the PERFECT quilting/craft room
 

I have just been wondering lately what would make the best quilting room. What would be your must have in your dream room? I wish I could take all the ideas and make a perfect room. But that will not be for quite awhile.

Floor to ceiling shelving with glass doors!....and a cutting table at counter height....floors with no carpeting....electrical outlets everywhere....windows for natural lighting.....heating/ac to keep a constant temp and humidity.....doors to keep out the furry critters (cats and dogs) because they leave fur and fuzz everywhere!....flatscreen tv that I can hook up my computer to, so I can see the patterns and instructions in great big size!....and plenty of room to expand so if my ship ever comes in I can get that longarm (I can dream can't I?)

With a wave of my magic wand .... the sandwich is sandwiched and ready for me to quilt!

I have my dream room, for me, a cutting table at counter height..bamboo hard wood floors, lots of outlets so I can plug in all 10 machines, (4 featherweights, 4 Pfaff 7570s, a Pfaff serger, and a Nolting mid arm, a Ott light at each machine, TV Stero, DVDs on quilting and sewing, fireplace for the winter to make it cozy, love seat sofa to sit in comfort to do hand work, heat and air, big board ironing board, fabric and batting storage areas, room for bookcase for my quilting books. Drawers for tools by each machine. 8 office rolling chairs, and lap top on coffee table with EQ, and fun things around so room does not look stuffy, a fun place to be in for young, ( my 4H gals love it,) and old, I love it too, and I'm old as dirt! I also have Molly, my maid, she is a robot and keeps threads and lint picked up, what more could one ask for?

Hi Leaha, Can I move in with you? I live in a one bedroom apartment..

yeah I even have a guest room, :-) and a darling little house for dyeing and painting fabric, it even has it's own patio, and covered front porch, it also has it's own heat and air. come and Play!!!

If you have a couple of your quilts hanging or displayed, then I would say your set up is just perfect!

4 quilts right now and the one I am working on is on the flannel wall.

the washer and dryer, along with a bathroom, must be attached. it should have its own entrance so my friends don't have to parade through the house and bother the rest of the family.

It's fun to dream, isn't it? :D

Would love everything you all have described but would love a huge huge room too so I could set up lots of tables so my friends could come and sew.

I'd like a money tree in one corner and a chocolate tree in another. :)

I want Leahas' room with Dunsters addition and a multicoloured fabric tree as well.

Whatever one does or gets - there will be something new that one wishes one had - or something that one wishes one would have done differently -

Buckeye Rose pretty much summed it up for me!

If I may suggest a couple changes. Solid doors on the storage----------prevent sun damage. Or if you can afford it, the special glass that prevents fading.

On the electrical outlet------put them all at table/counter height. Personally, I hate having to crawl under stuff to pull in cords.

On piece of furniture I'd insist on would be a very comfy rocker/recliner to sit in when doing hand work.

Sassafras Ridge??????

I guess, but someone in Florida is getting my dreaming money.

The trick in that case is to build a room big enough for several new gadgets on down the road.

I'd rather have a caramel tree. What the heck, I'll just be selfish. Give me a genie in a bottle. I'd probably end up with that car genie that doesn't hear correctly.

When I win the lottery, my sewing "room" will be the two (or 3) car garage. LOTS of electrical outlets, counter-level cutting table, big windows (for lighting, and for the view), lots of storage space. Also will have a tv so I can watch all the tutes on something besides my laptop. It will have space for my LA machine, and no carpeting to catch all the threads and bits of materials. A small fridge for refreshing drinks. Oooh, I love the idea of the washer/dryer/ironing area. A whole design wall, instead of the floor, or my bed. Several display areas for completed quilts. Yep, that's what I'm gonna do, when I win. Oh, wait... that means I have to stop quilting long enough to actually go buy a ticket. Nah, not happening. But it is fun to dream.

I am so glad you started this thread!!!! I am in the process of having built a 14X34 building for a sewing room(?) area (?) whatever it ends up being called. I am soooooooooooo excited!! Something I have always wanted. Now I have more ideas for how I want it.

