Thursday, July 07, 2011

*New* Sewing Room

If you've been visiting with me for a while, you will probably remember that my sewing room - aka "the studio" - occupied this tiny little bedroom.

(picture from last August, right after I'd painted the trim and cleaned out the room - throwing out 2+ bags of useless stuff that had accumulated)

I have been very busy for the past week and have pretty much had the upstairs of the house upside down for days. But finally I can show you what I've been working on...

TA DA! 

My *new* sewing room. 


This used to be the spare bedroom - a place for infrequent visitors to stay. I tried to find a good "before" picture but I don't have one. Suffice it to say, the walls were RED (with one green wall), courtesy of a 12-year-old OnlyChild with kind of wild taste. I actually liked the red and green (raspberry and khaki?) but it was getting old.


This paint is Behr's Gold Buttercup (or Buttercup Gold?) in a satin finish. I used the paint-with-primer and gave it three good coats. It was a lot of work; in old houses there are many strange little corners. Those slanted walls are a bit of a challenge too!


I am very happy with the result. I also got myself a *new* dresser. I cut a deal with the OnlyChild - I gave her the cheap old dresser with mirror that was in the spare room in exchange for this equally cheap (from the same bedroom set) armoire that had lost its doors. Who needs doors? I painted it, added cute new drawer pulls and... voila!... a place to showcase quilts and fabric.


And the *old* sewing room?

It's now our new spare bedroom. We rarely have long-term guests and there's just enough room in here for the antique bed, a wicker chair and a small dresser.


The built-in bookshelves that formerly housed my sewing and quilting books now contain the OnlyChild's old books (and some from my childhood too).


My Postage Stamp and O'Cherries quilts work perfectly in here.


And we already have our first guest! My friend Kim is in the city for a few days marking exams for the government. She gave both of the new rooms a Thumbs Up.


18 comments:

Barb said...

Oh wow....you have been busy...love the new sewing room...

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

SUPER! Great change! Love that postage stamp on the bed. Yeah, my blocks STILL aren't done. >:(

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Both spaces look very inviting! Well done!

Lynne said...

Yay! How wonderful.

I did the same thing back in April - swapped my small study for now-married (only child) DD's larger bedroom. The study is just big enough for bookshelves, a bed and a portable cot and my new studio is large enough for me to do all my crafting and computer stuff in one place!

You, however, are much more organised. I don't want to stop doing my "thing" in order to get properly set up (and throw away accumulated stuff). As we say in Australia, "good on ya, mate!"

GARAGE SALE GAL said...

Great idea to swap out the rooms:) It's nice to have a bigger room! I have a guest room that is used maybe once in 5 years...hum...maybe I should just make that my "studio"...instead of WAITING for hubby to make it downstairs off the family room!
Warmly,
deb :)

Stacy said...

How fun. Both look great and you must be enjoying sewing in the shiny new room. That guest room looks really cozy, especially with your quilts.

andsewon said...

Both rooms look wonderful! You have been so busy!Love the quilt on the guest bed. Looks so welcoming!

Patty said...

I love how the rooms came out. You quilt is just perfect.

Thimbleanna said...

WooHoo -- both of your rooms look beautiful. And it's so cool that you'll actually get to USE and SEE those new quilts LOL!

Erika Mulvenna said...

What a wonderful sewing space, nicely done!

Pokey said...

Both rooms look amazing, don't you love the organized spaces of both!?! Tell me, did dd want the armoire back? My dd would've! So inspiring, Rachel, thanks for the peek ~
:-}pokey

Keep Stitchin' said...

I love it! I have been wanting to do my sewing a room a soft yellow! Very nice!

Shades of Blue said...

Both rooms look so inviting, I love how you have your buttons in the glass jars :)

~Niki~ said...

I'm so jealous~I have NO sewing room. I work from home and don't even have an office lol.
I guess that happens when you have a large family. no rooms left LOL.
glad I found your blog.

Wendy said...

Your new room looks wonderful, love the paint colour.

Sara said...

Love, love the new sewing room! And, the "new" extra bedroom is so cute! I love it...Your quilt looks beautiful on the bed...

Anonymous said...

Nice tidy & organized sewing room and the other photos look great too.

Theodora said...

I want to move into the "new" spare room.... I love my room, but man do I sleep better in there haha. I guess not having my stuff helps.