New 2nd Story Studio
 

I have not been on the QB in nearly three months. I have been madly moving my sewing space from a rather dingy, damp room on the basement to an upstairs bedroom recently vacated by DD#1 who got married last summer. First I had to finish moving her stuff out and pack it up for storage so she can deal with it at a later date. Then I took the time to sort nearly everything in the existing sewing room and either toss, donate or re-organize it all. By far the most time-consuming part was re-folding every piece of fabric to fit my new shelving system, custom designed by yours truly. It was almost entirely built by me as well, had a little help from DH. I got to know my power tools very well.

I am really proud of my new space, the first in all my years of sewing that I believe is worthy of the name "studio." I took a lot of photos, but my daylight bulbs sort of interfered with the camera, so my apologies, some of them are not first rate. I hope you enjoy the tour.

First the BEFORE photos:

Shortly after DD "finished" moving out! Still very much a bedroom.
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My monstrous pile of packaged batting (there are also 2 lg rolls of W&N not pictured!)
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The bonus attic room that had become a catch-all space for miscellaneous unused furniture
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Now for the new studio tour:

My piece de resistance, the Great Wall of Fabric. Yardage is neatly folded and stacked, fat quarters folded and placed in shoe-box size plastic bins that function as "drawers" on the upper shelves. You may not notice in the photo, but there are several empty bins on the fat quarter shelves, which means room for MORE fat quarters than ever before!
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Followed by my sewing station with room for both sewing machine and serger to be set up and ready to go at all times. To the left of the sewing machine is almost 3 entire feet of empty table, a great quilting space. The wall pictured here is almost entirely covered in pegboard. I do love me some pegboard!
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A cast-off chest-of-drawers makes a perfect embroidery station. All my thread is close at hand and stabilizers galore can fill the drawers below. (Why, yes, that is more pegboard you see behind that machine!)
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My little "Big Board", made especially for this studio, sits atop a shelving unit I was no longer using. And still more pegboard!
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My newly re-covered cutting/work table, which consists of two inexpensive microwave carts from K-mart, joined across the tops by 1 X 4 boards to make it the perfect working height for me. A 36X60" slab of particle board covered with upholstery vinyl makes the top.
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Remember all that batting? It is now neatly labeled and stacked on shelves in the closet. The two big rolls of W&N stand on the floor.
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One of my favorite things about this space is that I actually have room to display some cherished items.
Atop the cabinet, itself a treasure, are some antique tins, a "Tailor Bird" sewing machine my mom brought me from the UK, a favorite quilt... The cabinet was purchased for $12 at a thrift store years ago to go in the master bathroom. It was too large and DH hated it, so I get to enjoy it in MY room.
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to be continued in next post, I am out of image space

Since the room has only one window nearly 1/2 filled by an ugly AC unit, this is my "inspiring view". It is what I see when I look up from the sewing room. There is a clock on the opposite wall, but I really have to twist around to see it, so unless I REALLY want to know what time it is, I just ignore it!
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The bonus attic dormer room is now my "studio apartment", complete with a napping space which has already come in quite handy a number of times!

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A round dining table is temporarily functioning as my desk.
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It did not make it into a picture, but I also have a second sewing machine set up (it's behind the computer monitor in the last photo) for use in this room, as well as a wall of bookcases that house all my quilting, crochet, knitting, cross-stitch, and any other craft book I have ever owned, and a cedar chest full of yarn. A glider rocker in the dormer window makes an inviting reading nook. And there is a bathroom just outside the door. What a set-up! Now if only I had a fridge, a coffeemaker and a microwave, I might never come down again!

What a fabulous space! CONGRATULATIONS! You are going to enjoy this sooo much.

AWESOME, AWESOME space!! Congratulations!! :)

OOOOOOOOOOOhhhh, I love your space and all most all created by you. Love it and you will really enjoy your space. I have 4 rooms upstairs that I was going to set up as my sewing space, but have a hard time getting up and down the stairs and no bathroom up there. there is a small fridge up there, I could take my Kuerig up there, and I have another microwave that could go up there too. I would never come down if I had a space that lovely. Amy

Unbelievable! Congratulations!

This looks wonderful! It's a well-thought out space, with lots of room for creativity. Have fun!

What a great space!

Wow. That is awesome. Thanks for sharing, lots of great ideas to bookmark!

WoW! Well, you are set to go... ENJOY!!

What do i like the most? The cutting table and all of the organization you have built in around it. How convenient.

wow....you're your own store!!!

Love it!! I love my attic sewing sanctuary too! Cozy with character. Love your shelving of fabric storage. Awesome! Congrats!!

Sandy

Your space looks awesome!!! I love how you have your fabric stash so neat and tidy. I never knew we quilters should have a batting stash!!

what a great transformation! I bet you're happy with your new space...

WOW, congratulations to you. My DH and I are considering a move out of the city- it is really hard to find a house with enough space for my studio. Not that I have enough here, but we can dream can't we. Of course, the house needs a huge garage for his 5 motorcycles and all that goes with that. LOL.

HOLY COW!!!!! I would sit in that rom and just look and look at that wall of fabric. I bet you really get your creative juices flowing when you are in there. Congratulations.

Gorgeous! Love the fat quarter stash!

I think I would stay up there forever

Holy - bajolees!!!!! This must be heaven!!!!! I would become a quilting hermit if I was you! Just slip my food through the crack in the door. Enjoy!!!

wow! is all i can say for now... i love your room. ironing station. all that fabric is all nice and neat in its own place. your cutting place is cool too. wow! just love all you did. lots of room...:thumbup:...:thumbup:

What a great space. I dream of having something like that someday. It must be a big room.

Wow, that's your very own quilter's retreat! I love it. BTW, I love that bed and chest that were in your daughter's room! Interested in selling them???

Looks like you have the perfect studio. I think I would just like there.

envy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I love it! You have really put a lot of thought to organization and a lot of sweat equity into implementing the ideas. Have a great time creating in your studio?

Wow--------just wow!

What a great studio, I know you are going to spend many wonderful hours creating great pieces up there! I am looking for a Queen Anne chair like the one you had in the cast off furniture for my studio for when I do hand work or have a visitor. Enjoy your space!

Ooohhh, Ahhhhh. What an awesome room you have there!

Drooling like an old dog over your stash!!!

Awesome studio!!!!

Beautiful sewing/quilting studio/area/room. It is amazing. You have done such a great job on your layout and decor. Truly beautiful. Happy Stitching!!!

Marvelous! If my space looked like that I could be so productive! Enjoy.

Thanks for sharing your photos. With all those machines available, do you have friends over to sew with you?

WOW! Such a well thought out and designed space. You did a great job.

The bed is now gone, and the chest actually belongs to my daughter, who still hopes to take it with her one day. I am actually using it in the attic room to store yarn and stuff in for the time being.

Not yet, but I do have a quilty friend just down the street. We plan to get together soon for a play-date in my "store" instead of going shopping for more fabric like we usually do. That and making pigs of ourselves at the Chinese buffet. Although we could always order take-out, hmmm...

OMG your new "studio" is great!!

I am soooo envious! Thanks for posting the photos!

Wow. That is beautiful and so functional!

Microwaves, small fridges and coffee machines aren't that expensive! I would never leave! It's outstanding. Great job! Wanna come to my house?