My little sewing operation has been taking place at my kitchen table. As a result, my kitchen has been a permanent disaster. Add a serger into this equation, and it's a hot mess. I dislike chaos in my living space, so it dawned on me late Friday night that I needed to do something about it.
I have a huge basement that is unfinished. It would be perfect--tons of space--but I don't like being down there because it's so removed from everything. And there are bugs. And spiderwebs that turn me into a ninja when I unknowingly walk through one.
It then occurred to me that I have a spare bedroom that has probably only been used 5 times in the 13 years I've owned this house. I knew what needed to happen. Makeover!
I burst out of bed at 6:30 am ON A SATURDAY and got to work measuring and pondering, selecting the items that I would get from Ikea.
I hit the road. One of my cousins lives on the way so I thought I'd stop by and say hello, but then I thought maybe her son, my godson, might want to come with me and spend quality time with his favorite second cousin and godmother! Plus, I tweaked my back and I knew I shouldn't be lifting heavy things, so a helper was going to be a good call. He was game, so I swung by and picked him up for some quality time.
IKEA is one of those places that is dangerous if you don't have a plan. I know my weaknesses, so I had saved off a list in advance and stuck to the list. It's a miracle. After trekking home, I got to work, which first meant disassembling the existing room.
In my excited state, I did not take as many "before" pics as I probably should have, but here's the gist of the room before. I had already started pulling linens and the mattress off:
When I finally got to the assembly portion of this adventure, I found that I'm really a pro at IKEA furniture assembly. I had 6 items to assemble and it didn't take much time at all. And, I fully appreciate my ratcheting screwdriver, in case you were wondering.
12 hours later, and I'm in love! Unfortunately the swivel chair I bought didn't attach properly to the base, which was weird, so I had to bring it back and get a different seat (note: upon further review, I now believe that I was the problem and not the seat, so let's just go with it was late and I was delirious). But the secondary trip (and it's over an hour each way) meant that I could pick up some other items!
Here's the layout:
2 Alex drawer units serve as the base for my sewing station, topped with a 74" Lilltrask countertop. I also picked up one of those magnetic knife thingies that I will attach to the wall for my scissors and whatnot.
My cutting table is a Linnmon 47" table top with 4 Olov adjustable legs (I wanted this table to be high so I can stand and cut comfortably, and note how my ironing board nests right under it to get out of the way! #winning). I also picked up a Rigga garment rack, since I am starting to dabble in making clothing.
For storage, I have 2 Kallax 30" shelf units side by side.
I had another shelf unit from Target that I moved in here as well for more fabric storage.
I didn't get in any sewing this weekend because this took up all my time, but I am so excited to get to work in my new sewing room!
My kitchen looks like a kitchen again. My living room no longer features an ironing board. However, my garage is now a complete shit show. Next weekend.