Studio Tour: Inside My Creative Space

I believe work spaces should be functional, of course, but why shouldn't they be pretty as well?

We moved into our new home in September 2014.  One of the reasons we chose the home that we did was because it had ample space for a studio for me to do my thing and run my shop.  In our previous home, while I was fortunate have a dedicated space, it just wasn't big enough to house the business I was trying to grow.  The new studio is about 200 sq. ft. and has an incredible amount of light for most of the day thanks to two large sliding glass doors.  It also boasts a pretty view of the backyard, which comes in handy since I work at home with a preschooler and a rambunctious dog.  It is so nice to supervise playtime and get fresh air while I work.

Here is where I keep my personal stash of fabrics.  I mostly buy fat quarters, and they fit perfectly in this little hutch on the wall.  I have larger cuts and fabrics that I've deemed special in the white boxes.  My rulers and scissors hang from bars that hang handily on the wall over the cutting table.  The vintage machine was a Craigslist find, and needs to visit the sewing machine doctor.  The antique sewing box (stacked drawer thing) was a gift from my dad.

Hutch: Ikea Hemnes (might not be available anymore)

White boxes: Ikea (similar)

Rails, hooks, hanging basket: Ikea Bygel series

This little console table has a drawer that fits my scraps perfectly.  It's nice to have them tucked away because I find it hard to keep them looking tidy.  I try to keep a pretty small stash, so I don't typically have a lot of scraps.  I love scrappy quilts too, so it's easy to keep using them up.

Table: gifted, don't know the source

Plastic scrap baskets: Target (hint: kids storage aisle has Circo brand pink or navy handles for about 50 cents cheaper than the green handled Sterilite brand in the container aisle.  Same exact container.)

My sewing area also serves as my office area where I write and do shop bookkeeping.  I'd like to sew some cushions for the chair and add rolling casters to the bottom.  My desk is an old Ikea Expedit with the table attachment.  I store works in progress in the white boxes on the shelves below the table top.

Desk unit: Ikea Expedit (similar)

Chair: Home Goods

Magnet board: Ikea (similar in silver)

To the right of my sewing/office chair, I have a small bookcase.  I keep some books on it, but mostly it holds office-y type stuff.  I keep the most-used items on the top for easy access.  Since my business is online, it is easy for me to keep almost everything I need stored on a cloud.  My phone and laptop are invaluable and without them I wouldn't be able to run the business at all.  Paperwork waiting for action and filing hangs out in the paper clip stand.

Laptop: Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro

Phone: Samsung Galaxy S4 (hoping to upgrade to a Note 4 soon!)

File box & folders: Target, office supply aisle

Paperclip stand: Target Dollar Spot

I set up this little reading nook recently while I was procrastinating on other things.  My husband had moved the chair into my studio from the living room so that he could do some work with me.  I decided to leave it in here and move it to this corner because it was so cute.  I keep my embroidery supplies in the box under the chair.

Chair: Target

Side table: Ikea

This gallery wall might be my favorite part of the room.  I filled it with special things that make me smile whenever I see them.

Be Inspired print: Bijou Lovely

You Are Enough and Happiness is Handmade: Pen and Paint

Black frames: Ikea Ribba

White frame: Ikea Nyttja

My design wall is just a piece of white micro fleece tacked to the wall, but it works!  My son designed the quilt up there now and we're working on sewing it together.  I expect it to be up there for quite a while.

Here is my shop area.  We will be replacing the bookcases with something custom and more functional, but for now, they work.  The cutting table is two Expedit units pushed together.  It's still not big enough for my large cutting mats but I'm making it work until we put a larger table top together (soon!).

Bookcases: Ikea Billy

Cutting table: Ikea, similar

I keep all my shipping supplies on this handy little cart.  I've got empty shelves because I've been freeing up space for a large fabric shipment that should be delivered next week-ish.

Cart: Ikea Raskog

So that's how my studio looks when it's cleaned up and ready for a photo op.  Most of the time it is full of toys and tea cups and cut out pattern pieces and empty cardboard boxes and books open to project pages and a random sock and half-eaten open packages of peanut butter crackers.

I'm looking forward to making some improvements in here, like the aforementioned shelves and cutting table top, but also paint and possibly this faux-wood flooring.  I'm also looking into getting a TV to hang on a wall because we all like to hang out in here on the weekends and watch movies while I work and sew.

You can see what inspires my studio design on Pinterest.

What is your sewing or office space like?  Drop me a link to a photo in the comments.  Do you have any favorite tips for keeping it functional and stylish?  I'd love to know.