Is your creative space too messy to work in, or are you spending so much time organizing that you never actually create anything? Today we're diving into that tricky balance between creative freedom and helpful structure. Whether you're drowning in craft supplies or afraid to make your first mark on a blank page, we've got strategies to help you find your creative flow and actually do the thing you love.
What We Talk About
Overcoming Creative Perfectionism: The Supply Trap vs. The Template Solution
Perfectionism often shows up in the supply-buying phase, where we convince ourselves we need every perfect tool before we can start creating. Janine's coffee filter flowers worked because she had a clear list and concrete steps—no endless research required. The key is knowing when you have "enough" to begin.
Portable Creative Kit Ideas: Use What You Already Have
Shannon's visible mending bag (that adorable polka dot Knit Pickers bag from Janine!) solves multiple problems: everything stays contained, it's easy to put away, and it's portable. Use bags you already love but rarely use to create dedicated kits for different creative projects. This beats leaving supplies scattered or forgetting about hidden projects.
Creative Workspace Setup for Small Spaces
Not everyone can have a dedicated craft room, and that's okay. Whether you're working at your dining table or desk, the principle remains: clear your space at the end of each session so you're not facing yesterday's mess when inspiration strikes. Even quilters might disagree with this advice, but for most of us, a fresh start beats creative paralysis.
Workspace Decluttering: The End-of-Day Reset Ritual
Just like putting your house to bed, putting your workspace to bed creates a natural boundary. For the self-employed especially, this ritual can signal the end of the workday and prevent that endless drift between work and life. Even if you haven't done it in weeks, a desk is a finite space—it won't take as long as you think.
Creative Block Solutions: Permission to Have Your Kind of Creative Flow
Some people thrive with papers everywhere as long as they know where things are. Others get paralyzed by any clutter. The goal isn't perfect organization—it's knowing which type of environment helps your creativity flow and which type blocks it. Give yourself permission to work in whatever way actually works for you.
Bottom Line
Creativity doesn't require perfect conditions or perfect supplies—it requires showing up and starting somewhere. Whether that's with a template like Janine's flowers or a "good enough" workspace that's clear enough to think, the goal is progress over perfection. Stop organizing your way out of creating, and start creating your way into the flow that actually serves your creative spirit.
Your action step: Look at one creative project you've been avoiding. Is it because you don't have the "right" supplies, or because your space feels too chaotic to start? Pick the smallest possible step—clearing one surface, gathering supplies in a bag, or just making the first mark—and do that today.
We'd love to hear from you! Do you thrive in creative freedom or need helpful structure? Are you spending more time buying supplies than actually creating? Tell us all about it:
If this episode helped you think differently about your creative space, please share it with someone who might need permission to embrace their own version of "good enough" creativity. And if you haven't already, leave us a review—it helps other people find us!
Want More Like This?
If you enjoyed this episode about creativity and organization, here are some related episodes you might love:
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Shannon Wilkinson:Hey there. Welcome to getting to Good Enough. I'm Shannon Wilkinson.
Janine Adams:And I'm Janine Adams. We're here for practical and fun conversations about living with more ease and way less stress.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yep. We're all about embracing progress over perfection. So grab a tasty beverage and let's get started. Hey, Janine.
Janine Adams:Hey, Shannon. How you doing?
Shannon Wilkinson:I'm doing pretty well. How are you?
Janine Adams:I'm doing well, I am happy to say. The weather in St. Louis is unseasonably cool, which is delightful. High in the 70s all week.
Shannon Wilkinson:Oh, my gosh.
Janine Adams:I know.
Shannon Wilkinson:Really nice. You're having our weather, and we're having your weather.
Janine Adams:Oh, I'm so sorry for you. Our weather always sucks, so. Yeah, that's bad.
Shannon Wilkinson:We had triple digits. Oh, yeah. And I think it's supposed to be 95 today. Yeah. Not my favorite weather, as you know.
Janine Adams:No. I wore a sweatshirt this morning when I walked there.
Shannon Wilkinson:Wow. Yeah.
Janine Adams:And I didn't get too warm. It was in the 60s. It was unbelievable. Yeah.
Shannon Wilkinson:Oh, my gosh. Wow. Well, we were just talking about creativity and, like, what gets in the way of creativity.
And I was thinking about it because of the beautiful, creative flowers that you made for me that I'm showing on the video that we can maybe post a picture to when this episode goes out.
