Nightstand Nightmares!

So with our overhaul going on downstairs, we've gotten new bookcases. I've been taking some time to organize all of our multitude of books into a usable setup. I realized that many of the books I needed to organize were missing, so I went on a hunt.

Apparently my nightstand has been hording them!

Um. Wow. I read a lot. And I have a bad habit of jumping around and reading 48375372 things at once. Here's what I've been rocking lately.

1. Blood Rites (The Dresden Files) - these books are like crack. I'm 6 books in and need to order the next one!
2. All the Weyrs of Pern - brand new, haven't even started it yet, but I love Anne McCaffrey's world!
3. Boneshaker - steampunk, zombies, what else do you need?
4. The Hobbit (annotated) - I reread my Lord of the Rings collection regularly. And the more annotated the better!
5. Those are just my glasses.
6. Happily Ever After - this is a collection of short stories and re-imaginings by a variety of authors, including one of my favorites: Bill Willingham of 'Fables'
7. Norwegian Troll Tales - I love folk tales. Especially Scandinavian folk tales!
8. Victorian Fairy Tales - Yeah, seeing the theme here?
9. The Annotated Brother's Grimm - It's annotated. It's classic tales. It's the size of a cinder block. It's awesome.
10. Gardening in Michigan - Planning next spring's yard, so what if it's January?
11. The Medieval World - This book from National Geographic is PIMP if you love history.
12. GNOMES - possibly one of my favorite books ever. Gorgeous illustrations, and it's so whimsical! This book almost never gets put away because I read it so often.
13. Secrets of the Gnomes - a sequel from the previous, it's just as stunning.

So yeah, this should be a good indicator as to why I want to name the fireplace room "The Library". What's on your nightstand?

DSIFQ Declares a Yard War!

Well, as anyone who has been to our house will know, our house sits on a lovely little 1/4 acre backing up to natural space. I use the term 'lovely' very very loosely.

We don't think Frank ever did much yard work, our earth is like cement, and there were over a dozen overgrown trees right up against the house, and the existing crap fence. Also the garage is even in rough shape! Well last weekend we made the first attack on the outside. Right now it still appears to be reeling from our betrayal, so we will continue to strike while the iron is hot, and before the mess can rally.

The weekend was FULL of projects and progress, but I'll break the update into two posts for easy digestion (chew your food, people!). Friday when I got home I began my assault on our much-maligned garage. We were very lucky to get a two car garage in our price range, but it does need some serious help. In the long run I'd love to gut it and re-drywall, but small improvements can still make a huge difference.

At the back of the garage is a little step up where items can be stored, a "cabinet" of sorts and the door to the backyard. Initially, most of this step was taken up by a huge home made work bench. This thing was a death trap, with 2x4s sticking out, and it basically made it impossible to neatly keep anything on it. And since we moved in last year already in the middle of gardening season and had to get the hang of home ownership, this bench became a dumping ground.

I started by getting everything off the bench (and out from under it) and piling it according to purpose and future location. I also swept up all the grass seed that had somehow spilled everywhere...

Lovely isn't it?

I did not get a picture of the bench covered in stuff, but imagine everything on this plastic sheet is on that piece of crap surface:

All of those boxes are from wedding gifts, we've been slowly recycling them. But see all that mess? Our 2 car garage has been 1 car only :( With the bench we couldn't even get the garbage can up there! Talk about annoying climbing around a car just to take out the trash...

I then attacked the bench with a claw hammer. Now, I was home alone, and had never demo-ed anything in my whole life... not a combination I would recommend. But for this table, I had it apart in moments! There was not a single bolt in the whole thing, just a random assortment of nails and staples. If anyone had ever tried to sit on it they would have come straight down. I'm really glad it's gone.

After the bench was gone, I started organizing the garage for the very first time. We got a freestanding shelf unit, and some more hooks for the pegboard. After another morning of organizing, our garage (while far from done or 'nice') is much improved!

Once we get rid of the rest of those boxes and install the other garage door opener we'll be able to put 2 cars in here! Of course there is a mountain more to do, but now our garage is usable, and not a death trap!

And I usually consider that a plus.

STUDIO progress! Yay!!!

So I mentioned I've been working super hard on organizing my studio. When we moved in, there was a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it. We moved in and unpacked the somewhat necessary things, like the kitchen, and then had to turn all our attention outside to begin battling with the wild jungle that is our yard. Everything else just kind of sat for a while.

Of all those things, the worst of them was my studio and art supplies. The basics got put where I wanted them, tables, sewing machine, etc. But the actual supplies themselves just hung out in half a dozen GIANT cardboard boxes hidden within the closet.

"But Bre," you say, "that looks pretty nice, you even painted!" Yes, but looks can be deceiving. I will now explain the horror hidden behind the box flaps...

When we lived in the 650 square foot apartment, there was NO WAY to keep my stuff straight. I didn't have anywhere to work, so everything had to be kept in our one big storage closet, and then come out to the main room to work, and then go back. And I have a plethora of interests. I don't JUST paint or JUST sew... I also build dollhouses, make miniatures, draw, embroidery, scratchboard, etc etc etc. So in my non existent space things tended to be stored according to project. And that usually involved a plastic Joann Fabrics bag as the primary vessel.

So my boxes were full of bags that were full of a mix-mosh of beads, clay, wood dowels, paint, miniature flower pots, silver trim, and about 345669532 yards of tangled fishing line... it could have made hoarders proud.

Now, this worked when it was the only option. But it was not easy, invariably I spent 30 minutes just getting out the materials to work on a project, so I could never just do a little, then put it away and go make dinner... now that I had my own space something had to be done.

Enter PRODUCTIVITY EXPLOSION:

This is about midway through. After total destruction, but long before a semblance of order. Also, this kept happening:

But I suppose that's to be expected when you have a cat... well, this cat. After several days/evenings of hard work, it has come together in a totally usable way:

Yay!!! Usable space! The boxes! The organization! So very happy. I'm sure I will tweak everything as I experiment with actually 'using' the space, and still have one more big box to get through. But that's a mix of super random, hard to organize stuff, and my airbrush equipment. So I'll get to it, but 90% of my studio is done!