Change is good, but....

For a long time now I've been looking for a smaller table to use in my studio. Although I love the 6' table I have in there now the space I have available is really too small for it. The table takes up so much room I don't have any room for storage, which is definitely an issue. Today someone was offering an old wooden desk on our local free-cycle group and I jumped at the chance to get it. The dimensions are perfect, the desk has drawers to store some smaller items in and it will allow me a bit more space to add some shelves or a storage unit.

However, getting the desk into the studio is a major ordeal. You can't just pick up the desk, carry it upstairs and put it into place. In order to even get it in the studio a major overhaul is needed. I have a large bookcase filled with my art books and some supplies. Of course, the bookcase location prevents the studio door from opening all the way so it now needs to be completely unloaded and moved. If that weren't enough, I needed to clean off my old table and cart the things out of the room so the table can be dragged away from the wall, folded down and removed from the room.

If that weren't enough, all the items I have stored in clear plastic bins have to be moved and I have to find a new home for them because they won't fit beneath the desk. This is where the storage shelves come into play. We recently removed a shelving unit that has colored plastic bins from my son's room and put storage cubicles in their place. These will now be mine to use in the studio for the bins that formerly lived under my table.

However, before I can move the shelving unit and bins into the studio I have to first get the bookcase out, move all the supplies, bins and assorted things that I just have to have (like the large sheet of black plastic that I keep next to the studio table for those times I'm working on the floor painting fabric), remove the old table, my chair, my small rolling storage unit, my large toolbox full of polymer clay tools, the large moose thigh bone I keep in the studio (don't ask...), my phone that I never use because I don't want to answer it when I'm working and the pile of clothing I'm altering.

In the midst of all this shuffling about of items I collapsed onto the floor, spilling hot tea all over my bed, the supplies I'd just moved into my bedroom and myself. It seems I have a 101 fever and am actually rather ill.

So, the simple act of getting a free desk for use in my studio has led to a major amount of work, a mess far larger than what I had before and my collapsing on the floor and being ordered to bed. Obviously the ordering to bed part didn't take or I wouldn't be sitting here writing in this blog.
The point of all this? Change is good, but sometimes it leads to a lot of work you hadn't anticipated. However, once the work is done you can enjoy the changes and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.