Plug ins about 3' off the floor-wood floors of some kind (possibly vynial?)-electrician wants to put in "canned lights", unsure on that one, going to be LOTS of them, maybe about every 4'- lots of shelving- Now what else do I need?

Thanks for all your help and keep the ideas coming.

Billie G

I have laminate flooring in my sewing room and love it. The only thing I would do differently tho, is to have either a extra or heavier vapor barrier put down before the flooring. I think it would have helped to keep the floor a little warmer in the winter.

I have canned lights in my sewing room and they are great! Produce lots of light with very little shadow -- a big plus when I actually quilting a quilt.

I would have a room big enough for a large table to cut out my fabric on, sewing table with lots of side drawers, lots of windows for natural light, little ironing board table to the left of me to use while I am sitting down. Lots of shelves up and down the walls. Laminate flooring. Couple of easy chairs to relax in. Special containers to go in some shelves for projects being worked on, and fabric being stored. Just the right shelving for all my sewing books/magazines. Plenty of out lets, Plenty of hooks on certain areas of the walls to have cheerful items. Nice music playing in the background. Just the right window treatment. I am working on this now, but a long way from it. I have the room which is a bedroom right now, but in the process of turning it into full sewing room. Bit by slow bit.

i also liked the idea awhile back with the top {DOOR OR COUNTER} on top of bookcases for a cutting table i used 4 bookcases love the storage under the cutting table

I fulfilled my lifelong dream of having a sewing studio when I moved into this house out in the country. After DH passed, I had about 3/4 of my basement converted into all the things I ever wanted... laminate floor that is warm in the winter and cool in summer and easy to clean, countertops for all my sewing machines and computer. One 25 foot wall of floor to ceiling closets with bi-fold doors to hide all the fabric and keep if from the light. I have recessed lighting and lots of outlets. I have a 60" X 80" padded top table for ironing and laying out quilts. I also have another table with a 32" X 60" cutting mat on it. I have central air and a dehumidifier running all the time to keep the moisture out. I don't have a bathroom down there, but the kitchen is right at the top of the stairs. The dog won't come down the steps, so no dog hair in the room. I have a long arm up in one of the converted bedrooms that is no longer needed. My son put wonderful track lighting above the long arm, so I have lots of light and no shadows. Now I just wish I had more time to do all the things I want to do.

I would like a place to stow the vacuum cleaner orbuilt insystem.
I wwoulld also like to have wimdows I could open when the westher is nice.
If I had a hard surface floor,I would want cushioned mats to stand oon.

Lots of wonderful ideas. But I would add heated laminate floors so I could go barefoot all year.

I can deal with just about anything. But, I need room to walk around with out falling over a chair or tote. So for me I say room to walk.

Get double duty by having a "big board" size ironing surface mounted atop a counter-top height dresser with drawers for storage of ? (patterns, fabric, tools, etc.) Same can be said for your cutting board.

Well, I am very blessed because I just moved in January to a new (to me) house that has a casita (about 16 x21') which is my new quilting room. It has a small kitchen at one end with a sink, coffee maker, microwave, dorm refrigerator, etc., and a walk-in closet plus a full bath at the other end. There is a bay window that has a nice view of the neighborhood (where I put my sewing machine), but the window brings in a lot of sun, so we had a company come and install a window tint film that prevents damaging suns rays from entering but is not really noticeable, sort of like the window tint on cars. We took out the carpeting and installed wood flooring. I have a large design wall covered with flannel that has 2" grid lines on it, a huge cutting table with storage underneath, lots of kitchen cabinets plus two tall pantries, an L-shaped counter top, and my Big Board rests on top. I have a sleep sofa for comfortable seating and a place for my daughter to sleep when she visits (she's a quilter, too!). For an end table next to the sofa I got a wood 2-drawer lateral file cabinet to store patterns. In the closet my DH rigged up the hanging rod so that I can have a huge roll of batting spooling off of it, and I taped a paper tape measure on the wall next to it so that I can cut off exactly as much batting as I need. In that same closet I have tall shelving units filled with clear shoe boxes and storage totes to contain my UFOs and embroidery CDs. I have another shelving unit that holds my rubber stamp collection. My inks and paper for card-making are in some of the kitchen cabinets in the room. On the back of the closet door I put up a bunch of the Command strip hooks and hung all my quilting stencils grouped by size so they are easily visible. back in the main room, one tall pantry holds all my quilting books. I have to thank everyone on the board who has ever written in under the Organization thread. In the months before we actually moved into our new house I read every post about organization, and drooled over every photo posted. I got many great ideas, so thanks everyone!

