For years, I've been living with chaos. Seriously, total chaos!
Along the largest (well, in that it isn't broken up by windows/doors) wall of the room, I had put up overhead cabinets a few years back. At the time, this seemed brilliant to me, because that way I wouldn't give up floor space. But seriously, what did I want with that floor space against the wall? I ended up struggling to find little bookcases to stick in there to hold my fabrics and notions.
On the opposite wall of the room, the vintage hutch that I bought because at the time I thought it was so pretty was busy being almost useless. The shape of it limited how many dolls could stand in it, the shelves were not adjustable, and the cabinets underneath were not a good size/shape for storing much of anything. Also, because I had too much fabric and not enough logical storage for it, things tended to heap up in front of the useless hutch cabinets!
I found that whenever I was in the room, I felt annoyed and uninspired. It had to change! I spent a ridiculously long time planning what I wanted, and trying to find the thing that I dreamed up. I knew I wanted white furniture, and I was hoping for floor to ceiling cabinets with glass fronts. How lucky was I that Ikea's Hemnes series is exactly what I was dreaming of?!? Even though it was perfect, I still agonized for a few more months before making the purchase, because it seemed so expensive, and what if I didn't like it in the end?!? I finally took the plunge and purchased the pieces.
The whole process of going from "old sewing room" to "new sewing room" was a bit insane. The rooms in my house are not huge, and there is not a lot of space to stick things, even temporarily. It was like a circus act, boxing things and moving them here and there to make room to take this down, build that, move those, etc. (Not to mention, in the midst of this, I was trying to find new homes for a lot of things, so I'd get these emails from people willing to take this or that, and then I'd have to go nuts figuring out where I'd shuffled whatever it was to! Total madness!) It started with clearing one half of my sewing room (which sounds so simple, but honestly, I thought I wasn't going to make it, ha ha ha!) and taking down the overhead cabinets. . .
Cat helpers are almost as good as husband helpers! ;)
Then, with a newly open space to put my new cabinets in, I was ready to start assembling. Thank goodness my husband was helping, because these pieces were large and needed some strength to make sure everything was in tightly. For example, we learned that I am not strong enough to set the screws in the drawers all the way in, and that if they aren't all the way, the drawer won't close! But at least, we achieved success!
Then, it became time for me to start putting everything to rights in their new spaces. I was really determined to downsize things, so instead of rushing to stuff everything into a spot, I slowly went through things, one box at a time, only putting back the things I knew I still really wanted and would use. The cats loved this entire process. There was always some new box or bin that was the latest greatest nap spot!
One of the things I was most stressed out about when deciding to go for this makeover was that I was going to have to cut down my sewing table. My husband made me this sewing table a really long time ago, when we were living in our tiny, rented cottage, and I was sewing on the dining room table, and all my patterns fit in a plastic bin that rolled under the counter. (Can you imagine?!? I won't even admit to how many patterns I own now!) I had gone to Costume College, and while I was away, he surprised me by rearranging the bedroom so that I would have a nook to sew in, and made this table to perfectly fit the space. So naturally, I'm very sentimental about it! He kept trying to persuade me to get rid of it and get a desk that matched the rest of my fancy new room, but I just couldn't do it. It wouldn't fit against the smaller wall without first losing a few inches off it, so Glenn disassembled it, cut it down, and put it back together. (In the previous picture, Taffy is actually sitting in the top "drawer" of my sewing table, because the table top was in the basement being cut when I took that picture!)
In the end, it was all worth it! My new space is beautiful, peaceful, and inspiring. I'm so motivated to make all the things in it! And cutting down the table turned out to be a happy thing because, prior to cutting down, it used to jump a little when I ran the sewing machine on the fastest setting. Post-cutting down? Not even a tiny jump! Hooray for that!
Here are some additional pictures of my "new" sewing room. . .
My new cabinets! All the dolls fit, because this cabinet doesn't have a curved top, and I can control the shelf locations. The drawers in that unit hold doll clothes and accessories, with some overflow under the cabinets. The middle unit has my best costuming books, and all kinds of fabric! I am slowly working on neatly ironing and folding all the fabrics. You can see which shelves I've finished and which I have yet to get around to doing! And finally, the unit at the right has all my notions, most of my works in progress, dollmaking supplies, antique fashion magazines, and assorted other odds and ends that make me happy.
My shortened sewing table fits perfectly on the smaller wall now! I don't miss the extra length, as I feared I might. In fact, I tend to not let things pile up on it any more, since I haven't the extra space, so that's a good thing! (Don't mind my overflow of books! Buy all the costuming/craft books, right?!? Also, there's that hole in the wall which needs patching, that is the result of a rewiring project that involved getting rid of super old wires in favor of wires that won't burst into flame, which is a good thing!)
What have we here? Empty wall space!!!!! I can not tell you how excited I am to hang things up here. I have acquired quite a hoard of wonderful, inspiring things that have been needing a place to hang. My only problem now is making a choice as to which things get to go up! I'm trying to figure out how I can make it so I can switch things out now and then, and hopefully get to enjoy them all!
My lovely windows! I have some issues to address with that curtain rod and shade situation, but it's fine for now. That bench is a beloved spot for my cats, and I also often enjoy doing some hand sewing there, with a cup of tea on the little table beside.
What was once a stressful place of chaos is now a peaceful, pretty place for me to enjoy. It was so satisfying to downsize and clear out things I'd been hanging on to but knew in my heart I'd never use, and everything having a designated place has made it a piece of cake to keep things clean and organized. I still have a little more downsizing to do (patterns, doll things, fabric, and maybe even some of my beloved books), but on the whole, I'm feeling very good about this. Every time I walk into this room, I feel my mood lift, and I feel inspired to make all the things!
