WANTED: Good home for pencils

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Heather Laura Clarke

Now that we’re back to reality, and determined to make our cozy newlyweds condo into a home suitable for a … gulp … family of three … I’ve got my work cut out for me!

No more dabbling posts about maybe-this-furniture or maybe-that-way-to-save-space. No! I’ve got to get serious and make actual plans, here. Otherwise I fear I will end up sleeping in the jacuzzi — our bed discarded for more floor space.

My mother is optimistic, as always, and says of course we will have room for a baby — and its gear — in our condo.

I have always been a realist, so I am not so certain, because the second bedroom — now the office, someday the nursery — contains:

Hubby’s computer desk
Desk chair
My art/drafting table
Chair from the dining room set
Tall white bookcase
Filing cabinet

… let’s not forget the closet, which looks like a Tupperware aisle exploded, and is crammed with:

My sewing machine
Six drawers of fabric
A small storage cabinet full of art supplies
12 plastic containers with more art supplies
Three drawers of office supplies
Three drawers of paints

So basically, everything in that room has to find a new home — except the white bookcase, possibly, because I could fill it with childrens’ books and wicker baskets.

The best place for Darling Husband’s computer is probably the bedroom — living room would be too cluttered. And the filing cabinet can definitely be shoved in the storage room.

As for my art stuff, this is what I have come up with …

OPTION A: The mini-studio

My art desk & chair move to the storage room off the kitchen — wait! Here me out!
The heaps of art supplies moves to the storage room (has built-in shelves along the back wall)
The crap in the storage room moves to the closet of the second bedroom, and my mom’s basement
PRO: I will have my own space to work
CON: I may develop claustrophobia

OPTION B: The mobile studio

My art desk is stored in the storage room, and I do most of my crafting at the dining room table — but it is pulled out for especially large or messy projects
My art supplies remain stowed in the second bedroom closet
PRO: No need to move anything except the desk
CON: I won’t have a place to work, so I may choose not to create simply because I don’t have the space

I’m really not sure which is the best solution. I like the idea of the mini-studio, simply because I could work and store everything in the same space. Yes, it is a small space — and I’m not totally sure about the ventillation? — but it would be the one space not infiltrated by Hubby or Baby.

Any thoughts?