A room of one’s own

Somewhere to spend time, make art, and store your favourite stuff (Stuff, Space & Time: Part 1)

I received a comment from Katherine a few weeks ago, who was wistfully wishing for a space of her own - like my studio. In an attempt to offer a few words of comfort, I started describing my slow and painful transition from dining room table to studio, and why it ultimately hasn’t solved anything. That became a more in-depth consideration of this whole time, space, stuff problem and far too long for a reply to a comment! So I’ve divided my thoughts into chunks, and this is Part the First: the issue of SPACE and STUFF.

Clues from history

I’ll first share the history of my progression from dining room table and carrier bags, to present day. This might be useful if you’re feeling a little envious of those of us with studio space - or indeed any space. The grass isn’t always greener, sort of thing. You might also be nosy, like me, and like nothing more than a glimpse into other people’s spaces!

I’m hoping it’ll be useful to me too. Perhaps by writing it out, clues from what worked in the past will help me find a (possible) solution for the future. That’ll be coming up in the next few weeks. For now, here’s the backstory. More a how-I-used-to-do rather than a how-to, a preliminary setting-the-scene, if you like!

---

Carving out creative space and storing stuff

Dining room table

For years I used the corner of the dining room table for sewing, just the same as mother. All well and good until we bought a round dining room table for our first tiny house…no straight edge quickly becomes infuriatingly awkward! The upgrade to that was a rectangular table (and a new house 😁) but my sewing machine still had to live on the floor or on a small side cupboard, packed away after each use. When I upgraded my sewing machine, the old Singer I’d inherited from my mother was put in the loft. Probably not the best place, but I didn’t use it - and couldn’t part with it either.

Bags and boxes

Fabric was stashed where I could, often in plastic bags on top of the machine or in a drawer and eventually overflowed into stacking plastic crates, left over from primary school teaching days (teachers don’t just have bags, they need boxes to cart all those exercise books and planning folders to and fro) . I think I’ve still got all the crates I’ve ever bought, up in the loft with everything else. My husband keeps saying we could open a plastic crate shop - but it’s so useful to be able to scoot up the ladder and find one any time I need one!

I remember the day we bought a big pine blanket box - the vast expanse of storage space now available! I refuse to get rid of now, even though it gets in the way and has been residing in my studio over Christmas to make room for the tree in the living room. Over the years it’s stored fabric, then toys, then fabric again, and now yoga mats and….blankets.

Posh cupboard

I worked like this for years - including doing ten years of City & Guilds courses. Eventually, and only because of a little bit of inheritance from my husband’s Granny, I was able to get my mitts on one of those big quilting cupboards in the dining room.

You may have seen them, the ones that look like a wardrobe but open out to reveal a whole workroom? In theory, I could pack it away and close up the cupboard, but it still meant…packing it all away. So of course in practice, the doors stayed open and the contents spilled out and onto the dining room table until we had minimal space to eat. And despite its many drawers and cubbies, there were also two big sets of fabric drawers in my husband’s office (spare bedroom not-a-bedroom, and he only needs a desk and chair so….) and of course, the blanket box.

It's incredible just how much STUFF that cupboard contained and even more incredible we were ever able to eat at the table

Contortionist’s cupboard?

The cupboard was a marvel of engineering, though. Beautifully made, and to a custom size as we couldn’t quite fit the off-the-peg full width version - it’s still pretty huge! As you can see, it stored an absolute multitude - including an embellisher at this point, as well as my sewing machine, my laptop, and all my books.

The only slightly Heath Robinson element was the broomstick handle and flannel combination I had to wedge under the drop-down table to brace it under my machine whenever I did fast and furious sewing (i.e. all the time). Without it, the table started to bounce! Another frustrating aspect was actually accessing a lot of my stuff. Because the whole shebang was situated against a corner of the room, once the cupboard was open and the tables unfolded, I couldn’t get to half the shelves or cubbies without crawling under the table and lifting up the back edge, sending cascades of fabric scraps everywhere.

