mostly done!

just a few more things to find a home for and i'm D-O-N-E done. the original plan was for the shelving to cover the entire 16' wall, but we couldn't find the last section (36 x 18). there was plenty of 36 x 14, but i wanted it all to be matchy matchy and even steven. glad we never found it! one of the things i came to realize was that i need more than 1 work area. i have the gi-normous work table Bill built in the room, but i needed a smaller table for times when i wanted to do some beadwork or soldering or some small thing. i hated to have to tear down everything i was working on just to use a small area. and that's where a lot of clutter came in. i'd just heave it Somewhere...on top of something or near the box it belonged in. hence the post-armageddon style of my studio. SO. i kept thinking that if i fit everything in in a usable yet organized way WITHOUT needing the extra unit, i'd have room for another table. that set the tone for the Big Dig Out & Purge. every tool & object had to justify the space it would take up. "is this more important than a table?" i'd ask myself. the result...ta da! space for a table. now, the livingroom is a nightmare with all the purged stuff sitting down there waiting to be picked up and taken to it's new home, but the studio is blissful. there is literally a vanload of "stuff." most of it very very good stuff, but stuff i don't really use anymore as my medium of choice has gone from fabric to metal-and-a-bunch-o-other-stuff. and i have a veritable Container Store of containers that used to hold that stuff. plastic ones, metal ones, wicker ones, all sizes and shapes, drawers, lids, even a dresser. yikes. i knew i was a pack rat, but sheesh. i put my mother on notice: no more chotchkes. none. not a single one. she means well, but i have 70 teapots, and i stopped collecting teapots about 25 years ago...but she still brings 'em when she sees them. i had a swell collection of odd teapots. that's what i collected...not your average run-of-the-mill teapot. odd pots. when i moved into this house, i kept 5 of my very favorites. but anytime mom saw a teapot...any kind of teapot...she'd gift it. then what do you do?? you can't throw out the teapot your MOM gave you, can you?? i think it's okay if you do, i say with some hesitation. and my mother-in-law is worse. she stops at the dollar store and grabs who-knows-whats by the cartfull and brings it over. so my husband and i have agreed that if we won't use it...out to the curb. our house is crammed with guilt gifts and it's making us crazy. it would hurt her feelings to tell her to stop, so we'll just quietly purge after she leaves. my mom is understanding about the un-gifting. perhaps even relieved. as soon as i clear out the last piles of debris from the room, i'll post some pics. actually Bill is in Dallas and has my camera, so it'll have to wait till the weekend. i am so pleased. i can't wait to work. i feel more artistic even. oh. and then, because something snapped in my brain around 1pm, i started organizing his desk. not a lot. because it is his desk, and i'd go ballistic if someone messed around with MY stuff. but he gets absolutely overwhelmed with the piles of papers and not being able to find anything. lost orders and quotes that needed to go out and phone numbers, etc. so i just shredded the whole mess and he can start over when he gets home. just kidding. i made 2 piles of the paperwork stuff that didn't look like they were In Progress and needed to stay put. over one pile, i took a sheet of paper and wrote "home." the other said "work." so that's not as overwhelming to find homes for...just 2 little piles. and i dusted. oy the dust! so hopefully i'll be able to get the rest of the trash out before he comes back friday and it'll be all feng shui and clean and organized in here so he can concentrate and Make More Money. ha ha. of course now my eyes are swollen shut and itchy from the dust, so the ROOM will look nice, but i'll look like i went a few rounds with George Foreman....all of them! diva is sooo unhappy that she hasn't had my totally undivided attention for days. (that's 240 years in dog time). her wag is droopy and she keeps launching herself at me... PICK ME UP PICK ME UP. then the howling. it would break my heart in two if i didn't remember that i had just put her down 5 minutes before (which is 10 years in dog time). she still does not have bed privleges...March 14 is her follow-up. so when Uncle Bill goes out of town, i sleep on the couch so she can snuggle. she isn't supposed to be jumping up & down from the couch either, but there are only so many rules i can enforce. and i miss her warm belly belly sleeping by me. although she snores about as bad as Bill. truly. i may look into getting her a doggie CPAP if she doesn't start closing her mouth at night. or maybe some of those Breathe Right strips like the football players wear. well i need a nap and my back is shot so time to lay it down. i can't wait to show you the room! L.