Hi Melody,

I Love my peg board and is one of my favorite components in my sewing room.

Pegboard is relatively inexpensive and you can buy it in white or brown. It comes in sheets that are 4 x 8 which can be cut down. Initially I had wanted to buy the brown pegboard (a tiny bit cheaper than the white), and paint the pegboard to match the wall color, but my husband advised me against it. He said the paint would get all drippy and go into the holes and not dry evenly, or block the use of the holes. So I splurged and got the white. DH made the nice oak frame from leftover wood he had from another home project.
I bought a peg board supply kit for about $12 with tons of various hooks, racks, and containers. I've put to use less than half of the components in the kit. So I would say that was a good value too, and the remaining pieces are stored away for when I want to rearrange things on the board.

I have a brass mailbox on the pegboard, and it's the right size for commercially sold quilt patterns. I also tuck away little notes from recipients of the quilts I have given as gifts.

Also, I've put up a makeshift shelf (top right of first picture) from an acrylic ruler on two peg board shelf brackets. Right now, I'm displaying the thank you cards I've received from some wonderful people on this site with whom I've shared some fabric.

I've got a bag of chocolate handy on the countertop. Help yourself. :P

Jennie.... Oh, that is very nice! I like things to be close at hand that way. And little shelves on it too. Convenience and good prices.

And thank you for the chocolate. My favorite kind ;-)

Just love all the neat ideas. Everyone has different needs and it is interesting to see what people come up with to fill those needs. I think I finally have mine set up as well as it can be. I would love to get rid of the fireplace to have more wall space but that is something that is going to have to wait until I win the lottery. lol. It cannot be used so is just taking up space. I do have a bunch of plastic drawer carts on the hearth though and they hold all kinds of things.

I found a small rolling rack at a thrift store. I think it was made to go between or beside your washer and dryer. It is only about 24"H and 8"W, with 3 shelves. The top shelf has a tall glass with marking pencils, pens, straight pins, small sissors, things I use a lot. The 2nd shelf has thread, the third shelf has safety pins, bobbin holder, small plastic bag with cleaning brushes. It holds everything I use at both machines, and is so small and easy to move between my sewing machines and it only cost $.75!

I made 2 design walls out of 4'x8' foam insulation. The just stand against whatever wall I'm not using. They are light weight, and I can keep BOM's out where I can see them. Also I sandwich my quilts on my design boards because I am getting too old to get down an my hands and knees.

One thing I found out after years of quilting is........don't get plastic boxes that I cannot see through. I had many lovely blue boxes. Bought just because they were blue. Now I only have clear ones. Makes it so much easier to get fabric without checking each one.

Another thing is that I have pegboard on the wall. Scissors, rulers, thread and so many other things are stored there and not all over my table.

One thing not to forget is a nice big bulliten board. I can not imagine my space without one. I use it as a real tool . Everything gets put on it. Inspration photos/cut outs from magazines , templates, contacts for long arm quilting , Store hours of my favorite quilt shops, you name it its up there.

ditto on design wall; you can buy a portable one that can be closed and stored, if you don't have wall space.

I turned an old wooden TV table (had a flat surface) into an ironing board and keep it open with the iron on it next to my machine. It folds up if I need to.
Layered a silver mettalic looking ironing fabric (can't remember what it's called), covered it with pillowticking that reached around to the back, tightened and stapled and voila.
p.s. an industrial stapler as it's going through wood.

Be careful about sewing in front of your window. Light dilates the pupils and can put a strain on your eyes. My eye doctor put me on to that one. I have a big picture window. When I take a break every hour, I fix a cuppa, relax and enjoy the birds (feeder outside window). Much easier on the eyes.

forgot to say: I had special shades put on the quilt room windows. They block whatever rays discolour fabrics. Not cheap but worth looking into.

I use a peg board and hookson the wall. It is right where I sit and can reach all my tools. Is from the celing to the top of my sewing table. Make sure you put it on a frame first not flat on the wall. That way the hooks can go in.

Probably should have cleaned up a bit before sending pictures. But if I wait you will never see. :-)
Here is my peg board. I love it.

What great ideas! I am headed for Home Depot to get some peg board and pegs. I don't dare show pictures of my sewing area, it is in an unfinished basement, but it works for me and will work better with the pegboard.

