Clean Slate (Baby Boy's Nursery Progress)

I can't believe I can finally say this, but the nursery (formerly known as the room of chaos) is cleared out and ready to be decorated! I just had to share the progress with you all today. Here's my Clean Slate:

If you've been following this journey to a decluttered room and organized crafting supplies, you know I started with a real mess. A mess that I got myself into after Natalie moved into the bigger bedroom with her little sister and I had an unoccupied room on my hands. A room that became the "if you don't know what to do with it, throw it in there" room.

It was stressful to look at. It was stressful to clear out.

But I am so, so glad it's finished!

It took me most of the beginning of the school year just to go through years' worth of outgrown girls' clothes to donate and sell at local consignment spots. I overestimated the amount of free time I thought I'd have once the girls started back to school, and those few hours that Michaela Byrd is in kindergarten in the mornings don't always allow me to get done what I need to. Add in afternoon activities, homework, dinner, and pregnancy fatigue (!), and things took much longer than I expected.

But the clothes are gone, with the exception of a bin of Natalie's things that her little sister can wear in the next season or two. The girls' shared closet is cleaned out and organized in a way that makes life so much easier for me!

The craft supplies are organized in my brand new WorkBox from The Original ScrapBox and I can't wait to show you all how it turned out. I have some accessorizing to do in that shared family space, but it may have to wait until after baby arrives. For now, I'm thrilled to have ONE spot to store all my crafty homey stuff...you're not going to believe how cool it is!

And now our baby boy will have a space of his own...and he won't have to sleep on a box of glue sticks. Isn't that exciting?

Yesterday, I taped, primed over those pink pinstripes (it was a little sad to say goodbye to the pink) and covered 'em up with blue. I LOVE how they turned out. Here's a sneak peek:

A full nursery reveal will most likely have to wait a bit. I have some art to craft and some fluffing to do before I can share, so you all stay tuned!

Have you ever decluttered an area of your home and felt light as a feather afterwards?

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Organizing Shelves and Bins for Craft Supplies (Utilizing My WorkBox)

This post brought to you by The Original ScrapBox. Have you been following my journey to an organized family space for crafting and play? Things are slowly but surely coming together with my new WorkBox from The Original ScrapBox! I think I might just get it all done before the baby gets here if I keep plugging away. A few of you wondered about the ease of adding the shelving and bins to the WorkBox, so I thought I'd share a few quick pics and a quick video.

It's a bit daunting to look at an empty WorkBox and see all those little holes waiting to be filled with the plastic shelf brackets:

My top tip? Look at the instructions! They will tell you exactly which holes to place the brackets in to properly fit every bin. You can always customize later, but I found it was easiest to follow the directions and go from there.

I had T help me install some of the shelves, especially the ones that I had a hard time reaching (baby belly kept me from getting into the back of the highest spots). The bins were a breeze! Along with the velcro pouches, the bins come flattened in boxes like this:

Putting them together is as simple as opening the bin, slipping the sturdy lined bottom piece in, and popping it onto a shelf. The skinny bins also have a "stabilizer" that goes into the back; just a quick extra step, but it helps them hold more.

I won't lie. It was pretty exhilarating to look at that big WorkBox full of empty bins, just waiting to be filled with crafty goodness. I know I can't be the only one who gets a kick out of empty bins, right? Right?

Here's a very quick video I put together to show you just how easy the shelves and bins are. It was hard to film one-handed, but I wanted to give you a close-up look before the big reveal. (You'll have to click over to the blog to see the video if you're viewing this in a reader or email! I had some trouble with it last night, but hopefully it will work today)

                        

I'm almost finished adding my stuff to the WorkBox...I can't believe it! Stay tuned for a look at how we will use our extra space for a mom and kid play area. And there just might be a fun little Giveaway from my friends at The Original ScrapBox!

What's your favorite part of the organizing process?

(Side note: Please do keep us in your thoughts and prayers today. I have an ultrasound scheduled to take a peek at baby boy's kidneys. Thank you!)

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.





Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Original ScrapBox, but I was not financially compensated for this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Assembling a ScrapBox WorkBox (Craft Supply Storage and Work Space)

This post brought to you by The Original ScrapBox.

When I announced that it was time to team up with The Original ScrapBox to get my craft supply clutter under control before Baby #3 arrives, I had some comments, social media shout-outs, and emails asking how the process works. Today, I want to give you an overview of how the shipping and assembly process works. I chose the "Big Daddy" of all craft supply storage units, The WorkBox, so we'll focus on that today. 

