Sunday, January 18, 2009

Why 2009 is important.

I've already said I don't make resolutions. Because I break them. But I have made a commitment to myself for this year: get happy. This entails a lot of things, but mostly it's about balance. Balance between being a good mom and being a happy person. So there are some things I'm doing to try and make sure I take care of myself.

First, I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm going to try and craft every day. I love a lot of crafts, knitting is like breathing for me, I have to do it every day. I'm also passionate about scrapbooking, I like embroidery, I like to make things from old objects, to reuse things in new ways. Before Toast was born, we had his room set up as a library/craft area....all of our books and my craft stuff were there. When we were getting ready for his arrival, I boxed everything up, we moved the books to the living room, and I didn't make anything for a long time. When he was born I also stopped knitting, because I had no time. Then I began to slowly come unglued. I was very unhappy. It is difficult to adjust to two children, and I had no outlet for myself.

When Tiny Man died, we didn't do anything with his room for a long time. Slowly we began to change that, and after a few months I set my craft things up in there again. It felt okay, and I like being in there with the "Little Prince" murals on the wall to remind me of him. But It didn't feel like my space...and slowly it began to feel less like his, too. But I thought, I don't want to get to comfy...we don't know what we are going to do in terms of having another child, and if we do we will need that room. (No, I refuse to make my kids share a room because I have too much stuff or need my space. it's not an option). But then I thought of something. We do have a basement. It's not pretty and it's not finished, but we could carve out a little space down there for me, should another Coffeemamma offspring come along. So in the meantime, I could work on creating a space for myself, knowing I can move it should the need arise.

So that's what I did this weekend. I had some storage, but it wasn't working the way I wanted so I moved things around. I purchased a desktop drawer unit from Ikea for pens and things, and painted some tins with chalkboard paint for more storage. I used what I had and this is what happened:

Everything is old, with the exception of the black and tan drawer unit you see in the corner (the black is chalkboard paint). I also bought a new holder for scrapbooking embilishments that you can't see well. It's on top of the middle drawer unit. The table next to my drafting table is Hubby's kitchen table from when he was single. The drafting table is something I bought when I was single, and the nightstand in the back has been mine forever. I like the way the drawers and that small nightstand work for storage.
Next to the desk is a crate with some storage for stamps. On top of that is a sticker/embelishment binder and some baskets of things that don't fit anywhere else...chipboard letters and the like. These are pretty, but they will have to be moved because I'm sure Toast will get into them lickety-split!
The dresser was Tiny man's, and we aren't sure we won't need it, so it stays. It's holding sewing supplies, my yarn stash (one drawer, I'm not a yarn stasher...but my scrapbook supplies make up for that). On top are some jars with supplies, as well as the tins I painted. These are NOT very visible, but trust me they are cute. The table will hold my sewing machine, when I get it out of storage in the closet.

So there it is. I'm not a creative genius, but I like having my space here. I like that there is a box of toys tucked in there for Toast (even if he prefers raiding my craft drawers instead). I LOVE that I can be in there with the memory of my Tiny man and work on his scrapbooks. It's a peaceful little place for me.

1 comment:

Carol, Song of Joy said...

That's great and seems really healthy. Good for you1

I commend the blog Joyful Wrecks to you also. You can get it on my blog page and today's post is particularly good. You are wise and healing in a positive way. I am glad for you.