I love designing imaginary rooms/houses almost as much as quilts! If I could build my own separate studio, it would be quite large and modern to fit my tastes...... and allow me to almost live there! I would design it to be as energy efficient as possible, with solar roof, integrated concrete form exterior walls, standing seam metal roof, and cool polished concrete. floors. For my climate, I would want my long wall of windows to face north and the southern exposure to have clerestory windows shaded by deep eaves. I would leave the wood trusses exposed. DH and I have come to dislike the large numbers of recessed lights in our house with 12 ft. ceilings, so I would have suspended fixtures and pendants, with hidden strips of LED up-lights and sconces around the perimeter.
.
All of my sewing furniture and cabinets would be finished on four sides and have locking casters for mobility. I would use lots of drawers with easy-close glides and fabulous hardware. Counter and table heights would all be 36" for standing or sitting in a drafting chair.

I would use soft-white paint, light woods, natural linen, cream leather to keep the space light and airy. Punches of color would come from exposed quilting and clothing fabric stashes, neatly organized on shelving with glass doors, and from a design wall and quilts on display.

I need to win the lottery to pay for this!

I don't know about sustrally, but I am receiving a rather large inheritance very shortly, and the perfect sewing room will be built in my DH's shop. The room will be 24 x 28 and contain all my dreams. I just have to hurry up and get them organized for it. I can't wait

I would say a room that comes with a maid - she can clean up after me - fold all my fabric and clean up all those bits of fabric and thread that migrate everywhere - and when she not doing that - she can clean my house. Now that's my perfect sewing room.

My dream room is under construction at this time...I am building a barn 30x50...my sewing room will be 20x20 with a 10x10 storage room and a bathroom...Haven't planned out the inside yet but will have to consider all options when I do...I am always watching the Board for ideas...

My dream room right now has most every thing discribed by leaha! My area involves the entire walk out lower level of the house. I have a 6' x3.5' ironing table w/ storage under it. My DSM is recessed into a 6'x 4' sewing table. There is an 8' long cutting/ planning table w/ storage. A whole wall design board that has several door like panels so there is always lots of stuff on the go on both sides of every panel. Big lights hang over the tables and there is large fabric storage unit about 7' long and 6'high. This is all in about a 13'x 13' area. Next to that is a small sitting area with all my electronics , couch and two chairs w/ a view of my pond and woods. The other side of my space holds the 12' LAM and a whole wall of built in shelving w/ storage. Next to that is a laundry room. No bath room and that would be nice.

I do wish there was better lighting that worked on a switch and more electric plugs that are at table height so I wouldn't have to get behind furniture to plug things in. If the sockets could be in the ceiling on tracks all the cords would be out of the way.

I would love to have a screen porch to sew in through spring and fall and nights in the summer. That would make my space perfect.

I want to paint my floor (cement) with a large quilt block of some kind.

I really like my space, can you tell. I am blessed.
peace

Wow buckeye, you really know how to dream.,!!! Sounds perfect to me. LOL

Oh yeah. That sounds just about perfect but I'd add a comfortable chair with ottoman so I could sit and do my hand stitching in absolute comfort.

Cupboards with shelves narrow and high enough to store the stash, lots of light, a table with chairs for working/chatting/drinking tea/talking quilts, a loo close by so I don't have to go through the whole house with distractions and then everything I currently have in my work room. PLUS. Leah's room, except for the glass doors, because the African sun does not play around. Oh yes, and plug outlets no lower that waist height. And a robot that can clean, iron fabric before I cut them and then return them to their rightful spot and also know when to bring the next cup of tea.