Sewing Closet Wall Art

Even though we will be starting on our third year in this house, there are still a few things to decorate. Like my sewing closet walls. 

I had been planning on hanging something on the wall above the table from the beginning. But I was undecided as to whether I wanted the same vintage adverts or not. They didn't feel right, so I kept thinking on it. Then I came across these French illustrations from the 1920's. I love the colors! Just what the sewing closet needed!

I took these pictures yesterday afternoon and the sun was shining in so nicely! And for some reason it made everything rosy pink. (Which is fine with me!) 

I know the pictures are not hung the straightest, but they really aren't that crooked in real life! 

Of course my favorite is the pink hat! Don't you love their expressions? So chic!

I love how this picture captures the curve of the ceiling. ..........And the not so glamorous window air conditioner. But I am very proud we actually got one in the window (took a bit of diy engineering) and it is a neat and tidy job!

 Another new addition to the sewing room is a pin dish. I ran across this idea on Pinterest and have been keeping my eye open for pretty saucers.

It is so simple to just add magnets on the bottom of a dish and Voila!, you have a pin dish! Because this dish has a very small rim, I ordered tiny earth magnets that are thinner and they work perfectly!

 It has been so fun collecting dishes! I ended up with too many options! But one can always use several pin dishes right? 

 It is so nice to have a clean and tidy sewing room! (It was a bit overdue for a clean.) And now I have something inspiring to look at!

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Necessities

  Sometimes, house projects aren't very glamorous, but are a  bit of a necessity. This was one of them. 

When we moved in, we discovered something hadn't gotten hooked up right upstairs as two of the outlets in my room didn't work. No big deal, we were pretty sure all it was was a wire that hadn't gotten connected. So I bought a few extension cords and made things work. I was just happy to be moved it!

A year and a half later there were still extension cords in my room. The electrical was one of those projects that kept getting moved to the bottom of the list. This year I decided we have lived here long enough and it was time to get it fixed!

It is official! The electrical in my house is finally, completely finished!

After a lot of poking in the attic we finally realized a wire was missing. There wasn't any from the powered outlets to the un-powered outlets. Thankfully, still not a big problem, an hour later the wire was in and outlets working!

It is so nice to not have to dust around extension cords anymore!

Electrical and wiring can be a little tricky in old houses. Sometimes all you can do is compromise. 

Most of the house was fairly easy to re-wire. There were a few extra holes cut in the living room and entry ceilings, but those were easily patched. Upstairs was a different story. 

Miraculously, there was ceiling lights in the bedroom and landing. (A bit strange as there wasn't any ceiling lights on the main floor.) But there wasn't a light in the closet/sewing room, which was kind of important if I wanted to be able to sew in there. Except by taking down the whole ceiling there wasn't any way to wires across the ceiling. And naturally,  I voted for the ceiling! 

So, my solution was to run an external hanging light across the ceiling. I don't really mind the bare bulb look and I love how bright the light is without the shade!

It is crazy how easy one gets use to things. The day after no more extension cords I almost tripped myself on the non-existent cord!

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A Small Dresser

This little dresser may look familiar, I have posted a couple of times about it. It houses patterns, the top two drawers are my vintage pattern collection and the bottom two new and pdf print at home patterns. This year I decided it was due for a spruce up! 

 My cousin's gifted me a set of Martha Stewert adhesive stencils which was the starting inspiration. They also included paint, in the most perfect shade of Pink! Of course, the project grew and I decided it needed new drawer pulls too.

Do you remember what it looked like before? (pictured above) The pulls don't show up very well, they were painted blue floral. Cute up close, but not too colorful.

The new knobs are from Home Depot. Love the vintage look!

I also hung a small bulletin board above the dresser. It is nice to have a spot to pin notes and inspiration. Currently, I am working on sewing a few basic essentials for my summer wardrobe. 

This little project has been hanging around for awhile. I started it back in March, but it just kept getting delayed (or I would get distracted!)!  So glad it is finished and I finally got to share!

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DIY Footstool for the Book Nook (part 1)

Another project I have been working away on whenever I get a moment is the footstool in the book nook! I finished part 1 a month or so ago, but haven't gotten around to part 2, the quilted cover, yet. The project got a little way laid this fall as I let my sister borrow the foam squares I had bought. She returned them in a few weeks, but then Christmas was right around the corner and in the hustle and bustle is got put on hold.

I used this tutorial from Better Homes and Garden for inspiration. Who knew it was this easy to make an ottoman?! I really wanted a round footstool but the trend seems to be square and it was a bit difficult finding a small one. This one is just the right size to perch one's feet on! 

 Once I started looking I was surprised at how easy it was to find all the parts. A round pre-cut piece of wood from Lowe's for the base; legs and brackets from the hardware store I painted white; two foam squares with batting wrapped around them from JoAnn Fabrics; topped off with canvas fabric leftover from another project. Now I just need to make the quilted cover! 

 I also had to share another new addition to the book nook, a beautiful pillow my sister Becky made me. What a lovely surprise! 

 I love how she used a vintage napkin on the front, it highlights the details so well!

