overcrowded.
Surrounded by Ugly
On a rainy Wednesday morning, I realized I was surrounded by ugly. My craft space or art studio or mezzanine (as I actually refer to it) was crowded. Disorganized. And yes, ugly.
For the most part, I do strive to find contentment with what I have. I really do. But this room was unattractive in a way that suggested I was stockpiling for a future arts and craft shortage.
Discarded furniture. Worn out plastic bins and drawers. Outdated craft supplies. Oversized easels. Unusable canvases (even by my low standards). Remnants of barn wood. Well, you get the drift.
Packed. Crammed. Jammed. And stuffed.
Despite the size of the room, there was no functional table space. No capacity to paint a large canvas. And no easy access to supplies.
So I did what anyone else would do in my situation. I got on Amazon and ordered new wood storage drawers. A definite upgrade from the warped and discolored plastic ones I currently used.
I wanted to believe that the new storage drawers would not only spruce up the place but solve the organizational and overcrowding problem as well.
This is called magical thinking. Delusion. Or make-believe.
Here’s the deal, no amount of new storage options can ease the strain of too much stuff.
It’s easy to overfill. Our spaces. Our calendars. Our closets. And yes, our art studios.
Believe me, I get it.
If one is good then maybe two is better. In retail, they call this backstock. At home, it’s called hoarding.
Obviously having the things you need on hand can be good. No sense running to the store every time a recipe calls for black beans. But not every scrap of paper, old chair, piece of ribbon, or cardboard box needs to be saved.
Clearly, I needed a reminder about concepts such as donation, trash, and recycling. I mean, WWMKD? (What would Marie Kondo do?)
Time for tough love.
First up, I asked for help in revamping the room layout. Then I moved the large pieces around or out of the room to create the new configuration. And finally, I made decisions.
A million little decisions.
Excruciating decisions.
Decisions about things most of you would give absolutely zero thought to.
You have no idea my attachment to paper.
I remind myself I have enough.
I nudge myself to let go.
I wish I could say I am exaggerating when I tell you I removed a 5-foot crate, 3 chairs, a long table, a stack of vintage suitcases, 6 plastic storage drawers, and piles of unused craft supplies from this room. And undoubtedly I’m forgetting something.
Are you scratching your head in disbelief?
My new space isn’t beautiful per se but it is functional. There’s room to breathe. And more importantly, I have bare surfaces and the ability to paint large.
I realize that we all have our own threshold for ugly. Our own opinion for what is actually considered ugly. And our own perspective for living in the midst of it.
Letting go of the unused and impractical is a good feeling. And there is definitely freedom in owning less.
And best of all I’m no longer surrounded by my version of ugly.
“Creating space by getting rid of things that no longer serve you invites possibility, opportunity, and more space for love.”