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| Small, but perfectly formed. |
You might wonder what relevance this has to the blog, but the gent has agreed that I'm getting a good sewing space (wewt!) that won't be a cupboard. Much as I love (and am very lucky) having somewhere I can work and store all my stuff, there's rather too much stuff for the space - as you can see in the pictures, I have to share with tents, sleeping bags, guest bedding, DIY bits, the mop, the Christmas tree and assorted other things, which makes it all rather cramped.
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| Small and, well, imperfect! |
The other reason I don't use the space as much as I would like is that there's absolutely no natural light, which is not great fun to sew in and definitely is not ideal for working out if thread matches fabric (luckily I learnt that one without having to unpick a whole garment!!!). The room is either boiling hot or freezing cold (and I don't cope well with extremes of temperature at the moment with this stupid illness) and while everything I've got (or had when I put this room together back in the summer) has its own place, there isn't room/storage space to get anything else - I wouldn't have space for a serger (not that I could afford to get one of those for a long while) or any other bits and pieces.
So, thank you Mr Magpie ... Little did he know what he was letting himself in for: I've been raiding the internet for storage and layout ideas and inspirational sewing spaces. There have been 'squees' and excited pointing out of pretty pieces of storage furniture and storage boxes. Poor bloke, he doesn't get it.
But you do!
So over the next couple of months you'll be seeing plenty of ideas for sewing rooms. I'm not going to have loads of space - it'll either be a corner in the living room or part of a spare room, which will be a smallish room shared with a sofa bed - but I'm going to concentrate on making it practical and pretty so I'll get the maximum use out of it.
At the moment I'm thinking about colour schemes - although I won't be able to paint the walls as we'll be renting, I want the space to look unified and neat, which having a pre-decided scheme will help with. And I'm inspired by that image at the top (which is actually a colour combo I was thinking about trying out - turquoise and warm pink, two of my favourite colours) and Liz's carefully considered decor (coral, teal and turquoise) - both these rooms look so lovely, which I think is thanks to a combination of well-thought out use of colour (advocated by Singer!) and a place for everything and everything in its place.
If you have any sewing space/room tips, ideas or links, please do let me know! Thank you :)
Clare, How wonderful that you are going to get a bigger space soon. I am so thrilled. I went from a 2 bedroom cottage to a one bedroom condo and lost my precious space. So when the sewing or art projects came out the new living room and dining room exploded! Well, I have learned to live with the fact that I am in a smaller space so I have converted my dining room area (actually a space at the heel of the 'L' shape of my kitchen-diningroom-livingroom arrangement. Yes, where do I eat? Well, for now I use the same work table for meals when I am not on the couch in the living room and a tray. I don't have the good fortune of a Mr. Magpie so I am can spread out a bit. Anyway, I said all this to say that one of things I am doing is using Ikea with its simplistic furniture to organize the space. I have an antique dining table that has leaves that I use as my work table (covered) and I have secured suppplies and materials in Ikea Billy bookcases with doors to keep the dust out and the cat. So, my storage is in the living room and in the dining area/studio. Hey, I will take pics and send them to you. Or perhaps post them soon on my blog? Anyway, Ikea will be your friend unless you can find great free standing cabinets at flea markets or thrift stores? Anyway, good luck! Cheers.
ReplyDeleteLove! I'm so lucky to have a room in the house that's too small for much of anything else, so I can have a sewing room. My one piece of advice is to live with what you have until you know what you need--and then don't hesitate to get what you need! I'm slowly accumulating new things to replace the ones I've learned don't work. Like plastic stackable drawers. OK, two pieces of advice: plastic stackable drawers are Satan's version of storage. Blecth.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the process of house hunting, moving, and decorating--I know it's easy to see it as a giant pain, but it's such fun, too!