How to begin? I've asked myself this question a lot lately, and the answer I keep coming up with is: you just begin.

So, on this same theme, last November I started Gee Betty Designs. One day I was sitting on my couch watching old episodes of Parks & Rec while my son was napping and I just did it. I've always joked that my back-up plan for when I got laid off in another round of teacher budget cuts would be to sell the clothes I make, and now there I was. Not laid off, but after ten years, no longer a teacher. Self-inflicted. The only reason I had left to not begin was that starting your own business is scary. So *almost* on a whim, I bought my domain, registered my business name, and started planning. And now, here I am six months into this slightly crazy project. The store has been open for a month, and I am learning about all the things that go along with running a business.

I have a zillion ideas and I'm working on some really cool stuff to share. For today, since it's Workspace Wednesday, I'll just show you where the magic happens: my studio!

After six months working out of this room, I decided this week to make the changes that were so desperately needed. Here is the before:

To take this photo I am squished into the corner holding the camera over my head. Have a look at my glorious mess. Up until yesterday, there were five large plastic bins under my work table that held my personal fabric stash. I needed that space! My ironing board (which you can see in the lower left of the photo) was so close to the door that you couldn't use the door without doing some crazy dance around the ironing board. You can see I have patterns all over the floor, along with plenty more junk.

I needed to be able to put my product storage shelves under my work table, which meant finally dealing with my stash. To do that I followed Julia Bobbin's lead and got myself some comic book boards and a gorgeous cabinet to get organized. The cabinet can live in other parts of my house, look beautiful filled with my fabric stash, and be completely out of my studio. The fabrics are rolled carefully onto the comic book boards which are labeled with the yardage, and other info about each cut.

With my huge bins of fabric out of the way, I was able to move shelving under the work table and free up room to put my ironing board in a space that allows use of the door (only semi-critical). I also went through and re-organized my tools and got to setting up my second photo arm. You can see my work in progress on my work table. More on that to come!

Check out all that under-table storage! I got really lucky that my shelves are the exact height to slide right underneath my table.

You can see, I still have patterns on the floor underneath my ironing board, but I am in the process of getting those hung on hooks in my closet, so very soon that mess will be gone!

And that's it! I'm sure my space will be chaotic and messy in no time at all, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy that shiny new space feeling and get back to work!

How To Begin?