Organization Week Part 1

So, now that my craft fair stuff is done, I have dubbed this "Organization Week" at the Martin home!

Yesterday was spent just putting away the 'stuff' from the craft fair. So, today the REAL organization began!!! Goal #1: My sewing stuff in my bedroom.

Until now, it has been all over the place. Piled high on dressers, stuffed in laundry bags, left in the bag from the store... etc...

I decided today was the day to revamp it all. I took the kids to Lowe's this morning and bought a shelf and brackets. Here's what I did:

Drilled pilot holes and set my anchors for my screws in place. I chose a shelf that is 16"D and 48"W so I needed some heavy dury hardware. Thankfully, the nice guy on the hardware aisle at Lowe's was super helpful and helped me find exactly what I needed. Thanks guy at Lowe's!

(You can see where I goofed on my hole placement)

Next, I put my brackets in place. This was really tricky because those suckers are h-e-a-v-y, and I was doing this all by myself (yay me!) -- well, I had my little helper of course who put some hammer dents in my dresser, but oh well, right?

Sorry for the blurry pic... next I layed that 2-ton (I swear it really was that heavy- sheesh) on top of the nicely placed brackets. I placed it where I wanted it to be and with a pencil, traced the inside of all 6 screw holes so I knew where to drill my pilot holes.

You can see that the hole on the right was drilled, the one on the left, has not been yet. You have to be careful to not drill all the way through the board. If you do, it kind of makes things difficult. Instead, I drilled about half-way through the melamine board. It's important to drill a pilot hole, otherwise the board may split and you lose your stability.

Thankfully my 'lil bro stopped by on his way home from school and he was able to help me attach the board to the brackets. I probably could have done it on my own... but it was so much nicer with help! I even managed to get just about all my drilled holes in line with the screw holes in the brackets... an added bonus!

All that was left was to load it up with my stuff! I found those colored bins at Joann's on a 60% off  clearance for $6.00. They are 16"x10" at the base.. which is a perfect size for my shelf. Plus, they are really tall which means I can put a lot more stuff in them. I selected a shelf on purpose (rather than just cubbies to place fabric in) because I wanted to be able to store my sewing machine and cricut under it.

Re-organizing has also forced me to de-junk, and de-clutter. I threw away a BUNCH! Plus, I found things I forgot I had. Now everything is organized and most of the fabric is off the floor - I still have some to wash before putting it away.

Now that my cricut and my xyron are out here there is some space in my closet.. HOORAY!!! I think that will be tomorrow's project... we shall see...