Nope, I am not going for pretty in my working studio! My goal has always been function with plenty of space. Since we are empty nesters, I am afforded the opportunity to use the 2nd largest bedroom as my work space. Facing south with large windows, there is plenty of natural light as well as a view of lovely farmland and mountains. I have to admit, I did clean up a little. Well, it must have been a lot as the hubs came in and said it was really nice in here. The upside is that I got all the thread and little scraps of fabric off the rug!
I snapped this photo in the evening, I couldn't get enough back light during the day to show the entire room. Basically my creative space is divided into 3 parts. Textile and Sewing; Mixed Media; Graphic Arts and Home Office. I have a monster of a corner desk. It was a good idea and functioned well 8 years ago when I was working a day job that required me to have home office space for work related storage. Now that I am 100% self employed, I really don't need this big desk, so being one who strives to work with what I already have, I reconfigured this desk to a peninsula style. It serves as wrapping and mailing station as well as extra space for big projects
Above is my sewing and textile art center. My big table is one of those folding cutting tables--I hated those black legs, so I got some decorator Velcro and added fabric panels for a skirt. I can store a lot out of sight under that table! Again, you will see that I organize with what I already have or can pick up real cheap. I have 2 idea boards that were garage sale bulletin boards that I covered with fabric. My large ironing board was 10 bucks at a garage sale down the street. It was a real score.
I love that I can look outside when I am sewing. Both the thread rack and the cup caddie were tag sale finds too. I saved baby food jars when my granddaughters were babies, they make perfect button jars that I can organize by color.
I have 2 closets. One side is packing and mailing boxes. Above is my fabric storage. I will admit cleaning this up a bit paid off. I found some fabric I forgot I had (aka new project!) and decided I could fit more fabric (aka time to buy more!)
The opposite side of the room I have set up for Mixed Media and just about any other project that strikes me. I also store quite a bit of my selling inventory too .I do shows now and then, so many of those display fixtures are part of my office store too.
This is where the graphic art and home office happens (obviously) Since I ditched the day job, I have seriously expanded the graphic art part of my total business. It's fun to create with the old images of the early 20th century. I have become hooked on postcards that date 1900-1950. The artists of that era were incredibly talented!
Keyword: INSPIRE
Greets me each morning
Lastly, I pulled up the blinds to snap a pic of what I see out my studio window in our Oregon summer. We have wheat and grass seed fields on 2 sides. It is hard to see, but we also have beautiful mountains in the distance. This pic was taken in the morning, but the mountains are much more defined in the evening.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of my creative studio!