Janine Adams:But.
Shannon Wilkinson:These are made out of coffee filters.
Janine Adams:Yes, they're made out of coffee filters. Isn't that amazing? They started their lives as the basket style, Mr. Coffee type coffee filters.
And there's this wonderful creator whose name is Hunter Hammerson, who her company, I guess, is called Tiny Nonsense. And I mostly.
Shannon Wilkinson:What a great name.
Janine Adams:Isn't that wonderful? Yeah. I mostly know her about knitting. She's a knitting. A knitting pattern creator. And she makes amazing patterns, but she's also does other things.
And I'm on her patreon, and she came out with these flowers, and I thought, I gotta try that. And it's just you. She provides templates.
So you coffee filters, you iron them flat, you cut them into petals, you dye them, and then you put them all together and many steps of, like, not necessarily creative. So creative. Because it's perfect for me.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:Because their creativity was in the. In the colors. There was no guidance on the colors, but I had templates for my cutting out part.
Shannon Wilkinson:You like that?
Janine Adams:I like that. Yeah. So I thought I'd give it a shot. And then I ended up.
I made a few, and Barry said, you should use that for the flowers for the party we were having. We had a party to celebrate his transplant anniversary. And. Cause I was thinking, she's. I gotta go to florist. He said, just make paper flowers.
I'm like, okay, I will. So I made a bunch. And so I. When I had the opportunity to send you something, I threw a few in there. Yeah. But there was a lot of supply acquisition.
Probably cost me as much as it would have cost me to buy fresh flowers for the party. But I have. I can. I have their supplies to make many more. So if I'm inclined to make more.
When the stuff arrived, because she provides guidance on what to buy, then I got to organize it all. And I. That was fun.
Shannon Wilkinson:You love that.
Janine Adams:I love that. And the organization went really well while I was working on the project.
But now the project's done, at least for the time being because we had the party, and I've got all these supplies that are sort of out. They're not out. I mean, they're to the side of my desk in an organized fashion, but in a place where I'd rather have clear space.
So I have to think about what to do with the supplies because in our apartment, I don't have room for a lot of extra stuff.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. Yeah.
Janine Adams:And.
Shannon Wilkinson:And my problem with stuff like that is if I put it away, I will completely forget that I have it and will never do it again.
Janine Adams:Or in a home as big as yours with lots of rooms, you. You may remember that you have it. But it might be a lot of effort to figure out where you had squirreled it away. Right. I mean, that was the case.
Shannon Wilkinson:No, I would actually. If I put it away, I would. If I remembered about it and wanted to do it, I would know where to get it.
Janine Adams:Oh, interesting.
Shannon Wilkinson:But I just wouldn't remember because it. I wouldn't see it.
Janine Adams:Out of sight, out of mind.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah.
Janine Adams:Yeah, yeah. In my life, I would be pretty sure I didn't let it go, especially in our old house. But figuring out where I put it was.
Would be too hard to even try to try to find it. So. And here I have fewer places to squirrel things away, but there's still. Yeah. So I have to. I'm looking into right over here.
I've got to deal with that because it's taken up about this much space, a couple feet by 15 inches or something.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah.
Janine Adams:So.
Shannon Wilkinson:So it's not insignificant.
Janine Adams:Right, right. It's not a room full, but.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:But yeah. That whole craft supplies, which are sometimes the funnest part about crafting or doesn't have to be crafts. Any kind of creative thing.
They're Fun, but they're also challenging, I think.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. Yeah.
Janine Adams:Well.
Shannon Wilkinson:And it's easy for me to let my perfectionism flag fly when buying supplies and like, oh, I want to do this thing. Oh, I have to get all of the perfect supply. You know, I have to have all the right stuff. I have to have all of it. And that's always super fun.
Janine Adams:Right.
Shannon Wilkinson:And then that, like, gets in the way of actually doing it.
Janine Adams:The. The quest for the perfect supplies gets in the way.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right, Right.
Janine Adams:And then let's say you do get all the perfect supplies, at least, like, for my little paper flowers project was helpful to get started because I had very concrete steps. First step, iron the. The paper.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:Which is easy and not scary. Probably. Unless I caught it on fire there, I probably couldn't screw it up. But sometimes, like, if it's a knitting project, I like to knit.
