How I organized my sewing room

[Sherry B.]

Thank you. I love how much space I have and how organized I can be. We built our house in 2000 and I planned out my space very carefully. However, at that time I never dreamed I would want to hook up my computer to my sewing machine, or I might have laid it out differently. The other thing is that my space is in the daylight basement. That is hard when friends come over and everyone has to haul their stuff downstairs. (This weekend I'm having a quilting retreat here.) And I wish it was next to the kitchen, so I could start dinner and sew at the same time. So if I ever build another house, I will do it a little differently. But overall the space works pretty well.

[Sherry B.]

My DH and I just bought a townhouse in IL (and I mean "just"). We will be moving in Nov and I will be setting up my studio in one half of the finished basement. Do any of you have any MUST HAVES that I should consider when I set up my space? I already have a Koala cabinet which I love, but what about storage space and countertop space.....any other ideas? I was considering purchasing some kitchen cabinets and putting a piece of formica on top to use as a cutting table. I would appreciate any input.

Thanks

Patricia in AL (soon IL...near my grandchildren...YAY)

[Sherry B.]

My cutting island is 2 kitchen cabinets, back to back. I love being able to work on 3 sides of it. I wish I had put more drawers in it for all my tools. We used white melamine for the countertop, mostly because we were at the end of our building budget, and it has worked out really well. I love the wire basket system that Alex shows in her sewing room for her stash and if I ever build again, would love to do that. I also wish my computer table was close to my sewing machine, but now that I inherited my husband's old laptop, I can bring that to the machine instead of taking the machine to the computer. A filing cabinet is handy. Mine is in the walk in closet. Hope that helps.

[Sherry B.]

P.S. How wonderful to be close to the grandkids!!! Mine are all 7 hours away. I spend as much time with them as possible and when I'm not with them, I'm always planning when I can see them again

[Sherry B.]

Patricia

I highly recommend the book Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space by Lois Hallock. It deals not only with furniture but lighting, storage, ergonomics, etc. I am slowly working on my own room and have used many of the ideas in this book.
http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Your-.../dp/1564775690

Good Luck

[Eileen K.]

I really love the studios in that book. I just don't have the money right now to get the studio I want. It all goes to the longarm business.
I need inexpensive shelving ideas for inside a 6 ft wide closet.

[Bev M.]

I agree. I was able to use different ideas from lots of the rooms in that book when I set up my studio. Plus it gave me the push I needed to actually do it!

Bev in NC

[Bev M.]

Last night I was reading QNN and showed my dh the article about the lady who built a seperate building behind her house for her long arm machine busness. I just thought it was a neat idea, I wasn't expecting anything. Rj suprised me when I could actually see the gears turning :shock: We have a cinder block building behind the house already - it just needs a new roof (big job, the old one is sagging badly ) . We use it right now to store the lawn mower and a few yard things, but other than that we really don't use it that much. It has electric run to it already, as well as hook ups for water and gas that we just have never turned on since we lived here (7 years). Hmmm... now he is considering replacing the roof and building a seperate shed for the yard stuff. Could it really be... I might actually get my own studio!!!! It'll take a lot of work and we have to get the back room finished and other house stuff done first, but if I know Rj I am going to have my studio sometime in the next year or two :lol:

[Eileen K.]

Alright, Mandy!!!
If it's only going to be within the next year or so, take some measurements and start drawing up plans!!!!

[Eileen K.]

Thank you all for your input and I will definitely get the book and start my planning!!

Mandy, how lucky are you and what a great DH!! Although I must say I have a pretty great one myself.....very supportive of my quilting!

Patricia in AL

[Eileen K.]

My kids just moved upstairs into their own rooms. Unfortunately, one of the rooms was my sewing room. I'd had a custom height table made as a fold down on a custom "bookcase" to fit under the dormer. Now, my DS has taken over, and I'm waiting for my carpenter to build me another table. I'm 6 feet tall, so bending over is not easy, the older I get. My back likes to remind me periodically that it's there, and NOT happy.

My must have is a design wall. I went to Joannes, got some cheap "foam core board" and some 2 dollar a yard white flannel, and some strapping tape. I taped 6 boards together, and taped flannel to it, taping it to the back, after stretching in out. Then I used finishing nails and nailed it to the wall behind a door. It doesn't use valuable wall space there. Cheap, easy fix! So, I'm working on a new sewing room now, in their old shared bedroom. I can't complain too much because the room is BIGGER!
Michele

[Wendy D.]

I use lateral file cabinets to store my fabric. I fold it to about 9"x12" and file it vertically, just like you would file papers. I can see the edge of each piece of fabric when I open the file drawer, and I don't have to worry about restacking a pile of fabric.

[Wendy D.]

Patricia in AL: I have 6'X6'X15.5" storage cubby units, from IKEA, in my sewing room for storage. I just love them! I can stand at my cutting table and see any fabric that I might be looking for. I just posted pictures of them in my profile, if you want to take a gander.....

Good luck on your relocation!

neen

[Damaris E.]

Neen1 - I LOVE YOUR SPACE!!! :shock:

[Damaris E.]

Thanks, Damaris! I get a great deal of enjoyment out of that room.

The view of the right side of the room has 19' of sewing counter, with 2 corners to hold your quilts you are working on. The countertop is covered with "dry-erase board." It is really slick and I can write on it and erase it. Very, very handy when you are keeping block sections separated.

neen