When it comes to following assembly instructions, using power tools, and building things, I am at a loss. Not my strength at all. But luckily, I married a super handy guy. However, said super handy guy currently only gets one weekend off a month and prefers not to do large projects on those weekends. I lucked out when T offered to put together my new WorkBox as part of a wedding anniversary gift. He even promised not to throw any "fits of rage" during the building process.

Once my order was placed, I waited for a call from FedEx freight, which would be delivering the packages (yes, there were more than one!) that my WorkBox came in. Shipping is free within the continental U.S.

The FedEx rep scheduled a delivery time with me and also gave me tracking information. The driver even called to confirm that he was on his way. When the truck arrived, I made sure that T was home to help with getting the boxes inside. We don't have a basement, garage, or covered carport, so they came straight into our family room! I don't think that the freight company is obliged to help with this part of the delivery process, but our worker was really nice and helped us out. The boxes are heavy!

To begin with, I hopped online to read some reviews on The Original ScrapBox website and Facebook page and looked to see if there were any helpful hints for assembly. Everyone seemed to recommend watching the DVD that arrives with the boxes and instructions before doing anything. I suggested it to T, who agreed, despite his normal tendency to rip things open and build them from scratch.

T's next step was to open all the boxes and organize the components so that they'd be easy to reach. He was pleased to see that like items were packed together.

There was one piece (an interior door) that was damaged at some point, possibly by a forklift. It was impossible to see until the box was unwrapped, so we really couldn't fault anyone. All it took was one phone call to the folks at ScrapBox and they sent me a new part....no questions asked. It couldn't have been any easier!

If you or your husband/wife/friend/helper is a handy person, you should still plan to spend several hours on assembling this piece. I think it took T a total of six hours because he had to make a run to the hardware store for a dowel rod when one of the included pegs broke off, and he ended up having to redrill some holes in the unit, which is a common occurrence, from what I read online. We were expecting that.

The girls and I left him alone to work, for the most part. There were some things he let the girls help with...handing him tools, lining pieces up, etc. But it was definitely a grown-up's job.

The very last step is to insert the little bitty plastic attachments into all of those tiny holes you see in the photo above, then add the shelves and bins.

Because I am in *MAJOR nesting mode* right now, I forced myself to reorganize the girls' closets and go through their old clothes for resale before I let myself enjoy the fun part of the new WorkBox and start organizing all my crafty stuff. I can't wait to have a space all to myself where my supplies are easily accessible!

Having a handy hubby who was willing to step in and do the grunt work on this project made it a breeze for me. If you're nervous about assembly, I really do recommend watching the DVD that they send with the boxes, and giving yourself a weekend so you can take breaks if you need to. Rome wasn't built in a day, so why should you push yourself?

My next ScrapBox post will be a "reveal" of my new craft storage unit and workspace. I can't wait to share some of the neat design features and show you how it works for our family!

How do you/would you like to organize your crafting supplies?

Looking for ideas for your own craft space? The Original ScrapBox has a page full of inspiration. You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

More posts about my ScrapBox experience:

• Craft Supply Chaos
• "Before" Tour of Rooms

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

Disclosure: This is not a paid post, but I will receive product from The Original ScrapBox in exchange for an honest review.

A "Before" Room Video Tour (Craft Supply Organization)

This post brought to you by The Original ScrapBox. 

Hello, hello! I'm headed up to our IKEA for some shopping fun, but I thought today would be perfect to show you a quick "Before" Video Tour. You may remember the very embarrassing post I shared last month with photos of Natalie's old room (soon to belong to baby boy) and the girls' play area.

I dreaded sharing my craft supply chaos with you guys, but I received so many encouraging comments and emails. It seems that many of you also have a secret room or closet where you stash stuff. I'm excited to be calling it quits with the clutter and working with The Original ScrapBox to get things organized. I'll share more about the WorkBox and the process of putting it all together in an upcoming post, but today is all about giving you a closer look at the awful mess I created. 

I don't know if I've ever given you guys a close-up look at our addition, which is where 90% of the girls' toys reside. (Side note: Please excuse the tarp over our shed outside...a storm took the roof out and we're waiting on the tree guy to come and take care of things before we can replace everything.) So, hopefully today's video tour will give you a better idea of the space I have to work with. 

Please note, you may have to click over to the blog to see the video if you're viewing this in a reader or email:

I can't wait to show you guys the WorkBox in our downstairs space once the shelves are in and supplies relocated. I have a list of to-do projects a mile long that I'm hoping will be made easier with a new workspace! Most exciting is the transformation from little girl's room-turned stash area to baby boy's nursery. I have a lot to do!