Even casting on can be challenging because it could be it's going to get twisted or you're going to. It's hard. If it's big, it's hard to count all without screwing it up. And getting started sometimes, even after the fun of the purchase is tricky.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right. Well, and I mean, the way you described acquiring stuff is very. Not perfectionistic because there was an end point.
Janine Adams:Oh, yeah. When this project in the craft project in the paper flowers, literally, there was a list. Right? Right.
Shannon Wilkinson:So you just got the things on the list and then you're ready to go. But if perfectionism is in the mix, it's very easy to, like, never feel like you're done getting the supplies you need.
Because one of those things, like, the more you know, the more you know, and then you learn, like, oh, there's this thing and, oh, I should have thought about that thing. And, you know, it can be. It can completely block you from actually being creative.
And presumably the fun part, I mean, it is fun to buy the supplies and all of that stuff, but that's not why you're doing. You're not doing it just to buy supplies.
Janine Adams:That's not what it's about.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right? Yeah.
Janine Adams:I have seen, you know, in 20 years of being a professional organizer, I've seen many craft rooms where the client never actually did the craft. And we're in, like. And we're in there.
Let's say we're there 10 years after they bought all the scrapbooking supplies, when scrapbooking was the thing to do. It's so overwhelming. I mean, that one. That's a tough. That's a. I think that's a tough thing to get into if you've got any perfectionist tendencies.
And so usually if they brought us in and they're. They're ready to go ahead and let it go because we can donate it to somewhere where somebody else can use it or what have you.
But it is amazing how you one can jump in thinking, like, they're all in on it and they buy all the stuff and they never actually do it.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, I mean, it's amazing to have space. Like you said, you have clients that have craft rooms. That's amazing.
But for a lot of people, your craft space or your creative space, whatever you're doing is a regular part of your living area.
It might be your desk if you are working from home and have a desk, or it might be your dining room table or, um, it might be a lap desk at, you know, on the couch, whatever it is.
And so having that, you know, sort of depending on where you are in your life, having that clear enough to work or being able to clear away your stuff so that you can then use that for its regular purpose is important and also difficult.
Janine Adams:Yeah, it can be really challenging. And I feel like my advice, generally speaking with creative endeavors, is to clear your space when you finish the session.
If you don't have it, even if you have a dedicated space, ideally, you don't want to leave a big mess to sit back down to when you're trying to get creative again. And I'm remembering that one time I was invited to give a talk to a quilters group in St. Louis about organizing your craft space.
So I, you know, I had a prepared talk.
I've given these talks before, and I went up and I started saying what I usually say, which I think I said, well, so at the end of each day, make sure you leave enough time to go ahead and put away your supplies so that when you start the next. The next session, it will start easily. And they literally laughed at me. I. I've. I mean, I've never experienced that before. I was kind of offended.
I'm like, I'm not kidding. And they're like, you're clearly not a quilter. They said. And so apparently, I mean, everybody just discounted my advice completely.
So apparently for quilters, it's a different thing. Not sure what. I didn't have the answer for them because I didn't fully understand the situation. I guess they have a lot of stuff, though.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah, I know. I mean, the quilters I know have a lot of stuff, and they leave it out so that they can go Back to it. Because it's generally big stuff and.
Yeah, yeah, it takes a lot of space. And usually I think they have a dedicated space to work on it or they have given over their dining room table to it.
Janine Adams:Right. And then that's okay with them, Right? Yeah, yeah.
So I think for when possible, like in my life where I made paper flowers on my desk, my work desk, I had. I had my organized containers, so I was able to put stuff away each time actually also involved dye and stuff.
I mean, it was a whole dangerous looking mess potential. It all worked out. Nothing bad happened. But I have this beautiful white desk, so I was a little bit concerned.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:But yeah, if you can take, you know, budget time in your craft time, I always suggest at the end of a session to actually put this stuff away. That just makes life easier when you go back to that space, regardless of what you want to use it for.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. Two things. One, I have a lot of really great bags that I don't really use that much.
And so I've started putting different things that I'm working on in different bags so they're accessible, but it's put away and it's easy. Like, you know, for my visible mending, I have a bag that actually. You gave me that polka dot bag.
Janine Adams:That's so cute.
Shannon Wilkinson:And I just keep everything in there and so it's easy to put away. Everything's contained and then. And then I have everything I need when I want to do it. And it's portable, so I can take it with me.
