a pile in the garden destined for our next trip to the dump.

After

Then a bit of a wipe down of the walls and that area is ready for painting. The only thing left was the sewing machine which will have a home in the craft cupboard once it's sorted.



Chimney Wall After



     Dining and Craft Room List

•  Keep current paint scheme for walls - finish painting.
•  Declutter one area at a time.
•  Wipe down walls.
•  Repaint /clean woodwork where needed.
•  Decide on theme - Cherry Blossom, Pink Roses, Bluebirds and Owls.
•  Choose colour scheme for ornaments/accessories - Pink, Green White, Blue.
•  Make peg boards to display artwork.
•  Make paper/fabric letters GALLERY - to put up over art area.
•  Design/Print and frame quotes and wall art/family photos.
•  Make colour block notice board as on pinterest using felt and thick/layered card board? 
•  Collect and decorate bottles to be used as vases/ornaments.
•  Declutter manual box and create attractive storage for necessary manuals.
•  Laminate patterned paper and make into light switch covers?
•  Use decorated wrapping paper roll as cable tidy?
•  Repurpose chest of drawers from boys room to use as dresser/material store.
•  Turn drawers into shelves/plate rack/crockery store.
•  Get rid of old desk and make or buy new one.
•  Find a way to enclose Electric meter.

Dining and Craft Room - Day 1.

A little progress. I managed to get one wall/area decluttered and wiped down. 
We have a small kitchen so the tumbler (my life saver) lives here.

Before

After

     Dining and Craft Room List

•  Keep current paint scheme for walls - finish painting.
•  Declutter one area at a time.
•  Wipe down walls.
•  Repaint /clean woodwork where needed.
•  Decide on theme - Cherry Blossom, Pink Roses, Bluebirds and Owls.
•  Choose colour scheme for ornaments/accessories - Pink, Green White, Blue.
•  Make peg boards to display artwork.
•  Make paper/fabric letters GALLERY - to put up over art area.
•  Design/Print and frame quotes and wall art/family photos.
•  Make colour block notice board as on pinterest using felt and thick/layered card board? 
•  Collect and decorate bottles to be used as vases/ornaments.
•  Declutter manual box and create attractive storage for necessary manuals.
•  Laminate patterned paper and make into light switch covers?
•  Use decorated wrapping paper roll as cable tidy?
•  Repurpose chest of drawers from boys room to use as dresser/material store.
•  Turn drawers into shelves/plate rack/crockery store.

Dining and Craft Room.

I've decided to start with the dining/craft room as this is probably our most functional room and we use it a lot. We are a household of 7 for the majority of the time, (8 when eldest daughters boyfriend is home - he's in the army but lives with us at weekends and when on leave) our dining table is a place where we all gather for eating, crafting, learning, planning, working and playing. We have a well equipped art and craft cupboard but at the moment it's a complete disorganised mess, it's very hard to find what you need when you want it so I'm looking forward to getting it sorted.

My three youngest performing an experiment!

Here's the basic plan (it will probably expand as I go along):

* Keep current paint scheme for walls - finish painting.

* Repaint woodwork where needed.

* Accessorising ideas - green,cream/white,pink - polka dots,cherry blossom,birds/owl,flowers,
hearts.

* Make peg boards to display artwork - decide on design - green back boards with
jumbo pegs embellished with decorative tapes - gallery area- above dining table.

* Make paper/fabric letters GALLERY - to put up over area.

* Design/Print and frame quotes and wall art/family photos.

* make colour block notice board  using felt/ material and thick/layered card board?


Craft cupboard

* Empty and paint inside.

* Decorate door panels with cherry blossom  artwork.

* Create new height chart - cherry blossom?

* Make paper storage files and organise paper and card stock.

* Make pen/craft caddy/carousel to be kept on bookcase/desk popped on table when needed.
cream base board, pots attached decorated with craft paper/fabric.

* Green and pink play rice could be stored in glass jars and used as decorative item.

*Collect and decorate bottles to be used as vases/ornaments.

Action Plan!

Well if I'm going to succeed in creating the ideal home for our family I'm going to have to have an action plan:

* Make sure morning list is completed first before tackling revamping.

* Keep camera charged and ready - for before and after shots - this will hopefully help you realise what you've achieved.

* Make lists  for each room  of what needs to be done and any ideas.

* Work on a small area each day maybe  45mins - 1hr a day.

* Remember a little at a time  - don't take on more than you can manage in the time slot.

* Clean up as you go/when you finish the job!

* Remember to let go of  perfection!

It's Time To Get The House In Order!

This is something I have attempted many a time and I've often made good progress but I'm a bit of an all or nothing girl. I take on new projects with huge enthusiasm often totally over focusing  on that one area of my life, whilst the other areas get neglected - it's a totally self defeating habit - everything becomes a struggle, then I  burn out and lose interest.  I  am also a perfectionist if I can't make something perfect, I give up or don't bother at all, hmm... not a very kind way to treat yourself as you prevent yourself from achieving anything at all.
This is going to be quite a journey and I have a lot to learn along the way; taking tiny steps instead of big leaps, letting go of  perfectionism, setting manageable goals and completing them, being patient and compassionate with myself, and daring to share the junk heap that our house often resembles. Yes (gulp) I will be taking photo's of our abode in all it's glory as it suffers under the affliction of a large home educating household, whilst (hopefully) sharing each step of my progress as I release it and us from it's burden and turn it into an organised cosy home!