So glad to finally be sharing with you a few images of my workroom. This room is at the front of our home and was originally a formal lounge room. Even though it is technically the largest workroom I’ve ever had, it was actually the hardest to set up as every wall has some obstruction. Two walls have doors, one wall has the giant window and last wall had a huge fireplace. We spent a really long time figuring out how to deal with the constraints. Finally we decided to board up the fireplace, and pretend the mantle was a shelf hehe. Best decision ever.
I have my computer and machines on a long table, and floating shelves for things i like and things i use most often. I’m a bit jar obsessed, so most things are stored in various clear jars so i can easily see where things are. With every home we’ve lived in I have a peg board on the wall for my tools – this is incredibly important to me as it keeps things neat and safely out of reach of little hands. Thread is up on the wall out of reach too, and stashed next to the fireplace-that-shall-not-be-named are a few bolts of fabric and rolls upon rolls of pattern drafting paper.
I’m so glad we decided to put a couch in here as it’s been really great for having meetings, and is also a nice place for little people to curl up with a book when i’m pottering around. It’s getting a little beaten up after all the snacks and juice that have spilt on it in the last year. Oh dear. Life with kiddos hehe.
That big ugly beast you can see in the corner of the above photo is my wide format printer, without which i’m sure i would die. It’s vital to being able to print off patterns easily during the development process.
And on the shelf/mantle are my Elna Lotus (the machine i learnt on), magazines i’m currently reading and bags of knitting. So much half finished knitting that there is some in a bag on the floor too haha.
I love how much light this room gets. It’s just sunny all the time, and as i’m sure you know, good lighting is key when you’re sewing.
My cutting table is up against this window mostly because i didn’t want to block the light too much. I think it works well, and i really enjoy looking out at greenery and my street when i’m working.
Probably the least attractive side of the room is where the big Ikea shelves that hold my fabric are.
At one point it was very ordered and all the fabric was prettily folded – but now its just a jumbled mess. I’m a bit terrified to tackle that. Also note that the top of the shelf is conveniently cropped out of all photos- you do not want to see the horror of piled boxes of fabric up there. EEEEK.
More boxes of fabric are stored above the wardrobe in our bedroom as i couldn’t fit it all in here. I know. I have a problem.
I use large drawers for all of my patterns that are half developed or archived, and for a few art supplies. It’s a nice corner for hiding ugly items like the printer. Why are printers all so ugly? And a little hook on the wall where i hang all of the patterns I’m currently working on. You can see that when i took these photos i had been making samples of the Mini Virginia leggings.
The big “stuff” paper bag is my pile of half completely projects. YUP. it’s stuffed so tight now that i’ve had to move onto a new basket. I think the lesson here is less baskets, more actual finishing things LOL.
And now we’ve moved in a full circle and we’re back at my desk! Where there is a small sliver of otherwise useless wall that houses a huge mirror i use for fittings and two more dress forms. I found a nifty bathroom door hook set from Ikea (endless love for Ikea!) that i use to hang all my rulers on the bifold doors. All those metal rulers make a very irritating clanging sound when you open the doors. The bifold doors lead to the playroom. Most of the time the doors are open and i push the dress forms away, so that my kiddos can play in the playroom next to me and come in and out. I think my favourite thing about this room is being right next to the action centre of the home. But now that Birdie is well and truly a toddler she is really awesome at coming into my workroom and completely destroying any semblance of neatness.
Well my dears, that’s my little corner of the world and where i spend a really terrifying amount of time! I try my best to keep it very neat otherwise my ability to be productive just disappears.
I’ve listed as many of the sources for things as i can remember below incase you’re interested:
- Long desk with iMac and sewing machine/overloacker: Ikea Linnmon table top + Alex Drawers + Adils legs
- Floating shelves: Ikea Lack
- Spool storage on wall: Two butted up against each other. I think i bought them at Hancocks Fabrics. Here is how i hang them.
- Peg Board: Bunnings hardware store. Painted white and cut to size. Mounted on a frame 1″/2.5cm off the wall.
- Dress Forms: By the window is a vintage family heirloom from my mother in law. By the mirror are a PGM professional form with collapsible shoulders which i primarily use for draping and a display form from Ebay which is only for display not sewing.
- Cutting table: Ikea Linnmon table top + Finnvard trestles
- Pattern storage drawers: Ikea Alex
- Fabric shelves: Ikea Expedit now called Kallax and unfortunately not as big.
- Baskets in shelves: Ikea Branas
- Paper bag floor storage: from Style Trader also from Greater Good
- Felt ball garland: Felt Foxes
