Here’s to a NEW YEAR, a clean slate

and a clean desk!!!

I love the feeling of renewal that the new year brings.  I love dreaming of the possibilities that lie ahead of me in 2012.  I love goal setting and resolutions.  Even if I don’t abide by them perfectly, I’m still trying to improve, and that feels good.
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One of my goals for this year is to get my craft room under control!!!  It has been through different phases of messy: from cluttered, to my husband telling me he’s turning me into the show, Hoarders.

I’d been using this armoire for about 10 years.  It was perfect when I had to keep my craft things in the family room and I could quickly close up shop and hide the mess.  But now (yay) I have a room for my craft stuff and I can just close the door to hide the mess.  Yes, my friends know that this door stays closed and when I have to invite someone in, I feel shame and embarrassment.  I wanted a desk with more workspace and an more open feel.  The armoire doors were taking up valuable space now.

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So I caught my man in a generous moment, (right after he bought his new road bike) and asked him to make this simple West Elm inspired desk with plans from anawhite.com.  Somehow I got distracted from this project and it sat in the garage unpainted, for months.  Then I painted it and it sat in the garage for a while longer until I moved out my old desk and painted the walls of my craft room.
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*I wanted a light color on the walls and white furniture so that my room would look clean and nice.  (I used Martha Stewart Brand paint “tidewater” at 25% opacity.  I knew I liked that color but I wanted it lighter so I sort of made up my own little shade of light turquoise/blue).
*I want to add more color with accessories though.  Which colors, I’m not sure yet.
*We made custom shelves in this room but this time I didn’t need a custom size and I knew it would take a while for my handy man to get to it.  So these IKEA shelves did the trick this time.  They aren’t near as sturdy, but they will do.
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I did change a few of the dimensions from the original plan.  I wanted the workspace to be a bit wider and I adjusted the side shelves to be a bit bigger so they are more in proportion.
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So now it’s time to start organizing my supplies on this new clean slate.  Its kind of all just thrown in the room right now and I can’t wait to make it look pretty!  I’m ready to make this project a priority and I’m pretty sure that it will make all of my other projects a little easier to navigate as well!

For now, I’m just reveling in the fabulousness of this new day and this clean desk!
(Did I mention it was bad before?  Like, REALLY BAD…  like HAZARDOUS BAD!  Trust me, this is a new year’s miracle)