I’m a zone person. When I focus on a task, I lock myself in that zone, and see nothing around me until the deed is a done deal.
Only trouble is, zone people often don’t realize the path of destruction they leave in their quake.
Can you relate?
Breaking out of that zone mentality is like pulling teeth for me. It’s painful. I have to literally force myself to snap out of it, and look around. Then get busy before I slip back into my trance again.
It’s especially hard when you’re in mid project. Oh goodness… to stop and wash your paint brushes when you have 3 wet on the go… heh. I often risk losing a brush because I just don’t want to stop and take care of business because I’m locked in.
Note to self: bring baggies or plastic wrap and tubs of water downstairs. I know. I KNOW! But I never do.
But I think you get my point. I am a force to be reckoned with and am in training. And in all honestly, will probably be for the rest of my life.
But there’s some really good news to report.
I am succeeding!
Every night after dinner is sprint time. I got the upstairs to the point of everything off the floor every day. So every evening to keep that up, (after my evening coffee… trust me, it helps!), it’s time to dash through all the rooms and get stuff hung up and put away.
Then I drag a broom or vacuum over the works, and it’s clean and ready for the next morning.
Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to be able to vacuum your floors without kicking stuff out of the way? And to wake up to a clean home?!
I hope you do. But in case you don’t, it’s amazing.
Just know? There was a LOT of uphill climbing to get to this point. A lot. More than one night, I broke out into such a sweat over cleaning to the point of needing showers afterwards. Guys, that is workin’ it… hard!
But it is paying off in spades. And there’s NO WAY I’m doing that all over again. So every night, sprint it is.
Which brings me to a neat storage idea I wanted to share with you today.
A while back, I was debating on taking my stencils and I into a local Christmas vintage show. I ended up not going that route due to life taking over, but I had been playing with a show setup in my photo studio to test things out.
The issue was, what could I hang the stencils on to make them super accessible and kinda cool to look at?
I snooped into my junk stash and had an embarrassing amount of vintage hangers. What gives? No idea. The lure of wood I suppose…
And then… BAM.
I set up two ladders, with a board running across, punched a hole in the corner of each stencil, and hung the stencils up.
PERFECTION. A vintage hanger and ladder stencil storage organizer was born.
I loved it so much, I left it up. I found the setup to be a huge enticement to go play!
My old sign stencil store is HERE, in case you’re new here.
Then I dragged a big ‘ol crate over to hold boards and signs.
Then just today, I was about to get a few stencil brushes wet, but the mess in the paint cupboard made me stop.
I store paints on hand in this little cupboard turned paint cart.
I don’t even remember leaving it like that!
Blame it on the last zone.
Gut and clean time!
All the brushes got sorted into cheap vs better vs best, then my most used paint supplies were placed in the cupboard, and the bulk in another room.
So much better!
When I painted later today, I had a huge smile on my face as I knew exactly where to grab my fav brushes without having to dump the entire jar.
Simple pleasures…
But wanna know the best part of all?
I didn’t even have a really bad before picture to show for once. And that my friends, is massive progress!
Now, excuse me while I go zone out… in a much more organized fashion. 🙂
Visit Old Sign Stencil projects HERE.
How about you? How do you fight the zone thing and keep up with your hard work?
And how was your own progress this past week?
Feel free to join our Crap to Clean private facebook group HERE to get extra inspired and encouraged! We’re now 376 strong, and growing daily! Such a nice, wonderful supportive group!
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Sometimes the simple solutions are the the best! Such a great solution to store stencils. And so much better than hiding them away where you can’t see them. Makes me want to stencil now!
This looks great, I finally got my workshop back yesterday. I was sharing it with baby quail that I was finally able to get outside. Now I can get building some fun again and I love your stencil center. If we weren’t getting ready to sell I may implement something similar. However…. My next workshop will be much larger and this would be a great idea. Looking great….
What a fab idea for the stencils! I like the brush organisation too. Mine are all in a drawer and although I have tidied up that drawer it can still be hard to find the one I want.
I get the “zoning” thing. I am doing the “crap to clean” and so far I have been concentrating on the bathroom and kitchen. You do NOT want to see the mess in my office which has become a dumping ground for things I’m not sure if I want to keep / if I do keep them where will they live stuffs.
I love this – what an accomplishment to be able to stay on top of what you’ve accomplished already. That is so hard, especially with a growing boy at home.
Hey, well done! I’ve got the same problem of no water in my upstairs studio and can;t even count the times I’ve forgotten about the brushes. Oils are not bad…they take ages to dry even on the brush, but if I’m using acrylics that’s it for that brush! And art brushes are expensive! So I have a tip for you. I have a couple of those big two litre soda water bottles, one holds water, capped up so I don’t spill it, and the second one is cut down into a generous washing tub. Water is always at hand up there and the great thing about pop bottles is that they have ridges on the bottom and that helps dislodge the paint. For my oil paints, I have two washed out glass jars with cap, from a salad dressing, one half filled with turpentine. When I rinse out the oil paint after a few rinses the turpentine becomes really dirty, but overnight the solids settle to the bottom and then I pour the clean turpentine into the second bottle and wipe the solids out with a paper towel and repeat next time. Oh, and a roll of paper towels in an old galvanized pitcher. This system really works well for me because I also get completely immersed in working, and if something tares me away form it…like having to make supper…I’m capable of completely forgetting about the brushes. This way I can at least stick them in water or cleaner till later and they don’t die.
I can’t believe what perfect timing this is. I was just trying to figure out how the best way to store my stencils was. Brilliant!! Thanks as always for the great ideas and inspiration. ?
Love the creative organizing! I’m just learning how to incorporate my junking finds in my workroom instead of storing them somewhere I never see them. Here’s a solution to your water challenge. Fill an empty liqud laundry detergent bottle that has a spout or a two gallon water dispenser bottle with water and a squirt of liquid soap. Set it on a riser or shelf with a bucket underneath to catch the “running” water. Voila! Sink with running water!