Despite its limitations, it was still a sad day to lose my beautiful cupboard…but I can visit it any time by going to see my friend Mrs B who’s given it a home in her workroom. Although I’d have to give notice, so she can clear a path 😉

See more photos and read more about the move from posh cupboard to new room on my old blog!

A room of one’s own

Finally, we accepted that this was more than a ‘little hobby’ and sacrificed our garage to create my own room - and ‘sacrifice’ it was, as my husband keeps reminding me (cyclist who now has to cram bikes into garden shed/summerhouse). We’d actually thought about doing it for years, as several people in our street with the same style house have done the same. We just couldn’t work out where to knock through for the internal door!

We didn’t need planning permission because it was within the existing building, but had plans drawn up by an architectural technician for Building Control approval, and for the builders to work from.

The desk layout has changed since this photo (the L-shape was hopeless) and I no longer have illusions of rocking gently in a chair while reading. The dog claimed the sheepskin rug and it became so grubby and matted we had to throw it away, and....this room has NEVER been this tidy ever again!

More pictures of the building work and finished room are also on my old blog.

Thanks to the accurate scale plan I was able to plan every last inch, get numerous electrical outlets exactly where I wanted, and find cupboards, shelves and desks to fit precisely (thanks to and almost entirely from this place). Yes, I can cram a heck of lot in here - and it’s great to finally have things in one space. But it’s also highlighted just how much stuff I have: there’s hardly room to breathe. It was much easier to lose track of things if they were scattered in different storage spaces throughout the house, it didn’t all ‘weigh’ on me so much. It was there if I wanted it, but it didn’t impinge on my creativity by piling up around me like it does in my studio, if I’m slack at putting things away (in other words, all the time).

Tables

And talking of putting away…it quickly became apparent that the desk space I’d planned on paper was woefully inadequate once I ‘got going’ on something. I’ve since moved my fabric drawers further down the room to create more space for three large desks (and had to move a bookcase first). Two desks are end-to-end for stitch and play space - and filming - and the third is a computer/paperwork desk.

Read more about this process of desk wrangling here! Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see photos of what it still (kinda) looks like today, plus a big list of problems/solutions. Swapping desks seems simple until you do it! Also, I notice this was Christmas 2019/2020 and little did I know just how valuable a desk space suitable for filming would become...so glad I sorted it when I did! Moving furniture is always an excellent opportunity for a massive de-stash, and I reckon I could use another one.

For even more table acreage when I want to paint, or cut large pieces of fabric, I’ve tried a variety of foldaway tables. But these quickly become dangerous ‘heap magnets’ if they stay out too long, and need constant shifting about or squeezing past to access drawers, so they’ve gone.

My current solution is a loose table top on one of my big storage trolleys (I have three of these with castors). I use a non-slip shelf liner to keep it secure. When not in use, the trolley slots back into the cupboard space (a curtained cubby hole under the staircase) and the table top stands on its edge and doesn’t get in the way. If it’s not assembled, I can’t dump stuff on top of it!

Machinery

Using and teaching with sewing machines has also had a pretty big impact. For various reasons, I’ve ended up with five machines: four sewing machines (the old Singer is now safely downstairs in the warm) and an embellisher. One on my desk, one under my desk, two under the shelves and another at the back of the cupboard. That’s a lot of real estate taken up with machinery! Each one either does or represents something different, so I can find a reason to keep them all. If they fit in my room, it’s all good, right?

Favourite space

Don’t tell anyone, but…my favourite place in the house is still the dining room table. It’s a big flat surface in a room with glass doors along one whole side, so I can look out to the garden and sky. We’re not overlooked, so it feels expansive and my mind can rest. And there are no heaps to distract me (not now I have a new no heap policy for 2025).

What does your dream space look like?

Or are you lucky enough to have it already? Let us know in the comments - we all love a peek into other people’s spaces!

Until next time,