My New Sewing Room - The Big Reveal

Last week Lucky Lucille suggested the blog might actually be a portmanteau term for back log, and I have to say at the moment it certainly could be in my case. (Plus, I love the word portmanteau). One of the many things in my blogging backlog is my new sewing room. I can't believe its taken me so long to blog about it, because I love it!

As longer term readers will know, we had a kitchen extension done earlier in the year and as part of the works the whole house was rewired. As a result when we moved back into the house in May, every single room was in need of redecoration. We decided to try and do some of this work ourselves, and I suggested starting with my sewing room. Not because it was my sewing room, but because it is the smallest room ... so would be the easiest. (OK, it was partly because it was my sewing room.)

My sewing room is the box room of the house, over the front door and entrance hall. It is quite a small room and it turns out is very hard to photograph. As with the rest of the house when we moved in the decor was seventies-tastic, and one of the first things I did was to pull down the wall paper as I preferred the bare plaster walls - as rough and ready as they were!

Before the builders' finished on the kitchen extension I asked if they could build me a storage and work unit around the window. In the past I had a very small desk and a very large 1950s drinks cabinet - not the most practical furniture, and as the room is small I needed to make the best use of the limited space.

I couldn't have been happier with the result - the units have been made extra deep to store all my sewing and knitting equipment, and the desk makes the most of the light from the window. The work top is made from a lovely piece of wood the builder had left over from another kitchen extension job.

Once the units was completed, my first job was to strip the old paint from the woodwork and prepare these and the walls. This took quite a lot of time, especiallt as the walls were so rough we decided it would be better to line them first. Not something I had done before, but easier than I expected. There was also a huge amount of woodwork to be painted white, including all the new unit.

The colour for the walls was a bit of a challenge, because I had the most amazing wall paper for the 'feature wall' and finding something that worked with it wasn't easy, but I got there in the end, Ready?

I found the purple and gold wallpaper in the bargain bin of Homebase last year, and have been waiting to get in on the walls. In the end I went for a light purple-grey on the walls, which works with the wallpaper. I found making a decision on the floor finish much more difficult, the boards were mostly in tact but there was some damaged ones and the edges have previously be stained black. In the end I decided to paint the floor, and opted for a light grey.

I'm really pleased with the results, the room is bright but calming, and just walking in to it makes me smile! This little corner behind the door is my new favourite place to sit and knit, or, as I'm doing now blog.

I made, or up-cycled, a lot of pieces in the room and will give more details of how in future posts. These include the notice board, lamp, cushion and the chair which I upholstered (I'm enormously smug about that).

To my surprise I was able to fit all my knitting and sewing books and stash into the new unit, and the boxes on the top shelf. I even managed to fit all my wool into these two custom made sheep fabric storage boxes.

I've used kitchen fittings from Ikea to make storage for my scissors and other sewing tools, so they are always within easy reach when I'm at the machine, as is my dog pin cushion.

And my giant pocket watch is on hand to keep my up to time...

To finish off the room I have a couple of pictures and photos, all given to me at various times by lovely friends, most of which have some reference to the use of the room.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my sewing room, and  I'm hoping that my lovely new room with usher in an era of productive crafting for me.