2012 Spring Cleaning Get Organized Challenge - Challenge #2

When we left off last week, I was trying to decide whether to move my work area from the loft to the dining room.  Well, between the heat and bonking my head one too many times, the dining room finally won out.  


This week, the challenge included:

1. Create an "organized only" space in your craft or storage area.
2. Choose a storage tool for your paper.
3. Create templates or dividers for sorting.
4. Sort at least 8" of paper.
5. Sort your scraps - throw away any scraps that don't meet your minimum requirement.
6. Put your newly organized paper into the "organized only" area.

For item #1, I decided to make the new space in the dining room my "organized only" space, and left everything upstairs that wasn't organized.

For item #2, I kept the same paper organization system I had before, but I turned the boxes so the dividers were vertical.  It makes it a little easier to thumb through the papers this way.


Items #3 and #4 go together, but since I didn't have 8" of paper to start with, I just sorted it all, including my scraps for item #5.  Here's the finished product (item #6):

In each slot is a single color (ROYGBP - I skipped the BIV and just went with blue and purple) and I have extra slots for brown, black/gray, and neutrals.  I also have a slot for specialty type papers (cardboard, grungeboard, burlap, etc.), and a "rainbow" slot for all the papers that have lots of colors in them.


When I sorted the scraps, I put a file folder in the front of each color and just put the scraps in the folders.  I also make cards, so my scrap minimum was 2" x 3".  There were very few pieces that I actually purged.


The drawers will eventually hold my ink pads and stamp bases in one drawer, stickles and other fun glues in another.  I haven't really figured out what to put in the other two.  I'm sure I'll think of something.


Of course, since I relocated my work area, my maps of Ireland are going to need a new home so I can put up some shelving.  I like the fact that my area is next to a nice big window to allow some natural light.  I also have curtains that are supposed to be up there, but I mis-measured mis-eyeballed the window and the curtain rod I bought was about 8" too short, so I have to get a different one.


It's not shown in the picture, but behind me is another area where I will do all of my cutting and scoring, and a little bit of storage.  There's nothing there because it's not organized yet ... that's the rule, right?


One thing I have realized is that this would be much easier if I had purchased the ScrapRack before I started rather than waiting until the end, especially for my themed paper.  Right now I have it sorted-in-waiting in some page protectors upstairs.


So now I have finished Challenge 1 and 2, which means I get to reap my benefits!  Hooray!