A Space to Create - The Grand Reopening of Sheville

Well, it was a bigger, fatter, and harrier deal than I ever anticipated, but after a few weeks of restoration Sheville is once again open for business. Like a toddler that never wants to give up her toys, I was determined I could keep all my looms and fit ALL of my spinning, knitting, weaving, quilting, sewing and needlework stuff into one room. It was just going to require a little planning is all--and that minor issue of removing a door.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to New Sheville. If you desire, you can refresh your memory with before pictures here.

My first space saving strategy was to somewhat divide the room into zones, keeping like things together so I don't have to wander all over the room looking for what I need.

The sewing zone is on the right in the window area.

Weaving zone on the left along the wall.

I tucked the reference library into the corner behind the kitchen door.

The wall color is Benjamin Moore Providence Olive. I chose the color to calm down the crazy yellow that was in here before. I no longer feel the need to wear sunglasses inside on a sunny day. The green works well to neutralize the red brick so it is easier to select fabric colors in this room now. It also flows well with the color scheme in the rest of the house.

The key to fitting all the hobbies in one room is the magic corner below. It is like the swiss army knife of interior design. This one little corner sports my design wall, a cosy chair for hand sewing, my basket for knitting, and my needlework box. I can also use the chair for spinning, and the vanity bench next to it doubles as an end table or a stool to reach those quilt blocks all the way at the top.

Here is the magic part, the chair also swivels so I can wind a warp sitting down. I thought this was one of my best ideas yet.

In the center of the room you'll find a workspace to keep my tools handy. Most of my knitting stash hides in the drawers.

I also created a winding station close to the looms.

On the opposite side you'll find my dual cutting/ironing station. The baskets below organize my scraps, and as you can see by the holes in them, they also double as cat scratching posts. *sigh* That cat is why I can never have nice things.

If I decide to do a marathon sewing day, I can just pull out my old ironing board and go to town both cutting and ironing without moving the cutting mat back and forth on the top of the station.

I converted an old entertainment center into a storage unit by just taking the wheels off my plastic storage drawers. This is where my UFOs and quilt kits wait for my attention. I also have my Bonnie Hunter scrap storage system going on in there. Bottom drawers hold sewing notions, batting, etc.

The rest of my fabric stash still lives in the pie safe. I see a lot of craft/sewing rooms where people have all of the fabric and yarns out so you can see them. While I think it looks beautiful, it really isn't a good idea. The sun will absolutely fade whatever is showing, especially in a room with this many windows. Setting it out also leaves it exposed to dust, so I choose to stash my stash away from all that. This pie safe is my compromise, you can kind of see it, but the screen keeps the dust off.

I've stored most of my coned yarns inside the laundry room in boxes, but a few linger in the stack of furniture.

So where is my spinning stash you ask?  Ha, it's still at the mill. It is most likely going to have to go back into the shower when it comes back. Okay, so it is almost all in one room.