Realistic Craft Organization

I do not have a craft room.  In fact, I am quite jealous of those who do.  I have a wall, aka vertical storage space.  Just a plain old wall on the side of my dining room that looks like a tornado has hit it.  Aside from its dis-organization, its in a room that gets used quite often when we have company.  I am not a fan of the disorderly, but, it seems to be what I have to live with.  I am determined to find some storage ideas that are not unsightly, affordable, and do-able.  If the storage is something that I need to create, I want to be able to put it together in a timely manner.

I am turning to the 'new' old standby for ideas:   Pinterest.  I am posting some of the ideas I have found on that site to aid in my craft problem.  I also want to turn to you for suggestions.  I am open to anything at this point.  I am also going to do some goodwill hunting.  Surely between those three things, I will be able to bring order to my chaos.  I will post progress photos as I go along but am completely open to all suggestions, critiques, etc.......

Now, I do have a buffet server, but no top.  I am hoping to find one at goodwill.  The one below turned out beautifully and definately not unsightly.

source

Decorative storage above the cabinet would most definately be possible.  I already have some baskets/boxes that good old spray paint would help them coordinate:

source

I am in the process of putting together a budget and gathering ideas.  I will post photos as a I go.  I know this is going to be an ongoing project but I'm looking forward to the journey and the final result.

Painting furniture gone wrong!!

I'm in the process of adding some 'new' furniture to my kids rooms.  They are both in dire need of some sort of nightstand.  So....goodwill hunting I go!  I found one that was in really good shape (and forgot to  take a picture) but didn't quite match her room so I figured I would just paint it.  I'm new to the furniture painting arena but the nightstand was only $8 so I knew I wouldn't be out too much money.  I was sooo excited to get started on painting.  I even had some paint at home and wouldn't have to spend another dime.  Well, apparently a little too excited because  I forgot to sand.  I started painting it and something just wasn't looking right.  I thought, 'its just the first coat, it needs another and then it will be fine.'  WRONG!!!  The paint was clumping and not sticking in spots.  My next thought was to just sand it down, buy some spray paint and start over.  That would be mistake number 2, or is it 3? The top sanded perfectly but the sides and front?  Not so well.  First off, there is bead board on it so there was no way I could get a good sand in the grooves. Secondly, its not entirely solid wood.  And to top that off, my sander was not running efficiently AT ALL!!  My next thought:   'oh well, the spray paint will even this thing out.'  That would be mistake number 4. I started spray painting the entire thing even when there was still paint left on in spots on the nightstand. DUMB DUMB DUMB! Now, I have officially been left with a clumpy, rough, horrible looking nightstand that isn't good for anything.  I would take a picture of the final product but it is sooo bad that I am too embarrassed to even show it.

Notes to self for next furniture paint job:
1.  SAND
2.  PRIME
3.  Don't rush or get soo excited that you can't wait long enough to do it the right way.

Organization = Savings

A bell went off in my head this week as I was purging/organzing my closets.  I waste sooo much money!  And it isn't intentional.  First of all, there are items we have that we end up buying duplicates of because we either forgot we had said item or couldn't find it when we needed it.  Why does this happen?  Clutter, lack of true organization, laziness, or any combination of the three plus more.  I admit that I have fallen into all three categories at different stages.  And each one has cost me dearly.  I have even rationalized purchases saying that if I dont get alot of use out of it, I can always give it to someone who can.  While charity giving is a noble thing to do, is that really a good reason to purchase something?

WASTE! WASTE! WASTE!  As I filled bag after bag of items to take to goodwill I started throwing numbers out there and my heart about sunk.  All that money that could've gone to better use, that could've been saved for a nice vacation, or an IRA or kids college funds.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  The lightbulb has most definately gone off in this woman's head and I am determined to be actively involved and mindful of all future purchases.  I'm also not going to let my DISorganization get sooo out of control that it costs me more and more money to maintain.  Lesson Learned.