I had an afternoon at home alone...

....and the inspiration to find my craft room floor. Since it was a rainy afternoon and I couldn't do the outdoor chores that were calling, the craft room won. As you can see by the photos, it's a good thing it did!

That's a sewing machine under the quilted cover. Lots of random stuff gets dropped off here as it is just inside the door.

The path to the chair, and thus the work area, was narrow and treacherous.

Although this room is supposed to be "my" room homeless things often get shoved in and the door shut. To even get in here I had to roll out my MIL's small folding wheel chair that should have been returned last fall. I'm not putting it back in here! As often happens in big cleaning projects, starting this project led to taking care of another before I could finish the cleaning. The pink tray is sitting on top of a box of old (1986-1991!) checks, receipts, etc. that needed shredding. I wanted the box so I had to get it empty. An hour and a half later (and six full shredder bins later) I got back to work on the craft room. The large rolling black toolbox divides the room into a small storage area behind it and the work area you see in the photo. I pulled a large box filled with remains from my last several projects out and began sorting. If I would just put everything away as soon as I finished with it my room would stay neater. Yeah, like that's really gonna happen, LOL.

The box held much more than it looks in the photo. Just behind the box is a large gift bag that was also full. I found bits from the French country house, the 1950s house, and even some from the house I made for my granddaughters two years ago. I eventually got everything sorted and put away. I don't have enough shelves to hold everything so I still have stacks of boxes but at least the chaos is semi organized now. I can also easily walk in and I have some space to work. I will be switching the antique shop with the castle soon. The stone paint has not held up well so I will be replacing it with egg carton stones.

And now for the big reveal:

 There was a table top under all the random stuff.

 The printer is off the floor and usable. The empty document box now holds wallpaper rolls. The boxes under it hold stamping and scrapbooking supplies

The trash has now been consolidated a bit by flattening boxes. I can't take it out tonight since it's pouring but I will be glad to have the remains removed tomorrow. Below are some photos showing the storage area behind the toolbox. The closets behind hold seasonal decorations.

I know it still looks like a bit of a disaster but I promise that it's a huge improvement.

One bonus to cleaning the paint area is that I found the lawn chair that's been missing since DD#2's cat caused my old shelf system to collapse and sent stuff flying everywhere. The chair has been stuck in the side of the revolving paint rack for 3-4 years and I just found it today. I had so much stuff on the work area that I could only turn the rack in one direction. Guess which side the chair was stuck on?

This is what it says on the door to my craft room. And I have to admit that I am happier and healthier when I follow this advice.

I found these two potential projects while cleaning. Hopefully, you will see some creative blog posts soon!