Sewing "room" clean up (or shovel out as the case may be)

     I hardly ever do projects that I can't get done in an afternoon. I have no patience for long drawn out processes. This however, took me three days...that. is. ridiculous. Why, you may be wondering, should it take that long just to clean out some sewing stuff? Excellent question. That requires I show you some before pictures. Really these are simply to make you feel better about yourself, as I am sure few can claim the honor of owning such a mess as this.
     First, let me explain that my sewing area is outside the house in a long, very narrow utility room that was meant more for a garage type storage area of sorts. There is only one small window so the lighting is really awful in these pictures. I had a horrible time getting clear pictures and the color is off. My area is in the middle, to the left of mine is our "reading" area filled with shelves and books, and to the right a collection of mister's hunting things. The whole thing is way over due for a clean out. When we first moved here, my mister built me large shelf that used as much vertical space as possible. We were in such a hurry to get things out of boxes that I never really put things away properly to start with. As time went on it just got progressively worse...as you now may see for yourself.

     Look! My threads are grouped by color that should count for something! =)

     Yes, there actually are two machine's on that desk...how I got to them to actually use them required great acrobatic skill.

     There now, don't you feel better about yourself? Told ya. This was definitely one of those rooms that when guests come over, you shut, lock and barricade the door and never acknowledge that it opens.
     Would you like to see it now?

     Well lets start with the desk. This is actually not a desk at all, but an old drafter's table. I got it at a yard sale for super cheap and loved it.

     It sits on sawhorses that have nifty old hardware attached still.

     The top has some weather damage and one day I'm going to redo it, but I kind of like it's imperfection. I had a dear friend that passed away that worked for a surveyor's office and this table makes me think of her. I'm thinking I might make a skirt for the front to hide the totes underneath eventually.
     Next off, check out my shelves. The bottom row holds totes from the salvage store with all knit material.

     The top holds cotton, a massive bag of pollyfill I found unopened at the thrift store, home decor fabric, more felt than I could ever wish for (a garage sale find), and some yarn.

     The side shelves hold vacuum pack bags of burlap, clothes to be cut up and refashioned, and trays of fabric that are one yard or less.

     I got these little hangy things at hobby lobby and mod podged pretty paper to the front to hold sewing books and papers.

     You should recognize the two stools from past posts. They both were garage sale finds that I repainted and covered.

     I used my buckets from the dollar section at Target to hold things I frequently need for sewing like, elastic, bias tape, trim and such. They spell out the word "imagine".

     Do you remember these old nesting boxes that were given to me that I showed you before?

     I used two more sections of them to create some extra shelving. After bleaching, scrubbing, and painting them with some left over yellow paint, they look like this.

     The bottom part hold mason jars and jelly jars collected at thrift stores and garage sales. The jars keep small things like ribbon bits, buttons, snaps, clips, etc all tidy and organized.

     The jars are all labeled with key tags purchased from the hardware store.

     The top section hold all my ribbon on dowels. This I LOVE! I cannot express how annoying tangled up ribbon spools are to me!

     The bookshelf was tidied and prettied with some boxes mod podged with paper and spray painted baskets.

     My dry erase board also received a face lift with some mod podge and paper.

     The door is mettle so I use it for a magnetic bulletin board of sorts. The top rod has some clip curtain rings that can hold notes and pictures, the little cans hold safety pins and such, and the bottom rod works for a convenient spot to hang things while I'm working on them.

     A lot of the containers I used were random garage sale finds. I think this little basket is actually a door flower holder, but it holds my serger thread just nicely.

     Mod podging fabric and paper to things is cheap way to add color and a cohesive look. I showed you my clock a few days ago that I used the same fabric for as I did to cover my stool.

     There is still things I need to fix a little better and I'd like to add more color here and there. All in all though, I am loving my "new" work space. All the work was sooooo worth it!

Linking to:
The Stories of A to Z
Restore Interiors
Someday Crafts
Tea Rose Home
Sew Much Ado
Organize and Decorate Everything
Simple Home Life
Just a Girl
The Freckled Laundry
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors
Lolly Jane Boutique
Between Naps on the Porch
The Girl Creative