A Room With MORE than 1 View

So most of you know that we're in the beginning stages of adding a design studio onto our house. I've spent many hours doing research & gathering advice from experts. I also remembered that Joan Hawley (of Lazy Girl Designs) remodeled her basement into a sewing studio a year or so ago, so I wrote to ask her what she loved about it, and also, what she would do differently now, if she could. Joan sent along some really great comments, and I so appreciate her willingness to share her expertise, even with a competitor. (Isn't it nice to know that we're not all at each others throats in the sewing industry?)

So what you see below is easily my 4th draft. I know it's not really easy to read, but it'll give you some idea of where we're headed.

As you can see, we have LOTS of space, but the two defining features of this room ( and the BIGGEST pain in the neck), are the two support columns in the middle, which hold up the tiled porched roof above. (The columns are designated in a yellow box with an X.)

In the upper left is a an area for storage of pattern components on wire shelves. There's no way to dress this area up, and it will be nice not to have to look at them all the time.

Right next door is a storage room for boxes, bubble wrap, trade show items and other bulky things. (again, out of sight is best for these)

The main room is divided into a sewing/designing/cutting area (in the center of the room), finished pattern storage (in yellow along wall), computer/website work (in pink along side wall) and storage of bulky items like bag samples and my fabric/notions stash (along bottom wall). And here's the best part, the ENTIRE area above the pattern cabinets (in yellow) is windows, with a beautiful view of our back yard! There will ALSO be a big window in the middle of the pink computer area, and of course over the window seat (in turquoise). What a delightful & inspiring change this will be, since most of my current space is dark with no windows at all!

This plan works around those pesky poles, while still maintaining a pretty effective traffic pattern. I may still tweek it a little, and it has to pass muster with my buddy (and personal design advisor), Beth. My next task will be to work on cabinet sizes, type and placement, along with making a final decision on the flooring, counter top and cabinet material.

So now the only question left to ask is... what do you think Jeter & Joba will think of it???