STUDIO BEFORE AND AFTER

It's been a while now since I've made the changes, but I wanted to show some before-and-after shots of my Studio. 

On one wall I had a hodge-podge of storage that served its purpose but wasn't particularly attractive. It consisted of half of a bookshelf, rolling drawer thingys, filing cabinets and an old desk.  I had only half a bookcase as I broke the full bookcase when I foolishly tried to scoot it over without emptying it first. (Geez. I know better.) 

While out thrifting one day, I stumbled onto a cabinet that was 8' long, white, someone's DIY -- and a very good one at that. I bought it, called MHSNL who has a pickup and he graciously agreed to haul it home for me. I cleared out the hodge-podge and installed my new cabinet and added the half bookcase and a little cabinet and scooted the file cabinets to the end. Turns out that having only half of the book worked out just fine; the full bookcase would have been too tall. Here's the work in progress and the finished project. Pretty outstanding, I must say. All white and coordinated-looking.

On the adjoining and opposite walls, were my sewing desks. Yes, desks. Vintage desks that I was going to paint white so all of my studio furniture would coordinate. But instead I got a brainstorm -- more like a brain hurricane -- and got my DIY on. I'm soooooooo proud of my handiwork. I combined four 6-cube cabinets, two 20"x 6' tops, four 2x4s (to raise the table tops up to the correct height.  Here's the before and afters.

In the middle of the room is my worktable. It began as one of those trifold-on-metal-frame-on-rollers deals from Hancocks and I've had it for years. But I wasn't able to store much beneath it and that was a huge waste of space underneath. So I purchased three little bookcases, put casters on them and attached the table top to one of the bookcases. It works the same, hinged with two drop leafs. I have so much storage. Another KC DIY that I'm very proud of.  I have a pic from the internet for the before shot.

My next DIY? To paint the dresser that I bought at an estate sale. It's a wonderful dresser. The doors hide lots of sewing and crafting supplies. The drawers are all graduated heights. The first is perfect for cutting tools. I have my patterns in the second. The third holds lots of goodies, too. I will be painting it white, of course. Then my studio will be super coordinated. Here's the before. The after will be a while coming as I'm finishing up a coffee table I've been working on and have a hutch to refinish next. Then the studio dresser will be tackled.

"Coordinated" seems to be my Word of the Day.

TWO-FER

I'm finally sewing again. I'm working on a purse, upcycled from a skirt. I'll be posting pics when it's done. In the meantime, I thought I'd share last summer's DIY projects.

The first I saw in a magazine, thought it was awesome and when I found the octagonal end table, decided I'd give it a try.  I took the door and top off the table. In order to stabilize and make the top more attractive, I made trim from a 1x2 which I had to miter, 60-degree cuts. I think I'm most proud of that. It was the first mitering I'd ever done. And I did the whole putty-the-holes thing, too.  (All those years of following my Jack-of-all-trades father around when I was a little girl paid off.) The outside of the table was in good shape and it matched my bedroom furniture, so I left it as it was. I stained the newly created trim and painted the inside and made a cushion. Mollie just loves it. 

The next project is tied to the first.  I already had the Singer metal base. It was white when I bought it, with a plywood top, also painted white.  I sanded the round top of the octagonal table and restained it and used it as the new table top for the Singer base, which I spray painted a bronze metallic.  It is now a stunning piece -- my new end table in the living room.