I am writing today about the changes I am making to create a "studio space" for my work. This is something that will be taking a few more weeks to complete, but it is well on its way as I am happily sharing Part I with you today. I have been working out of the guest bedroom of our house since I started the business. I use the bed as a cutting surface which is a bit too low, as you could well imagine. Since no guests stay in this room (heck, I would have to do some MAJOR stuff removal for that), I have decided that it is time for the bed to go and to put in a great work island (not built yet....but will be soon....thus Part II at a later date).
When I started my business 8 years ago, I had just bought my first serger and didn't even have a table to put it on! So I improvised and put it on one of those rickety little round tables...you know, the ones with the screw on legs? That got old pretty quickly, but it took a while to get a solution. Since I sew all the time, I never put my machines away. I like for them to be out and handy at a moment's notice. I don't really care for the sewing cabinets that are available because most are made from non-wood products and boast about their storage and the fact that they fold up into a small cabinet....not interested in all that! To suit what I wanted, we found an unfinished wood sofa table (which was too tall, but my handy husband cut the legs off for me). We finished it and I have been using that for the last 6 years. It was fine, but I didnt' like that my machines had to be so close together. I really wanted more space, so I began to think about how I could upgrade my sewing space. I had my table near a corner of the room and wouldn't it be nice to have an "L" shaped table where the serger could have its own space?? Wow....that would be awesome...so I began looking around to see what was available. As I suspected....nothing! At least nothing that I really liked and was willing to spend any money for....which leads me to the solution that worked just perfectly.
A few years ago, my husband had some guitar cabinets made so that he could display them on the wall, beautifully "framed" and protected from UV rays. The craftsman that made them did such a beautiful job, as you can see in the photos. Jim is one of those guys that does everything right.....you couldn't ask for better made cabinets. I knew that he had also made furniture, so I decided to ask him if he would be interested in making my table, and thank goodness, he was! We worked out the details on what I wanted...wood choice, style, and size, and he drew up some great sketches of the sewing table of my dreams..... Please visit his website, Ozark Valley Displays, to see photos of his amazing work. You will mainly see guitar cabinets, but keep in mind that this talented man can build just about anything....you just have to be willing to ask and know that quality takes time.
This wonderful table arrived last Friday and we have been busy ever since, getting it set up, redecorating, and moving other stuff around. I covered the cork boards with fabric over and got those hung up over the weekend and just finished the cover for the office chair yesterday. Notice my polka dot light? It is a clamp light that I covered and it takes up no space on my table top!
Stay tuned for Part II, because we are planning on making a large work island next for the center of the room. We will be doing that part ourselves in the coming weeks, so it may be a while before the big reveal. By the time we are finished, it is going to be one sweet space! I already feel like a spoiled sewing queen over here... just imagine how I will feel when the whole studio is complete....there will be no living with me!!
