I have fairly severe arthritis. It impacts my hands, neck, and back. It occurred to me that an empty sewing table would allow the table to hold most of the weight of quilts as I sew.
I have a room that I use as my studio. In that room is a large closet with my sewing machines.
The first step, in this process, was to gift our elliptical to our next door neighbor. They provided the manpower. This happened spring 2023.
It can be hard to get rid of big items. It can be hard psychologically, it can be hard physically. I do well gifting things to neighbors/friends. But if no one had wanted this elliptical, I would have listed it for sale at a very low price, and had strangers come take it.
This was a gym quality elliptical purchased in 2012. My husband used it for years, but at some point, a few years ago, it bothered my husband’s knees, he could no longer use it. I wanted to use it, but hated it. I really hated the space it took up in my crowded studio.
Between the eliptical removal (spring 2023) and the early fall 2023 clean out, the main section of my studio was much improved.
I sew in a very large closet, under our stairwell, in the studio. I like being tucked in this space. My sewing machine stayed in the same location. The serger moved to a second table.
My husband did all the moving and cleaning. I sorted and reorganized, and gathered donations on the kitchen table. We did this all in one go, on a Saturday, fall 2023.
Before -
After -
Included in the pile (below) are other/non-sewing items, from other parts of the house. I rehomed items, I listed items for sale, I donated items. In about a week and a half, all of this was gone.
Another thing to go was the rolltop desk in the background of this photo, future post.