So what projects are you working on Friends? Are you sprucing up to get ready for Spring?

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Rosy and Bright (Upstairs Bedroom)

I had almost forgotten I have a collection of Pink Shiny-Brites! We bought a giant tub of ornaments from an estate sale years ago and whoever it was liked pink! 

A few ornaments in my silver basket and a pink "corsage" on my mirror to add a bit of Christmas cheer. 

Mom found this for me last year, it came in the original package. Isn't it beautiful? I am not sure what is was suppose to decorate, but looks to me like a corsage. It hangs very nicely from my mirror on a suction cup.

It makes me smile every time I see how pink the light shade makes the walls. No need to paint, not with a vintage pink shade!

Another vintage Christmas card I printed from Pinterest and pasted on card stock. Love the cottage!

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Sewing Room Chair

This was a post I was going to put up last weekend, but didn't get to. So before we move into Christmas too far, one last look at the upstairs!
I think the refurbished sewing closet chair is my favorite piece in the room. I love all the little details!

I wasn't really looking for a caned chair, but I had admired them on Pinterest and Houzz. So when I came across this diamond in the rough on the curb one garbage day, I knew right away it could be beautiful.

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Sewing Room

Are you ready to see my sewing/crafting space? I am never sure what to call it....room or closet? It is rather large to be a closet and rather small to be a room! It does have a window and you could fit a twin bed if you really wanted to.

It fits my sewing table along the left side perfectly. I love this view from my bedroom doorway, it makes me happy to see my sewing machine ready to go! I don't always manage to fit in as much sewing time as I wish, but it is nice to know I can sneak a few minutes in whenever I want!

This is about the cleanest my table has been since I moved in. I kept hoping to get it a little better under control, but that wasn't happening. So I "tidied" it for the pictures by sweeping up the two giant mounds and hiding them out of sight! It sure was nice to see the table for a few minutes.

My sewing chair make-over turned out perfectly! It got a couple of coats of white paint, new caning and a new seat cover.

 Looking at the opposite wall, cube shelves from Ikea with my fabric and notions. Once I had the shelves in I realized I could make much better use of the space with bigger bins, so I found Hefty tubs that fit perfectly!

Yarn, fabric, sewing books and notions.

Since the sewing room also has to function as my closet, I left some space between the wall and the shelves for a clothes rod. Just enough for my shirts and dresses!

 I love having a proper place to put the ironing board, it always ended up stashed behind something before.

There are still a few things I would like to do, like hang a couple of vintage fashion prints on the wall and paint the bottom portion of the table. Someday I will get there, in the mean time I am enjoying it tidied up!

Looking back to the book nook.

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Upstairs Bedroom

Here is my cozy little nest! 

I have to tell you, when I took these pictures last week, it was a crazy blog writer moment...... I was so excited to wake up to sun I jumped out of bed and grabbed the camera, I didn't wait to get dressed! Then I realized the floors were dusty! So there I was rushing around mopping floors in my pjs and snapping pictures before I had to dash off to work! Unfortunately, the sun wasn't being cooperative and kept coming and going. But I managed to capture a few good ones!

I love how the ceilings come down and enscone one, it is my favorite feature (besides the windows). The ceilings really defined how and why I decorated this room. As you all know, I love pink. In my previous room the walls were pink and I just planned on painting the walls pink again. But once I studied the room more, I realized if I painted the walls pink I would also have to paint the ceilings pink or spend an enormous amount of time trying to draw "ceiling lines". (Which I knew I would never be happy with.) So right away I changed courses and switched to white (with a faint tint of pink, just to keep me happy!). The other factor that influenced my decorating, was the English cottage feel the room had. The little in-swinging windows..... the sloping ceiling......the basic wood floors......

The curtains I re-made from an comforter cover I had sewn. I think they add the perfect English cottage touch! Other then the curtains, just about everything else was in my old room.

 To the left, the dresser is tucked behind the door. Not the most convenient place, but the room is small and that is what works. 

 Since the dresser isn't in full view most of time, I didn't really know what to put on top..... until winter descended! The basket holds my knitted scarf collection handily ready for topping the day's outfit. A few of my quilts are also ever ready to be snuggled up in. (You can see on this side of the room the ceiling also slopes. Where would I put a ceiling line on that?!)

 I know this looks a little odd and at first is bothered me a bit, but the only way all the furiture was going to fit was with something over the attic door. Since, we don't access it very often, it works fine. And I still get a dressing table!

My bedroom furniture set was found at a garage sale years ago, a special gift from my sister.  I love it's vintage style! I recovered the stool in hand painted rose fabric.

 I had to post one picture of my wonderful floors! I know you all know I love my floors! These are pine, darkened from age and sunlight. All I did to them was a good cleaning and three new coats of shellac.

How can you not love those windows! Even though the bedroom faces north, it gets a surprising amount of sunlight.

 See the dresser peaking out from behind the door, that is the usually view. In the background, the attic door.

Looking into the sewing closet. I thought this gave a nice perspective of how "cozy" everything is! But once you add all the upstairs space together, it is the perfect amount. 

A place for everything.

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