Great ideas, all. I love the drawers in my cutting table, and my ruler organization, and my tool caddy, pics of everything and how I made it are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/athomesewing/

I have a ping pong table, which I love because I can have a cutting mat at each corner for four projects going at the same time. I just move from corner to corner so I never get bored working on the same thing all the time. That's not my suggestion though.

I have on the wall a couple of small cork pieces that I use to pin pictures of the project I'm working on, or whatever else I'm referring to frequently. I'm never having to hunt it down or cutting it with my rotary cutter. The other thing I did was to have plastic sheets cut to the size of my table (to protect it), but as it turns out, I can slip my pattern between the plastic and the table--again, so I don't lose it under my fabric or cut into it with my rotary cutter.

One last thing is a small white board to make notations when I'm having to look back at the pattern again and again to see how wide to cut something, how much binding I need, etc. Same reason. My pattern, pictures, instructions tend to get lost under what I'm working on and I hate having to hunt things down all the time.

Everything is temporary in my sewing room for now. Because of this I have hung my design wall (batting, that I can use later) on curved hooks above my window where I can put a curtain later; I am using picture hanging hooks by 3M (Command strips) to hang my rulers, templates, etc; and already acquired shelves with new purpose. I like moving things around.

Please forgive me if someone else has already mentioned this, but my husband got an old door that he varnished and then laid of top of two file cabinets. I have a huge surface for cutting, pressing, etc. The file cabinets contain the many articles and books I've gathered over the years. I did place this against the wall which left the window open for my sewing machines--one on each side. It will be nice to see your final arrangement.

When I turned a bedroom into a sewing room, I started with the closet. I repainted it. Then bought and installed a closet saver all by myself. It was quicker and easier than gitting DH to do it. I also used the free shoe rack to store all my large cones of thread. There are so many different closet savers out there to choose from. I also have a banquet table raised up on bed risers. Easier on your back when doing a lot of cutting. I put plastic storage tubs under and also plastic stands with drawers. Unless DH or friend can make some storage units for under it. Old kitchen cabinets not being used can also be used, or found at a garage sale, thrift, neighbor etc. Do not forget the back of the door. Install a small design wall to it or a bullitin board. Out of sight unless needed.

My daughter studied interior design so I am blessed with her creativity and gift! We turned my son's old room into a sewing room - still trying to get the house organized in between work and responsibilities! One of the things my daughter designed was an ironing board that folds down from the wall to save space. Our sewing room is not that big and it's great having the ironing board! The ironing board is wider too so you can iron more fabric, etc. We also have a wonderful piece of furniture with shelving and table - on each side of the table we each have our sewing machines, in the corner we have my daughter's drafting table. It looks great! We have spool holders for our threads and had the flooring down over: laminate and it's beautiful!

Because my sewing room is very small, I removed the door to the closet so it doesn't obstruct any space in the room. Also try to set up your cutting table so you can cut from either side, avoids having to rotate fabric.

A good sound system is one of my favorite studio essentials. Whether you listen to music, talk radio, books on tape, language lessons, or NPR, a good sound system will will relax you, block out distractions and free up your right brain to create at your very best.

This is a great thread - thank you so much for starting it!

Great ideas here. I have one that either wasn't mentioned or I missed. I bought a plastic hanging shoe bag--the kind that fits over a closet door. I put it behind the door to my room. In the compartments I put lots of small odds and ends from small patterns, pinking scissors, marking pencils, special tape, unopened needle packages, etc.. It's handy for putting rotary cutters up high out of granddaughter' reach..Also I bought a plastic flannel-backed table cloth and put the round gripper clips on the top. Then I put a tension rod between the frame of a double door closet. I can use it as a design area since my walls are full of bookcases, etc.

I bought a collapsible table at Walmart for $19.99. It is about 25 X 18 inches and I made a cover and covered it wil thermal batting and i use it next to me as a small ironing board. What a gem.
Also, I hung all my rulers and scissors on the wall. I like that, too.
Good luck with your new room - sounds like it will be really nice!

