Work Areas

I can't possibly be the only person who is fascinated with the way that people organize their work areas.


This is my beside craft area. It was actually my husband's suggestion to get the basket shelving available at Ikea and use those in this area for storage. I like to work here, because it is really comfortable and the lighting is excellent during the day when I've got the house to myself. If you are highly motivated, you can click on the photo to see the version where I labeled all the areas and drawers.

I tuck my embroidery floss bin under the bed and have 2 drawers for wool/rayon blended felt, 3 drawers for yarns, organized by fiber type, and 2 drawers for miscellaneous storage of little patterns, beads, glues, google eyes and stuff like that. Acrylic felt is banished to a less convenient cabinet across the room. I'm trying to get my husband to agree that we should get a set of dressers for this room. We have plenty of closet space for our clothes, but think of the craft storage possibilities!


Here is the bin I use for my floss. It is organized by color in 2 organizer bins I found at Ikea. There is room on the bottom for my hoops and embroidery needle storage. I've tried them, but I don't like using those wind up bobbins. I prefer to keep my floss in their paper sleeves.


This is my sewing area, also known as the dining room. My husband has to shove aside my projects to use this area as his office if he gets home early from work. The lighting makes it look dreary, but really that is a pleasant window and the light is usually good. I didn't photograph it, but my 7-year old daughter also has a work table of her own in this area where she colors, cuts, and glues her special projects.

I didn't photograph the basement where I have all of my fabric stash. I'd prefer to have just one work area, but I guess this set up allows me to be part of the family instead of hidden away in a glorious craft studio.

Here is my wonderful, fantastic sewing machine. She's a Husqvarna Viking Lily 550 and is about 9 years old, I think. She has a bunch of computerized stitches I never use. She works like a dream!

We purchased her the one year that my husband got a really good bonus. The company wasn't used to people actually earning the bonuses, so they restructured the system and employees earned useless company shares instead of cash. We saved carefully and used the rest of the small windfall for my graduate school degree, and occupational and speech therapy for our toddler-aged son.

We've been flirting with the idea of purchasing a bigger house, but there really are many advantages of being a family in a smaller space. This house is bigger than our first house and WAY bigger than the 2 bedroom home where my grandparents raised 5 happy children. My dad and his 2 brothers had to get roll away beds out to sleep in their living room every night. Our children have their own rooms and we seem to negotiate our shared spaces well.

We decided to finish our basement, stay more organized, and spend some of the money we'll save keeping our current mortgage on a bi-weekly cleaning service and the kid's college fund.