I can take it to the sofa, I can take it, you know, outside. I can do, you know, whatever, wherever I want to work on it. And that's been a really great way to contain things and.
And also use all these really great bags that I love that we're just sitting in a closet, not getting used.
Janine Adams:Yes. It's like you have a kit, right? You have your visible mending kit. That's awesome. Yeah, we knitters, we often will do that for our works in progress.
Right. So if I'm working on a. What do I work on? A bag, I can have all the yarn and the needles and stuff the pattern all together.
And then it's just a matter of figuring out a place to put that, which isn't that hard. I knew I had a friend who was a sewer and she had a. She did have a dedicated room in her apart a house. And she put hooks on the walls and she had.
They were those nylon reusable shopping bags that you can buy the ones that sort of fold into themselves. And she. They were pretty patterns, and she had one for each of her works in progress, and she hung them on the wall because it was pretty to her.
Yeah. And it was really easy for her to get stuff out and put them away.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right. Well.
And that also helps alleviate that object impermanence problem of if you don't see it, you forget about it, because they're right there hanging there. She can easily see them. And that's what I've noticed with my bag. I don't have to leave my sewing out to remember to do it.
I have the bag and I see the bag and I remember like, oh, yeah.
Janine Adams:And does the bag have a home or does it just live wherever it lives?
Shannon Wilkinson:It just lives wherever it lives. And it's cute. So I don't mind. I mean, right now it's. It's actually living on the floor next to my desk. I have it right here.
Janine Adams:Oh, show the. Show the bag. It is a cute bag. It is a cute bag.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah.
Janine Adams:That was a knitting bag from a knitting company.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah.
Janine Adams:Oh, yeah. It says something on the back.
Shannon Wilkinson:Knit pickers is the brand Nitpickers, right?
Janine Adams:Yeah. That's excellent. I can't even remember how I. How were you visiting me and I offered it to you. How did you end up with that bag?
Shannon Wilkinson:It was when you're downsizing, when I was there helping.
Janine Adams:Oh, you got it after we moved.
Shannon Wilkinson:Oh, yes. Yeah.
And you had a bunch of stuff, remember, in the basement, or you might have already moved it, and you were like, I don't have room for this stuff. And you had a number of bags that you loved but didn't really want to get rid of. And.
Janine Adams:And you helped me out.
Shannon Wilkinson:I took them all.
Janine Adams:Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.
Shannon Wilkinson:But I've used them all too, so.
Janine Adams:So that's. I mean, that really is when we're talking to clients about letting go of stuff.
It's so true that if something that's getting in their way, like that was in my house because we downsized, can. Can actually live a fulfilling life in somebody else's hands.
Shannon Wilkinson:So, yeah.
Janine Adams:Yay.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. It made me very happy. But I was also thinking about how this idea is helpful for sort of any space for anything.
It's not just crafting or mending or whatever. I mean, my life is better when I end my workday at my desk, clear my desk, and prepare what I'm going to work on first the next day.
The problem is I don't do that very often, and my Desk looks like it does right now, which is sort of the three things that I have been working on the last two days are piled up in front of me. Nothing's put away. There's, you know, because I have a cat that insists on sleeping on my desk.
And so I have a little bed for her, you know, that takes up a third of my desk.
Janine Adams:Right. But there's no arguing with that.
Shannon Wilkinson:No, she's gonna be there. So I don't have a lot of space and I feel like my stuff is encroaching on me so that it makes me not even want to come to my desk.
Janine Adams:Oh, yeah.
Shannon Wilkinson:Well, that's such a sad face.
Janine Adams:Because, you know, the thing is about that. I know exactly what you're saying, because I try to clear off my desk every night and I don't always succeed.
But if you do it every day, as long as everything has a home, it takes no time to clean off a day's worth of stuff on your desk. Oh, so. I know, I know. Right. So it's worth that effort if you can get yourself to do it.
Shannon Wilkinson:Well, my real problem is I don't have like a solid end to my workday. I just sort of end up drifting away from my desk at some point and not going back.
Janine Adams:The curse of the self employed.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right, right.
Janine Adams:Yeah.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
And I'm guessing that there are probably multiple episodes in our back catalog where I have talked about this issue that I resolved for a period of time. And then, you know, it just. Nothing really sticks because of how I work.
Janine Adams:Well, if.