Cork board on the walls with vinyl guttering at the bottom (like eraser holders on the old fashioned blackboards). You can pin just about anything on the cork, and the guttering holds *too* much! rusty

Put your sewing area in front of the window..you won't be sorry to have all that daylight. Keep only the tools you use most often handy. A small radio to play music you find soothing and a do not disturb sign for the door!

Melody, I had shelves in my closet in my last house. It was a double sliding door. I took the doors off (& stored them) and bought runners that screwed into the walls with slots where you put the hooks of the arms that hold the shelving. Be sure to look for heavy duty. Another Lowe's project. I put the arms about 14" apart and never had a board bend!

great topic, I love the pegboards.
I also like my stuff handy so I made these.
I added binding to plastic and formed pockets by sewing it to the background fabric. Then I put some batting on cardboard, put the fabric on it and stapled it on the back.

Thank you to AT Home Sewing for your wonderful room. I will take some ofyour idea. Thank you!!

A large pressing board. Mine is 3'X4'. It's made from a piece of plywood, covered with three layers of cotton batting, and a layer of heavy weight cotton decorator fabric. It's great for pressing fabric, and quilt tops. I put it on my cutting table and when not in use I stand it up out of the way.

Granny 59 that is a great way to see what you have at hand!!!

To some day have enough room in my house to have one.

Seeing pictures of your wonderful ideas is great! The idea seems to "register" more. Thanks!

@carollady: it took 25 years for all three kids to move out.........:-)
one room turned into grandchildrens room, one into DH (second) office room and one into MY sewing room.

First I had all of the empty nest syndrom depressions but in the meantime I am quite happy with my new freedom............and so much money left over to buy fabric!!!

Tools...I love coffee mugs and have a mug behind my machine that has the required quilting tools...redesgn tool..some peole call it a seam ripper...rotary cutter...1*6 ruler and marking pens. Use your wall space...shelveing units to store fab and ufos. Don't be afraid to move stuff around until you are happy with the layout. I HAVE to have a tv on during the day...just a thought.

There are really great ideas here! Thanks everyone for sharing. Athomesewing you have a sewing room to be envied. Wow, you did an awesome job there.

I have a 10 X 10 room also and I had trouble finding a way to store my thread (I have a lot of it) so when hubby put in 2 cabinets for my fabric, I took one of those spice racks that you put in your pantry that goes floor to ceiling, I attached it to the side of the cabinet, lined it to keep the spools in and now I have all my thread where I need it. I also bought one of those over the door shoe holders with the clear plastic slots and that is where I store my scissors, cutters, small rulers, seam rippers, etc. They are nice an neat, easy to see and out of the way. I found a bread slicing rack like they used to give you when you buy a bread maker and I use it for my rulers.

@ granny_59... hmmm my son is 23 and my daughter is 20.. sigh.. getting closer maybe? They have given me bits and pieces of the freedom when they are gone (daughter to college, son with girlfriend) That I didn't struggle to much with the empty nest.. I am struggling with them both being back home....lol

Oh, my goodness! So many great ideas. I am going to make a list of the ideas that will work best for my little room and I will keep refering back to this thread to refresh my memory so I don't forget anything! I love the pics. Without a doubt this is the best forum on the web! Honest.

I am so excited about getting started... but all my company has arrived so I will be busy for another day. After that, I will get started tearing this room apart. Fun and family tomorrow, then work and fun afterwards. I'm going to take pics of the progress as I go (boy is this going to be a mess for awhile!)
thanks ;-)

I, too have a small sewing room with 6 tall file cabinets and 2 curio cabinets. I've managed to put a stay in place ironing board and a small desk with my sewing machine in the room as well. I have a small glass rectangular table that sits 90 degrees and touching to the left of my desk. I use this for cutting and assembling and to hold my quilt as I'm working on it with the sewing machine. My chair has roller feet and slides from desk and sewing machine on around the corner to the glass top table to cut, etc. I also use the table and chair to scrap book. Works well for both hobbies. :)

I have a small room also. My DH made me a table that had two sides that lift up to make me a long table that can be left down when not needed. It is on rollers so I can move it around. It sits up to the table that my sewing machine sits down in so it's a nice workspace that doesn't take up too much room

Granny 59...I LOVE that magazine holder! May I ask how you made it? That is exactly what I want for my room. I saw something similar at the container store ... yours is very nice!! Kim in Madison WI