Sewing Room - under construction

Okay, so I got a little flack for not showing "before" pictures of my sewing room. So how about some "during" pictures. Maybe you all can give me some feedback and ideas and inspiration. Do you have any favorite home dec blogs that you read?


I've decided to keep my sewing room in the dining room in this house despite the fact that we have a guest room I could share with the queen bed. These are my reasons:

1. This is a big room!
2. We use the dining room 1x a year at Christmas. And we may not do that anymore now that we have a big kitchen. So I like knowing the space is used.
3. I worry about waking a napping child if I'm in the guest room since they share walls.
4. I like having my stuff on the first floor so I can run in there when I have 2 minutes.

The challenge of course is not having the room look like a mess. Everyone has to walk through it to use our powder room. And of course if we do use the dining room I don't want it to look like we are sitting in fabric! So this is where I can use your help. Here's what I've got in mind so far.

This is the current chaos. This wall is pretty much useless because of the two doorways (with steps) and the fireplace. Currently in front of the steps is my Ikea Expedit shelf (because every crafter has these shelves right?). It's laying flat instead of upright. I've got my fabric drawers and then the cardboard boxes are full of china and miscellanea for the china cabinet.

There's a weird little hook (like a Shepherds Hook) hanging from the brick. I have the little dress I made Samantha hanging on it in this photo. What would you hang on something like that indoors?

Moving to the right a bit, here's the room. You can see where I'm thinking of hanging my design wall. I don't think it will totally fit, but maybe if I fold it in half I can put it there. Also not sure what to do about that chandelier. It's very country chic. But then again, so are the exposed beams and the brick fireplace. I'm afraid a mod chandelier which is more my taste, will look funny in here.

All of the furniture in here is hand me down. Eventually I'd like to update it. So what's going on under that window?

The black shelves are just in here temporarily. They have no home at the moment. The server stays and I think will be used for sewing storage. I need to line the shelves though, they are a little rough. Got any good tutorials??

Moving further to the right...

Right now we have the china cabinet centered. I'm thinking of moving it to the right more and then putting my Expedit shelves upright on the left side. I'd like to get some shelves that have doors on them eventually. And in a dream world I'd like to get this corner desk.

Which brings me to the china cabinet.

I really want to do something with this. I'd like to replace the hardware and paint it. But I can't decide on a color. It can't be white because the walls are white! Maybe blue? I've selected this blue fabric for the curtains. So maybe a deeper country blue?

And the final shot, from the other side of the house.

Yeah, that wall is kind of useless too. Between the sliding door and the fact that it's a high traffic area (leading to power room and garage from the rest of the house) you can't really put anything there.

So - I really wish HGTV would come help me with this! But since that's a far cry, I'd love any ideas you have! And please, don't judge me by my mess.

Back in business

My machine is back! YAY!  I got the call Saturday that it was done. Of course I dropped everything and ran to pick up. I've been sewing like a maniac ever since.  That mess all around it is the proof.

I finished 4 of my pillowcases for charity.  And I've made progress on a couple other projects that aren't interesting enough to photograph yet.

However, you can see some of them here!  I'm currently sewing in the dining room since my sister is with us. This means I've got to get all of this mess out of here on Wednesday. Because guess where we are having Thanksgiving? That's right - on this table. Not sure how much sewing I'll be getting done during the holidays, but you know I'll be trying to squeeze some in every moment I can.

On the personal side of life, we are moving forward with our new home purchase. Our request for repairs after the inspection was done has been submitted. Hopefully the seller will agree to everything without issue. But, I haven't packed a single box yet!  We have however, started to get rid of things that we aren't going to move. I've been busy freecycling (I finally got rid of my box of skinny jeans, sniff sniff) and the trash can always seems to be full. It's amazing how much junk you can collect. And I'm still going to decorate for Christmas. Lots to be done!

Big news

It looks like we may be moving shortly! We've been looking for a house for almost a year now. A few weeks ago we put in an offer on a house that I've been working hard not to fall in love with. And this morning the realtor called to tell me that our offer was accepted!

So, pending all inspections, this will be my new sewing room.

Yup, it's a dining room. And it will still be a dining room. But, recently my sister has moved in with us. So I don't know how long the "extra room" will be her room. So I will be in the dining room. The laundry room is attached so that's pretty convenient for fabric storage and ironing and such. Don't you just want to light that fireplace and get to work?

So - I'm looking for inspirations for contained workstations now. Do you have a workstation that is within another room? Got any great pictures you can share with me? Any spaces that inspire you?

There may not be much sewing going on since I'll be packing and doing home repairs on our current house. But I do have a few christmas projects and presents that I'll be sharing. Otherwise it may be a little quiet around here.