State of the Studio

Do you remember when I was pondering if I should move my sewing studio?   As soon as Ryan woke up that day I asked him – I just couldn’t wait – and he was totally ok with it.  I dove straight into that switcheroo with gusto, let me tell you.  Anytime I have a chance to move furniture around or rearrange a room I get excited.

It’s times like this when I have a pang of envy for full-time bloggers who can start a project and just tear through it in a few days.   I started moving the sewing studio to the basement on New Years Eve weekend, and it took until this past weekend to get to 90% completion.  Because this project would directly affect my business, we made it a top priority, but it still dragged out.

Even though I tried to have an organized, efficient move, it caused some upheaval – mainly because some of my storage system didn’t fit in the basement, so I had to pack most of my stuff into boxes until we had storage figured out.   It definitely caused some disruption with Janery business, but the upside is that, in the new space, I think I’m positioned for super organization and efficiency of operations.

Storage Decisions & Delays

The cabinets pictured below above are three Ikea BESTA units. I had the bottom two in my upstairs studio, along with one tall unit.  The tall guy didn’t fit under the lowered ceiling, so he went away courtesy of Craigslist.

It was annoying to have to sell a barely-used piece of storage furniture.  However, the space against the wall, where the lower ceiling limits use, really was the perfect spot for fabric storage and ironing.  It’s so awesome that the ironing board finally has a home to call its own, rather than being in my way in my office/studio/dressing room combo that I had before.

In the photo below, please also note that there is an electrical outlet right where I need it. It’s these little things that you think nothing of until you become a regular ironer-of-fabric.

But back to the BESTA part.  Having lost the tall guy, I needed more storage.  Off to Ikea I went, with measurements in hand.  Home I came with a BESTA unit that would fit on top of the first too.  Until I opened the box and realized that I’d bought the wrong color.  Crap.

Having to drive ONCE down I-95 to Ikea in Woodbridge, VA is a problem.  Having to go twice = Disaster, and all because of traffic.  I’ll leave it at that.  Long story short, we eventually got the cabinet returned and brought the right one home, and finally my stuff got organized.

For now I’ve hung my thread/scissor storage frame on the wall above my sewing tables, along with a cork board. I’m not in love with how it looks, though, so it will probably change.

But this, right now, is the state of the studio.

PS: Silver lining of the move –  My computer is now upstairs, so if I get distracted and want to hop online, I have to run up a flight of stairs and across the house.  Guess who’s not getting distracted very often when sewing?  Either that, or my butt and thighs are going to be rock solid.