A Tour! Finally! (Creating Room)

Back again with another space in our little home. This space is especially near and dear to me. When we first looked at the house, as soon as we saw the large upstairs bedroom, we both knew it would make for an AMAZING combined workspace for us – a small office area for him and a sewing/creating space for me. Because we’ve always lived in smaller spaces, we often work side by side. He’ll be typing away at his computer and I’ll be wrangling yarn and fabric. Good thing he’s able to tune out my noisy sewing machine :). It’s nice to be able to be together and still get things accomplished.

As far as creating spaces go, this is probably the most perfect space I could ask for. It’s a HUGE room (I think it’s bigger than the living room downstairs) so even with a sewing table, two desks, a couch, and a coffee table, I have lots of floor area to spread fabric out on. The guy we bought the house from was an architect, and was able to carpet the whole room with sample squares. Not only does it look cool, it also helps when I need to cut a straight line. It’s like a giant measuring board. Combine that with two big shelving units already built into one of the walls and it was almost like this room was made for us!

Most of the room is covered in gorgeous pine paneling:

Our old couch that we found on the curb! I can’t wait to sit there and knit on winter evenings. 

It’s in great shape and we really appreciate the natural look. The only problem is that it makes the room very, very dark. Even with two large windows and a skylight, it seems a little cave-like at times. Someday, we’d like to install track lighting around the edges. In the meantime, I made sure to use sheer white curtains to let a lot of light in.

The cubby

Boo works his magic in one of the dormer cubbies, looking out over our front yard and into our street. There’s a young maple tree right outside the window. It’s a nice space :).  He built that corner desk for me to use at a different apartment, and now he’s using it himself. The red desk is mine – someday when I have a laptop of my own, I’ll set it up there. In the meantime, aside from it being a sort of catch-all surface (which I’m trying to avoid. Unsuccessfully), I use the drawers to store various odds and ends that I don’t really want out, like cords and notepads and pens. I also store my sewing thread in there, but it’s not really efficient and eventually I’d like to have a thread holder that hangs on the wall.

Busy-ness

This is my favorite corner of the room, aside from the messy desk! I stored a lot of my buttons, ribbons, and sewing gears in mason jars. All of my acrylic paints fit into the hexagon wooden shelf (I got that at Goodwill). I’m using a vintage trash bin to keep my rolls of contact paper in. Because, you know, normal people need a whole bin to store contact paper in. Right? Anyway, I also love the vintage sewing machine. It belonged to my mother in law, and passed to me when we bought the house. I’ve turned it on and it seems to run but I have yet to try sewing with it. It would be pretty handy to have two machines hooked up with different thread colors so that I wouldn’t have to switch thread in the middle of a project.

The space I’ve dreamed of!

And here is my workspace!  Even though Jason gets a nice view, I get a skylight! I love it. I couldn’t ask for a better area to make things in. The lamp in the corner is perfect for lighting up the whole table. And every studio needs some fun lanterns.

Another view of the table

This table is another cast off from my in-laws. It’s huge and sturdy and…I get to use it all the time. Do you know how much of a creativity killer it is to have to set up your sewing machine and then put it away so that you can use the same table to eat dinner at? I’m still kind of in awe about the idea that I have a huge, permanent workspace that is only being used for sewing. I find myself sitting at one of the machines stitching away and just sighing, deeply. I feel so, so content and thankful.

Pardon the kitty toy in the corner 🙂

And it doesn’t even end there. After months of having my fabric in cardboard boxes at our previous place, I get to use this to store it. There’s a whole other shelf on the other side, too. It’s kind o messy so I didn’t take a picture, ha. That narrow cubby in the corner is perfect for storing batting and stuffing, too.

It says, “If you plant the seeds they will grow…if you water and feed them, they will bloom. You are a seed (care for yourself)”. 

I’ll leave you with a shot of the bunting I made for the wall nearest to the door. I thought it was a good reminder for me as I sometimes lose sight of WHY I create, especially if I’m making something needed or practical. I’m not just accomplishing some chore, or trying to cross another thing off my list. I am being mindful and creative about things that I make for our home or for my family. I am choosing to use my skills and invest my time instead of buying something mass produced from Target. Keeping this in mind helps me remember that I create not just for practical reasons, but because it feeds my soul. I also need to remember to work slowly and thoughtfully, to stop and look out the window once in awhile. I tend to get caught up in a project and completely forget about taking breaks until I complete it. I would probably work better if I stopped once in awhile to eat some lunch and have a cup of tea!

Now that I have a sewing area, I have NO excuses for not completing some outstanding projects. Slipcovers for our couch and love seat, cloth napkins, new potholders, and a liner for the laundry chute have been on my list for awhile…I wonder how much I can get accomplished before I start sewing Christmas presents?