Well, last year I had remodeled the Studio, but I still had all my art and sewing in one room. As I started to get back into more and more sewing, I found the need to separate the two. So earlier this year I tackled the job again. I have an empty spare room so decided to move all the art supplies there. Wish it could be all one, but I’m happy how this turned out. Still tweaking things, but thought I’d share. I alway love seeing other peoples creative spaces and hope something from mine sparks ideas for yours. 🙂
I purchased a table top CHEAP from Ikea. I have two book cases purchased from Wally world that are the perfect height for standing at or sitting on my bar stools to work. At first this taller book case was around the corner, but found I needed/wanted that shelve space as I worked. The book case is ions old from an old office of mine. Painted the exterior black to match the bookcases and left the inside shelves natural wood. Love that look! I adjusted one of the shelves so that the table top set almost perfectly aligned with the shorter book case while resting on the taller bookcase shelf. YES! Now I have extra storage above work table!
Under you can see this is where I store my bolts of fabric on one shelf and the bottom shelf is all my stabilizers I use on bolts and half bolts. Did you know?! Your local fabric shop will be MORE than happy to give you empty bolts. Just be careful or you’ll walk out with more than you ever carry or use. LOL
The two file cabinets have a black and white fabric adhered to the outside. The left holds my glues, tapes, misc projects in process etc. The right holds all my batting. Cottons on top and my poly blends on the bottom. I can store my spray bottles of starch, basting spray and water right in my reach. My rulers are hung on the sides of the bookcases using Command hooks. Love those things! Strong, but remove easily if need be without messing up the surfaces.
The top of the table has my two largest cutting matts. These cover the whole surface. The one got warped long ago as you can see on the top left… lesson learned, don’t put hot cups of coffee on a cutting matt. Still good for a cutting surface, but can’t use the lines any longer as guides. I hope to one day get a custom matt made for this table. 🙂
On the end below I store my small trash bin which is SO handy to have there while cutting and trimming! I pull it out just a bit so that while I’m cutting I can easily swipe the scraps right off the table and into the bin. The boxes hold projects in the works. Once is Miss Bailey’s and one is mine.
The other side of the table are all my traditional fabrics stored by color in dollar store plastic bins. The top shelf has a cafe curtain rod that holds my freezer paper and another behind and lower holding my fusible web. I like that I can just pull out onto the table and cut off what I need. 
This is a view of my sewing table area and Batik and hand dyed fabrics on another shelf unit. The top one is an old wood CD case holder I painted. I use old CD cases as shelves to store smaller pieces of fabric and organize by color. Under that I store larger pieces on comic book boards. They are like mini bolts of fabric.
My threads are stored on a wall shelf above my sewing table. Easy access. Have another shelf sitting in the corner waiting to be hung when I decide where I want it. Hard to see here, but there is also a magnetic knife holder on the front of that shelf that holds my scissors, seam reapers, and extra sewing feet for my machine. All in easy reach.
My BF is making me a new sewing table! Currently it is in the garage waiting for some muscle to get it up the stairs. LOL It is solid wood and very large. Will fill that corner. Miss Bailey will inherit my smaller one. 🙂
See above to the left of my sewing table, there is a wooden TV tray that I can fold up next to my table for storage. This is so handy if you’re doing any kind of piecing and need to iron seams especially if paper piecing. I use my mini Clover Iron usually.
I covered the top of it with heat reflective batting and then a piece of muslin. Now it’s my portable mini ironing table right next to my sewing table! There are lots of tutorials on Pinterest how to make these. So easy! I painted the legs black to match all the other furniture of course. 😉
To the right of my sewing table I keep things handy too. A rotating cutting matt for paper piecing, my sewing box with the current threads I’m using and my fabric bowl to hold my pens, glue stick, quilting glove and finger tips. 
That bowl was made from a pieces of scrap muslin and batting. I simply did some thread sketching in an organic circular pattern just to play and then used fabric stiffener on it to shape as I liked. It’s perfect for what I needed. May make a few more as catch all baskets around the house.
On the other side of the room is my home office area. There is a file cabinet to the left of that table for all my files and records. Top shelf holds all my solid colored fabrics, yarn and a few very old projects never finished. Middle shelf holds all my office supplies and my Quilting Arts collection of DVDs for the last 15 years. LOL Gave up trying to find shelves for all those magazines and decided to go digital. LOL Having my computer in the same room has made life so much easier also. 
This is a temporary design wall area. I had planned on getting some foam board and making a real design wall. I will adhere flannel fabric to it. Currently this is just an old piece of scrap batting hung with thumb tacks so I can place fabric pieces to visualize ideas. This changes constantly, but recently found the need for a larger design wall area… might need to come up with an idea to use that open wall space to the right. Thinking a roll up exterior shade covered in flannel.
Usually on my cutting table is my large surface iron board. I made this the same way I made my TV tray one but I used black fabric instead. I find a lot of my work has black binding as a nice frame and putting it on this board also gives me a visual of how it will look. When it’s not being used, I tuck it under the table upright. What’s really nice is this can be moved over to the ironing board also when I need the space or set up against the wall or bookshelf there if I want for extra design area or need a little visualization space with a black background. 
I did take pictures of constructing both the TV Tray mini ironing board and also the large one. If you want to see a tutorial on how to do those, I’d be more than happy to post just ask.
In the end I am really happy I decided split up into two rooms. I don’t have the art room arranged yet but hope to soon. Need to find some more of those floating shelves in garage sales! And maybe a few more bookshelves. 😉
Some have said my rooms are so organized… believe me, they don’t stay this way, BUT, I do clean up and put things away as I work. And at the end of a project, which is about weekly, I do the entire room. I dust, I vacuum, I refold, I make sure everything is back in it’s place. I just can’t be creative or work in chaos and sometimes even during large projects I have the need to stop and clean it up too. I find I am far more productive that way. I think that’s why the room has only black and white furniture also…. besides that most items were mismatched yard bargains. LOL Less distracting and all look more uniform now refinished and painted. I’d love to get new flooring some day. A wood floor is on my wish list. The carpets in this home were severely damaged and stained before we ever moved in and I have tried everything including bleach! LOL But, I think a wood floor would be far better than carpeting. Plus makes for easier clean up in a sewing room.
NOW…. don’t think this arrangement came about easily. I have rearranged this room more times than I like to admit. Finally, I decided to do it the right way. I had my notes from as I worked what I wish was where or what I needed to be better organized or make life easier. This I used a FREE online program to draw the whole thing out. The Architect/Engineer came out there. LOL But you don’t have to be one to sue this program! It’s very user friendly.
I gathered all my room and furniture measurements and began to arrange, and rearrange, and then arrange again. What’s really sweet is you can see it in 3D also! It’s at http://www.roomsketcher.com You can easily resize the standard furniture they have and even set heights for shelving etc. Made life easier! This is also how I knew how much room I needed in that corner for the new sewing table when it’s completed. 🙂
Here was final floor plan. This is a small loft room, only 10′-10″‘ x 9′-6’ not including the hallway. But I have made it work for what I need.
And here are two camera view points looking into the room. Pretty darn kewl! I even show my two orchards there on the cubicle. LOL Have I said yet I’m OCD and everything needs to have it’s place? Proof! LOL
Do you have a creative space you’d like to share? I’d love to see it too! Please feel free to link us up in the comments.
I do pin a lot of ideas big and small, so if you need a distraction for ideas, be sure to visit and follow my Pinterest board of Art-Sewing-Quilting Studio Ideas-Tips.
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