The Big Picture: Where the studio is going

Exciting things guys! I have been working on the studio. I am actually 3 weeks in. But I am not going to show you my progress quite yet. Because every good story needs to have the stage set. So this post is all about where I want to go and the space I am trying to create. 

If you recall waaaay back in 2013 (I love you if you still read this blog after all that time), I used to actually make things in my studio. Like this. I know. After the pic from the last post here, that seems like a very long time ago indeed. But that is really all I want, to have a functional space that I can make stuff in that can handle having stuff dumped on the floor. It doesn't need to be a pretty space, just a useful one. Let's just say I have no desire for a space that looks like the one in this pin

And since I told you all that I was going to talk about the SORT and Succeed book, I decided I would actually try following that method. So I started with the first part of the acronym SORT, "Start with a written plan."

Um...Yeah. Easier said than done. 

They were talking about a small attainable goal, but since I'm me, and I tend to think big, I started with an overall vision for where I was going for the entire space. This is straight from my "Goals" notebook:

"I would like to have an efficiently organized art studio where I know where everything is, what I have, and with many clutter-free surfaces to work on.

• drying space
• work space
• supplies space
• tools space
• display space

I would also like to have spaces to store mementos, Christmas and other holiday decor, camping supplies, rarely used tools and equipment, and food storage. 

I would prefer if almost nothing sat directly on the floor.

I would prefer if almost everything was easily reachable, at least with a stool.

I want to touch and make the decision "keep or not?" for every item in the studio. No unopened boxes. 

I am fine with a "storage room" look. It doesn't have to be fancy. Rough and Functional is probably better.

I want "like" things grouped together." 

So that's where the project is headed. You guys will have to keep me on track!

It is clear that I will not be finishing in May. But I think I will finish before the end of the summer. And since that is sooner than Never, I am pretty happy about that. I work on it weekly, on Wednesday afternoons for about 2-3 hours, and I have two slave laborers friends who come and help me every week. I pick a few things for us to tackle and put away. It isn't fast, but we get it done every time and usually end up laughing a lot. I am still sad I didn't take pictures last week. But that is a story for next time. 

In any case, things are moving in spite of the "end of the year" crush. So here's to SORTing and hopefully, succeeding. So far, so good.

Talk to you soon,

CM Shaw