Sewing Room - the Beginning of the After

A few "after"-ish pics.  ("afters" for the whole room will have to wait until I'm actually done with the whole room, which may be years from now, fair warning):

After cleaning out the room (two years ago!) and ripping up the ugly, dog-stained carpet (ewww), I painted the cement floor green and the walls grey (not the same grey in the living room, but these were the walls that inspired the grey in the rest of the house).  

The ironing board that started it all!   Okay, actually it was this photo (Pure Style Home) that "started it all" in my sewing room.

that Singer is so old it's *yellow*

 

The "chalkboard" corkboard over my work table, with my little color-scheme suggestions stacked against it for inspiration to keep going and not just go play video games.  I painted this corkboard with black chalkboard paint, since I need a corkboard to pin up patterns, measurements, and design sketches for costumes and things, but I wanted the look of a chalkboard.  Now I have both!  (And no, you can't write on it - the cork texture makes erasing chalk and cleaning the board pretty close to impossible). 

A cheap plastic clock I bought for my office a couple of years ago, with a new coordinating background (a computer printout of a needlepoint fabric from JoAnn's). 

A poor-quality photo of the new shade over the window in the same green damask-print cotton that I used to cover the ironing board.  It's basically stationary - it can be raised and lowered, but I made it for looks, not functionality.  I use the mini blinds behind the shade for privacy when I need it.

The last couple of days I've been moving furniture around and painting a couple of bookshelves black so that they'll all coordinate (instead of it looking like a flea market in this room) - no pics yet, but I plan to move them in over the weekend and continue working.

More to come!


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Sewing Room Plans & Wish List

My sewing/craft room needs...well...a bomb, actually.  UGH.   It's the Crap Repository of my house - you know, that room where everything gets stuck when you don't have time to deal with it, or to keep it out of sight when guests come over.  That room with the boxes and baskets full of junk you'll deal with "later" and never get around to.

I've been working at it in bits and pieces over the course of the past few days.  Mostly cleaning and re-organizing, throwing out old junk that couldn't be salvaged or re-used, and painting a couple of small shelving units to coordinate, until I can replace them with something nicer.

This is the mood board for the room.  The walls are grey (a different gray from the rest of the house, but, this room's wall color was actually my inspiration for the living room),  the cement floor is painted this soft, celery-sage green, as are the sliding closet doors.  The idea with the various patterns - botanical prints, damask- and toile-like prints, in greens and greys and black/white - is that it all coordinates, style-wise, but in a totally mismatched, fun kind of way. 

This is what I'd like the room to look like when it grows up: 

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The long sewing table is already in place on the West wall (left), as is the tall corner shelf.  The wall unit with cubbies for storage is, as yet, a figment of my imagination - one day I'll build one or maybe buy an EXPEDIT from Ikea or something similar. 


On the South wall (bottom), I plan to one day build a large flip-up cutting-table that will fold out from the wall on a pair of gate-legs, and fold back down when I'm not using it so that I don't pile CRAP on top of it.   Place your bets now.  *eyeroll*




Other wish-list ideas for this room include:

Ikea's MALLA fabric storage boxes, for my closet and for the shelving in the room, for fabric, art, & craft supplies

Ikea's ALLAMALA canvas-and-wire storage baskets to hang in the entryway for quick-grab notebooks, sketchpads, magazine clippings, and idea books.

  This little ceramic doodad box from Target, by Dwell Studios, for...you know, doodads. (It's intended for bathroom doodads, but I can put any doodads into it that I want, tyvm). 

Lumber, for making shelves for the closet! 

Ikea's UNG DRILL picture frame, to make into a mirror, or possibly a little sewing/craft-related collage? 

Some sort of comfy little office-y swivel chair for my sewing desk (my chair is great, but it's old and falling apart) that I can re-cover in a green-white fabric to go with the room  (this one is Ikea's SKRUVSTA)








...But that's "someday."  For the time being, I'm working on stuff I already have - which includes, starting tonight, a chalkboard/corkbard over my sewing table, a "new" clock, a window treatment, and a couple of other bits and pieces that I'll be working on throughout the week.  "After" pictures starting tomorrow. 



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Plants + Sewing Room

So...ever wondered where the inspiration for all those awesome wallpapers comes from?  Here's one:

 various "Acanthus" prints in wallpaper, tile, sculpture, stencils, fabrics

actual Acanthus plant (Acanthus mollis, a.k.a. "Bears' Breeches") 

And, just as a teaser...

Mood board for my sewing/craft room, as I slowly accumulate things I need to pull it off - which includes several variations on a black-white-green acanthus-y  "damask" theme. 

More on that when I actually get working in that room - gotta get the laundry room painted, then the craft room is next!

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