Sewing Room

The tax refunds came in last week, and as reluctant as I was to start spending them, I was more determined to reclaim the dining room table! So, we made a trip to IKEA last night. A friend of mine graciously offered to let us use her SUV to haul home the big stuff (she went shopping with us, too! She's the one taking the picture--thanks Mindy!). There was no way all the stuff on the flatbed cart was going to fit in Alan's Toyota Camry.

The first thing we got was a desk/table for my sewing machines. It's just over 78" long, so it will fit the both machines and the embroidery arm comfortably with room to spare. The legs have a little bit of extra storage in them, so I'm going to keep stuff in them that I don't need to use all the time, but it will still be easily accessible.

Then, we got some storage units for along one wall. They're supposed to be for kids, but I like them anyway! I chose all white bins instead of multi-colored ones. The idea is that since the furniture is white, it will be a nice palette for whatever fabrics I choose for throw pillows, curtains, a bulletin board, etc.

I'm thinking about using Robert Kaufman's "Starling" fabric in natural as the main fabric in the room, with solid red accents for the curtains and maybe a chair. I'd like to pull the yellow in somehow, too.

Another idea I had was to use vinyl wall decals in the same theme as the fabric. All the fabric and art details I plan to use will be relatively cheap and easily changeable so I can give the room a whole new look when/if I get tired of the current one.

I also got some various containers to organize the little findings and such. The white ceramic ones will hang off a rod on the wall and hold fabric markers. The magnetic tins will stick to a strip of metal mounted to the wall and will hold bobbins and pins. The jars are going on a shelf and will hold things like D-rings and swivel clips.

I found this magazine (which I've never read--go figure) that has special "Studio" issues. They're chock full of organizational goodness. I will definitely have to pick up a copy and let my brain get happy!