Sewing Room Rearranging & Ideas

Besides re-painting my sewing room, I also rearranged it.  I still have the same furniture in it, but think I made it a little less foreboding (I'll explain later).  Below you'll see some before/after floor plans, but I'll start off with this little rack from Ikea, which used to be for coats in our previous kitchen.  Now that we have a mudroom w/ a closet shelf & rack, I painted it white & hung it right by my sewing table.  I put ribbons on some of the tools I use regularly (pinking shears, scissors, clippers, rotary cutter, and sliding gauge).  It's great now to have them all on my left when I need them, rather than rumbling through the drawer.  So far Bella has shown no interest in them, so I'm not worried about her hurting herself.

She had a big adventure today, BTW.  She ran outside when I opened the sliding glass door.  By the time I got my shoes on & went out to help the Roommate round her up, she was back at the mudroom door trying to get in.  This has happened before--she spends a few minutes outside then decides it's not that bad inside! Silly kitty.

On the left, you'll see the same hooks being used for my necklaces; thanks to the Roommate for getting those up last week.  It's great to have the necklaces out, too...much easier to find.

When I posted the photos of my newly painted sewing studio in February, I mentioned before & after drawings for the arrangement.  So I thought I'd get those up now...finally.  I just wanted to show one arrangement that I thought would work and then the arrangement I have now, which seems better, though I'm not sure why.  (As always, clicking on a photo will take you to the largest size available.)  All measurements are in inches. All the furniture is from Ikea, I won't put all the links in because I'm not sure it's all still available...the sewing table is 5-6 years old at least.

BEFORE rearranging furniture

Okay, here's the deal:  This first arrangement seemed better because the table fits pretty much exactly under the window; I thought, "Hey, lots of light!" But I didn't like the cabinet where it was; it's tall, and seemed to make the whole room rather dark (walking into a room with a bookcase or cabinet right there by the door was just weird).  Also, with the table against the east wall, it meant the table I use for cutting out was in that dark corner.  There's no overhead light in the room--I've added 3 lamps of varying brightness and I think I probably need another OttLite (daylight lamp).

So after lots of thought, I took everything out, re-painted the room (with the Roommate's help), and am now using this arrangement.  Which seems better; the cabinet, which I don't use too often, is in the dark corner (and I put one of the desk lamps on top of it, so I can use that when I need to get into the cabinet).  What I use more often are the books & boxes that are stored on the shelves (photo here).

AFTER rearranging furniture

Because the gateleg table is now in the corner by the door, it's also closer to the power outlet--meaning I can store the shredder under there.  Bella also finds this an excellent hiding place because she's safe on 3 sides and a heating vent is right there--though is it a hiding place if I know exactly where she is?

I am liking it much better, though the drop down ironing board sort of covers the sewing table & almost touches the sewing machine.  Plus--if I'm ironing something huge, a lot of the weight can be on the table.  Minus--I cannot sew with the ironing board down; however, because it's so easy to put up & take down, that's not an issue.

Music?  My new crush:  Odio Paris - live, doing Cuando Nadie Pone un Disco.