Beadio Before and After - It's All Progress

At the beginning - light stacked against the dark wall

People always say, "It's all a process." As if that makes it easier to make all the steps! Sometimes it's comforting when that process is taking longer than you'd like it to, but I think I'd rather say, "It's all progress."

It's hard to remember how dark it was in there before the pine went up. At Christmas, it had just been sanded, and the old shelf unit sanded down to bare wood. You can see how beat up the white wall was.

The "winter" scene with a foil lake and train on a siding

We set up a table in the middle of the room and 6 of us celebrated the sacrament of sharing Christmas dinner together. Definitely a cozy meal! I had so much fun looking at the Christmas photos that I just can't resist including these 2, too.

Elf available - will work for cookies and milk

Elf available - will work for chocolate

It's Christmas all year 'round for some of us! It was Christmas again yesterday (and maybe my birthday, too!) when I went to get the final pieces to complete the beadio. A fan is essential, it's so hot in there in the afternoon, and AC is just a fleeting dream. A power strip, for plugging in the sewing machine and the glue guns. A floor lamp, to complement the small bench lamp. They are both "daylight" fixtures and produce a very bright, white light that is perfect for beading.  Between the 2 of them, I will have good light and will postpone putting in fluorescent fixtures over the workbench area. And finally, 2 spring-loaded curtain rods for the window.

Whew! That was a lot in one day, even though I had set specific money aside for it, money I earned doing an extra computer job that involved a lot more development time than paid time. I learned a lot, anyway! And I could see that lamp and fan and curtain rods hanging out there like a ripe, juicy carrot on a stick.

I am actively trying to be frugal, although it seems to go against my core nature. When Matt says I was a princess in another life, I think he may just be right! Maybe part of noblesse oblige is not squandering what you have on frivolities, but I doubt it. A princess is obliged to live as well as she can, for the sake of others who can't. My "very well indeed" is pretty humble compared to some of the studios I've seen in magazines, but I know the SECRET OF LIFE.

It may be simple and pieced together (like this photo), but it's a palace to me

It's not the size of the room, it's the aloha there. And 6 coats of fresh paint!

I haven't had to buy a container yet! I am using what I have, which is many, of course. When we moved from Cloud Rest I went out and bought a lot of coordinating plastic tubs, because I wanted some long-term storage. Paper boxes don't work in the tropics. They mold, can't be cleaned, and insects love to eat them. Yum, the glue is particularly tasty. The rectangular tubs on the top shelf are actually the drawers from a flimsy 3-drawer rolling unit that collapsed under the strain of a sewing machine and other things stacked on it for too long. The stucture had no integrity anymore, but the drawers are just fine, and serve to corral my ribbons, and small blue tubs of doll parts and other interesting bits.

I dream about getting 2 rolling tabletop island units with shelves and drawers underneath. They could roll right under the shelf unit, pull out to be used as tables when needed, and store everything I currently have in tubs and cheap plastic drawer units. It's good to dream! In the meantime, I will continue to use what I have.

Fabric sorted and stored in a dark corner

I've had these tall narrow containers with blue lids for years. If I had 8 of them, they would stack up to the beginning of the peg board, and lie fairly flat against the wall in a rainbow of colors. Another simple dream. I sorted all my fabric by color, and this amount doesn't seem unreasonable for 35 years of collecting. I have purged it many times, especially after the fire next door in Wailua. I like having fewer things. I think I still have a lot. It's great to be able to go into a cupboard and find something you stored against a "rainy day," or in my case, a big dinner party.

I love linens, and have kept far more of them than is justified by our lifestyle. Some things are harder to divest than others. French linens call to me and comfort me. I feel happy looking at them, I like to touch them, I like to feel the grandmothers that wove them and embroidered them a century ago.

It makes sense (almost) to have 14 bath towels when we each use a fresh one every day. It doesn't make sense to keep tablecloths that are 10x16 feet, when that is bigger than the largest room in your home, even if they are the most beautiful blue cotton damask ever. We used this particular cloth before the wedding. We set up 2 banquet tables end to end in the garage and covered them with this one humongous table cloth and then laid lace on top of that. It stayed up most of the time and we ate all our meals out there. Only in Hawaii have I ever seen people party in their garages like this.

They will be beautiful blue cotton damask curtains. All those happy memories will radiate into the new space.