sewing room (?) tour

We are in the middle of the super fun process of refinancing our house and today we have the appraiser coming over so my sewing room really needed to be straightened up.  I figured this was a good time to take some photos.

It is not exactly a room, I don't really know what you would call it.  When we were looking at houses we tried to make it a priority to find a house that would have 1) a home office for my husband since he works very long hours and this way he can work at home sometimes and 2) a sewing space for me. The house we ended up buying has an addition that was made for the previous owner's parents to live in.  It is basically an extra bedroom (my husband's office) plus an extra space between the living room and the office.  I don't know what the previous owners used this space for, but it is my sewing room.
 A couple challenges of using this space are the lack of a closet and the number of doors and windows in the room.  There are 4 doors (one is a giant sliding glass door), a window, and an opening that looks into the living room.  Because there is so little wall space I have had to put my design wall behind my desk and sewing table which has made it a little difficult to reach.



Because I was previously sewing on the kitchen table, I needed a new sewing surface.  I bought 2 identical desks from Ikea which are great because you can actually raise the table top a few inches to make for easier rotary cutting.
Underneath my cutting table I keep 3 plastic drawer containers which hold most of my fabric.  They are FULL.
 And to make up for the lack of closet I bought this media cabinet from Ikea.  It holds larger cuts of fabric, batting, and some other supplies.  It also has batting on top.  you can also see some plastic bins which have additional fabric.  In the background on the left you can see the kitchen.  I would really like to get some sort of drawer system to replace the plastic bins, especially since I would be nice to have another flat surface in the room.
The space already had built in cabinets.  They are nice to have, but not as nice as I anticipated since they are so deep that if I put things in them it is difficult to reach.  I have some bins with my solid fabrics, scrap bins, interfacing, and other supplies in them.  The drawers are great and hold all kinds of other supplies like ribbon, elastic, zippers, etc.  

The counter has been great for my iron since I don't have room for a full size ironing board in the room. I like to keep my current projects on the counter, though they normally get buried under other things. It is not normally this orderly.  The door in the photo below opens to the side yard of the house.
I love, love, love having this room.  Despite the ugly brown paint color and the hideous tile floor, it has been really great.  Even though my sewing room is very visible when people come over and I don't have an option to close a door to the room, it is nice to be able to see my kids when they are playing in the living room and the backyard.

Since I am no longer quilting at the kitchen table anymore I considered changing the name of the blog, but that is how I got started so I think I'll keep it :)

17 comments

  1. Rosemary B here
    Erica, your sewing room is neat and tidy. I think having your sewing room out in the open is good. It gives you incentive to keep it..... sort of neat and tidy.
    My sewing room is the room off of the kitchen, like a sun room. It is big, full of windows. There, I also do not have a door to hide my mess
    Thank you for sharing your room. I wish I could zip,over and help you paint it

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  2. I was thinking the same thing about your blog name when I started reading this (jokingly!) Looks like a great space.

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  3. How fun! Thanks for the tour. Everything looks so bright and pretty. Definitely keep the name =)

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  4. Thanks for the tour of your space. I am in the process of moving my quilting/sewing stuff to our dining room. We use the room about once a year and I need MORE space.

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  5. I purchased 4 units with drawers and laminate tops from the Container Store. It works, but it was expensive, even on sale, and if I had it to do over again I would use Ikea's bookcases and some sort of top to provide a cutting table with storage beneath. This isn't a great photo but you can see the the units I have from the Container Store.https://www.flickr.com/photos/wheatens/9377684290/in/set-72157634809370699/

    I love your Kitchen Table Quilting name - you should keep it. After all, it is about our origins, not our final stop ... isn't it? :)

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  6. My new sewing room is in the middle of the house, just off the kitchen and backyard. I really like being in the middle of things to keep an eye on the kids! And I don't care if it's messy, I love showing people what I'm working on. Your space looks so nice, and I love all the mini quilts you have! I use large bins like yours to store my fabric, and have the GORM shelves from IKEA for them to live on. Your cupboard could use some drawers so the things in the back don't get buried!

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  7. My sewing room is in one of our 4 bedrooms. The other 3 are our room, a guest room and my husband's junk room. When we have kids, my husband will need to clean out his junk room, and hopefully subsequent kids can bunk up in there hehe. I don't want to give up my space! ;) I do constantly think about where else, and how I could set up my space though. My favourite option is making the hack-job patio that the previous owners put up into an actual proper extension from the living room which also means it's the more expensive option!

    I think I'd prefer to have a space which is more "open" and in the middle of the house because even though there's just the two of us here, I feel a bit lonely working away in my room by myself while my husband is in the rest of the house on the computer!

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  8. Great tour . I love seeing other sewing spaces!

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  9. pretty and colorful! I like all the mini quilts on the walls

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  10. I think it's beautiful and very bright :) Where did you get your 'aint nobody got time for that" clock? :)
    xoxo melzie
    melzie4boyz@aol.com

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  11. Your sewing room looks wonderful, so bright and colourful! I didn't notice the wall colour until you mentioned it, I was too busy admiring the minis and design wall! I love that it's separate and not separate too, it sounds ideal!

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  12. Love those cute wall quilts!

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  13. It looks like a great space to work in, even with all the doors and windows. It certainly beats the heck out of having to sew in the basement.

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  14. Looks like a great space to me!

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  15. Keep the name! I like it, and can relate to it. My sewing room is small, a little sunroom addition to the house. I have trouble keeping fabric out of the sun so it doesn't fade. I can't really have it all in shelves like some people display theirs. We have bought a house though, so will be moving at the end of July. I think my sewing will be in the formal lounge which I'll share with the kids for their playroom/lounge.

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  16. Your blog provided us with valuable information to work with. Each & every tips of your post are awesome. Thanks a lot for sharing. Keep blogging, fairmont orchid hotel in hawaii

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