If having an end time to your day is appealing, you could combine these two things because you could have this mechanism that if you decide, for example, I'm going to stop at 4:30 every day, then you have this action you can do, you know, putting your desk to bed. Like the way you put your house.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah, the way I put my house to bed.
Janine Adams:Yeah, yeah. Put your desk to bed at 4:30 and then you're not. Then maybe that'll have you leave and go to another part of your house and be off duty.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. Which probably would be a good thing.
Janine Adams:Yeah. I've been. My friend Geraldine was just saying that. She tries not to. I can't.
I think I was telling her about a webinar or something that was in the late afternoon, and she said, oh, it's after four. I don't do anything after four. She's retired now, so she can do that. But.
But even before she retired, she said she tried to work between 10 and 4 only. I'm like, well, that's admirable. So I've been trying to do that with some success actually, in the last couple of weeks.
4 o' clock is a nice time to stop working.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah. If you're in a position to do that.
Janine Adams:To do that. Exactly. If you're your own boss.
Shannon Wilkinson:The people cursing us who, like, have to stay at their work until 5:00 or whatever.
Janine Adams:Yeah, but. Right. But at least they get to leave their work. Right? Yes. The folks who work don't work from home, but. Yeah.
So I like this idea of trying to end the workday because I too have that problem. And it's not that I'm working that hard either. It's just sometimes I'm just wasting time at my desk.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:But putting, you know, putting everything away to mark the end, that seems. And that's true, as you say, of anything, could be work, could be crafting, could be writing letters, whatever.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right, right. And like you said, if. If you keep up with it, it doesn't take that long.
But also, even if you don't keep up with it in whatever situation we're talking about, it doesn't take that long because it's a finite space. And.
Janine Adams:Yeah, that's true. Although I had a practice client early on in my career and it. We took. It took us eight hours to clear her desk.
Shannon Wilkinson:Wow.
Janine Adams:That was fun. That was a great learning experience for me.
Shannon Wilkinson:Epic levels of. I mean, was it because you were like having to file papers or something?
Janine Adams:No, it's more like every object had a story. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So it was more like that. A little bit of indecision in there.
But you're right, a desk, especially, even if it's a month yet, since you cleared it off, it probably wouldn't take you too long. But yeah, if you do it regularly. And the other thing I find with desks, my desks specifically, is I will. I'm just looking at this. It's happening.
I'll let things. Things become permanent on the desk. Like it's okay to have. Right now I have one tooth. I have five containers of pens on my desk. Not necessary.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah.
Janine Adams:To have that many. And so that takes up space when I cut into a clear, clear desk.
Shannon Wilkinson:Right.
Janine Adams:Yeah. But I. Tonight, I'm vowing right now, tonight my desk will be clear before, when I call it a day tomorrow.
Shannon Wilkinson:I'll get right to work, join you in this commitment.
Janine Adams:Excellent. Perhaps I'll send you a picture of my desk because since I'm two hours ahead of you, I could Be inspirational.
Shannon Wilkinson:You could be.
Janine Adams:Yeah.
Shannon Wilkinson:That would be very helpful.
And I have to say that, you know, a couple of weeks ago when we did our morning routine episode, and then you were gonna work in a little bit more exercise in the morning, and I wanted to make sure that my morning routine included exercise, too. You texting to say that you had done it was very helpful.
Janine Adams:Oh, good. That makes sense.
Shannon Wilkinson:An accountability buddy is always nice.
Janine Adams:Always. Yeah. Heartily recommend.
Shannon Wilkinson:Yeah, absolutely. So we would love to hear from you, our listeners. You can let us know. You know, do you. Does a little mess make you feel creative?
Like, because I know sometimes I feel like if it's a blank slate, that's the hardest place to start. Like starting writing in a blank notebook. That first page is the hardest page to write.
Janine Adams:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Shannon Wilkinson:So do you like a little clutter? Do you get overwhelmed by your mess?
Janine Adams:Do you.
Shannon Wilkinson:Do you spend more time purchasing supplies and organizing things so that you never actually get to the creative project you want to be doing? You can let us know on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube too, @gettingtogoodenough.
-GTGE. That's:And then the music plays. Thanks for joining us on Getting to Good Enough. We hope you heard something that makes your life just a little bit easier.
If you did, leave us a review or share this with someone who's looking for their own version of good Enough.
Janine Adams:Thanks for listening. See you soon. That feels right.