Let’s start with a confession – some of these posts were written retrospectively and back-dated.  So before you marvel at my incredible hard work between this post and the last, bear that in mind, and enjoy the story without worrying too much about the timeline!

With the craft room ceiling now scattered all over the floor, the clean up work began.  The room had to be emptied, so everything had to be boxed up.

I decided to take this opportunity to purge.  As I was clearing off rubble and dusting off debris, I would review what I had and what I wanted to keep in my dream craft room.  If I couldn’t work out where it would live in the new set up, then it had to go.  Reader, I was so ruthless.  I binned so many scraps, some of which I had kept for YEARS!  (And by bin, of course I mean recycle.  Our paper and card bins were full to overflowing by the end.)  There were many items that were just too good to bin, but that I either no longer loved, or had come to the hard conclusion that I was never going to get round to that particular craft.  (Some items I had moved house with at least 3 times, it was time to wake up to reality.)

One of my amazing friends is part of a group that runs a Crafter’s Bootsale twice a year, and as luck would have it, the next one is in April.  I began sorting items into boxes for the bootsale, or for items that I thought wouldn’t sell, I had another pile of boxes for charity.  (It turns out our local library was desperate for craft and stationery supplies, and they were overjoyed when I turned up with 2 massive boxes for them!)

Once everything was packed, I considered the furniture.  This got donated as well, apart from the unit Tom had made me which sadly couldn’t be dismantled and therefore ended up being destroyed for firewood.  (Tom did enjoy this process!)

Finally we were left with a completely empty room, a blank canvas if you like.  Come back to find out what we discovered as renovations began in earnest!