Before & after: the sewing room edition

As you know, Dear Reader, AO, Bear, Gracie & I live in a one-bedroom condo. Over the years, we’ve made a number of changes. Some might even say improvements. At least I hope they would. Space, though, remains an issue. The most recent dilemma with space I faced was my strong longing for a sewing space. I had had the sewing machine on the dining room table, but that was annoying. It was either annoying because the sewing machine was on the dining room table, or annoying because I’d put it away in a closet. And then it was in the closet. I’m a million times less likely to sew (or do anything) if it involves taking items out of a closet and setting them up. And then undoing the whole thing and putting them away. Because I really wanted to commit to this new sewing endeavor of mine, I wanted the machine out in the open. Just not on the dining room table. Enter: Ikea! The Seventh Circuit called me down last Monday for an argument, so I took myself to Greatest Store on Earth as a reward for not passing out in that gigantic courtroom of theirs. And this is what happened to our bedroom, aka the basement.

Bedroom before

So I needed to move the bed (and rug and tables) over a few feet.

Opposite wall

And then the Murphy bed area…

Murphy bed

Then came the hard work.

Eeks

And then … voila!

Ikea magic

Sewing space

Space for cutting

Bookshelf

Keep calm

8 Responses to “Before & after: the sewing room edition”

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1 satcla May 26, 2013 at 11:21 am

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! I love it so much!!!! That stressful Ikea trip paid off!!!
2 kateandgracie May 26, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Thanks, babe! Yes, that’s true: that trip to Ikea was not ideal. Ikea really is a two-person (minimum) job.
3 Terry May 26, 2013 at 10:40 pm

So nice! I am very impressed.
4 Jane Roe May 27, 2013 at 6:51 am

Wowsers!
5 Sara May 28, 2013 at 9:10 am

You have such a knack for decorating with an identifiable aesthetic – everything is unique but works together. Very cool. Also, am jealous – my sewing area is in the furnace room. It’s spacious, but the ultimate basement atmosphere.
6 kateandgracie May 28, 2013 at 9:23 am

Thanks, all. Sara – I had considered putting my stuff in the basementy basement, but decided against it because of a serious shortage of outlets. I’m glad, too, because I don’t think I’d feel very inspired in that atmosphere…Though it would probably inspire me to clean out the basement instead of just dumping everything in there.

Also, I know this may sound insensitive — which I don’t think I actually am — but in thinking about the devastation in Oklahoma, I can’t help but think (through the tears), “How does people get by without a basement?”
7 kateandgracie May 28, 2013 at 9:25 am

Also, that upholstered chair is only there because I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the basementy basement. Or to sell it. Because I still really love it even if it got itself edited out of the living room. Poor upholstered chair. You came all the way from Richmond just to land in the basement. But not in the basementy basement!
8 Stephanie June 5, 2013 at 2:24 pm

love love love it! looks awesome!