What's your biggest organizing challenge?

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.




Disclosure: This is not a paid post, but I received product from The Original ScrapBox in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions expressed are 100% my own!

A Solution for Craft Supply Organizational Chaos (My Ugly Confession)

This post brought to you by The Original Scrapbox.

Today's alternate title is "A Tale of Two Rooms." I've been biting my fingernails over writing this post. Like any of you, I hate feeling judged. But today I'm taking a risk and giving you a one hundred percent real look at two rooms in my house, in hopes that I'm not alone and some of you also struggle with keeping craft clutter (or any clutter) in check. Confession: my craft supplies are in complete chaos. Today is about showing you my problem areas and coming up with an organizing solution with The Original ScrapBox!

Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Monica is forced to reveal her "secret closet"? The secret closet is an utter disaster and Monica is completely embarrassed when Chandler discovers her shame.

Yes, that's pretty much me today. 

This room used to be Natalie's nursery.

When Natalie moved into a larger room to share with her little sister, I had every intention of turning the old nursery into a guest room and craft area for myself. I stashed a few of my craft supplies along the wall, and even bought a few bins to store them in. 

Things went downhill from there. What started as "I'll just store a few crafty things here on the wall" turned into "Don't have a place for it? Toss it in THE ROOM." It was pure laziness; and after awhile, the craft mess became a swirling vortex of disarray. It was too overwhelming to even think about where to start getting it under control, and it took me forever to find any of the lovely supplies I'd received as part of various campaigns.

Seeing that positive pregnancy test a few months ago was a real wake-up call. I certainly couldn't let the baby sleep on a box of hot glue sticks, could I?

I've been planning my dream craft room for ages. I even started a Pinterest board dedicated to craft rooms.

In my dream craft room, things are:

• easy to find
• displayed neatly
• there are pretty pops of color for inspiration
• I have room to work!

It's so much fun to dream, but at some point you also have to embrace reality, look at your problem areas, and find a solution!

Natalie's old room needs to be a dedicated nursery for the new baby, so what could I do with all my crafty things? The answer for us was to use some space in our addition, which is currently a dedicated play space for the girls. Case in point:

Obviously, this room cleans up quickly with bins and a built-in unit for various play things (not pictured, on the other side of the room). But that photo is a pretty accurate shot of what the area looks like during the day while the kiddos are at play. It was time to find a way to combine mom's "play stuff" with kids' play stuff and create a space that all of us can enjoy together. 

With some help from The Original ScrapBox, I am excited to make this dream a reality!

If you haven't heard of ScrapBox, they make the most amazing craft storage units. The cool part is that they come in several different sizes to accommodate your space and lifestyle. My eyes were immediately drawn to the larger pieces.

The EZ View Desk has a clear top that allows you to see your supplies as you need them. It also allows for more than one configuration, making it customizable for your space. 

The SewingBox can house your sewing machine, fabric, and notions...and it provides a sturdy workspace!

The CraftBox can store your crafting supplies and keep them safely away from curious little hands. 

And, finally, the granddaddy of all craft storage units, The WorkBox. I chose this unit based upon the sheer amount of space to stockpile items. With bins and shelves, pouches and a fold-out work table, I'll be able to organize my creative supplies and have a dedicated workspace. 

I'll still need to go through my stash and scale down on things I don't need or use any more, but I can't tell you how excited I am to work with ScrapBox and finalize a solution for that chaos I created! 

To me, the beauty of The Original ScrapBox is that they offer products that can blend seamlessly into your existing decor. I needed a storage piece that wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. Our addition can be seen plainly from the entry, so a big set of plastic shelves with baskets just wasn't going to cut it. The WorkBox comes in a variety of finishes, so I was able to choose one that would work with the room. With two growing girls and a baby on the way, I wanted to be able to craft alongside their playtime, and then close up shop without leaving a room full of paper, fabric, and glue everywhere.

As much as we'd all love a room completely dedicated to our crafting hobby, sometimes it's just not a possibility. The Original ScrapBox makes it that much easier to spend more time crafting and less time digging through piles. Keeping supplies organized in an attractive and sensible way is what sparks my creativity. I'm looking forward to having a space in which I can enjoy my hobby and my kids!

I hope you'll join me on my journey to a more organized space. My WorkBox will arrive in the next few weeks and I can't wait to show you more features!

Looking for ideas for your own craft space? The Original ScrapBox has a page full of inspiration. You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter. 

What does YOUR ideal craft space look like?

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.



Disclosure: This is not a paid post, but I will receive product from The Original ScrapBox in exchange for an honest review.