SEWING/PROJECT ROOM

  In 1961 when we first got out of college and had real jobs, I took part of my paycheck each month for a year and bought Ethan Allen furniture.  This was a great investment for our home -- over the years this modular furniture has been used in the living room, den, and while our son was growing up used in his bedroom.  When he left home 25 years ago, I claimed it as mine for my sewing/project room.  I've been fortunate that for most of my 53 years of marriage I have had a dedicated sewing/project room of my own.  Sometimes it has been as small as a closet, but for the last 32 years I've had a nice-sized bedroom to call the sewing room.

I thought that today we would take a tour of my sewing/project room to see what it looks like now and how it functions just for ME.

As you walk in the door, the first thing is my great-grandmother's desk.  I use it mostly for storage now, but the front folds down to use for extra table space when needed.

 As we move around the room, you start to see the Ethan Allen furniture.  It fills one full wall and wraps around the two adjoining walls -- bookcases and storage galore!  There are eight separate pieces bought one piece at a time.

 Continuing on around, the units wrap around to the third wall.  Over the years, I've added baskets to multiply the storage capacity.  That green mat is my rotary cutting area.

 Then, as we move around to the fourth wall you see my sewing machine corner.  I know it isn't a very big table, but I've sewn a million miles and made many, many quilts there.  I even wrote two quilting books by hand on it (before I  rewrote them on the computer).  The little red table beside my table was used by my grandchildren for their projects while I was busy sewing.  My 15-year-old granddaughter still likes to sit there to draw and talk to me.

 And yes, it always looks this picked up.  After every little project I clean it up, and put everything back in its place.  I've always worked best in this manner.  That is why storage is such an important part of my room.  Not all is neat and organized, however -- this is a basket full of trims.

 The drawers are organized, however.

 This bookcase holds my quilting books and some of my decorating books. The three little suitcases on top are from my childhood, and still hold my doll clothes.

 This bookcase is mostly full of cookbooks.  I don't like to cook and I'm not a creative cook -- I need all the help I can get!

 And, finally the closet -- this is where I store my quilting scraps and my notebooks and slides for all of the quilt classes I used to teach.  Someday, I need to get rid of a lot of this; but not yet.  Just hanging on to the past plus every once in awhile, I need a scrap of quilting fabric for a project!

I've always loved having a space of my own.  I realized recently how much -- the room was torn up for Bob to give it a new coat of paint and to add crown molding.  But, it's all back together now --  clean and ready for another project!


I'll be joining the following parties this week.  Check them out for a bunch of inspiration.
Northern Cottage for Partytime Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday