Sewing room retirement renovation 2024

I often think about my space, my sewing space. I always give thanks that I am lucky enough to have a whole room I can dedicate to sewing. Also give thanks for a wonderful husband who doesn't mind :-). Here I can keep my machine up, make as much mess as I want to and can just close the door and not worry too much about tidying up. I know how lucky I am.

I have had the words below written for years, I always meant to do a full sewing room retrospective but that may not happen as I want it too so lets just make do with what we have 😊 the first part of this post is a round up of what the sewing room was like pre 2022 reitrement:

Pre 2022 retirement

I found this photo while pootling through my iPad. Not sure exactly when it was taken, some elements date it, the sewing table dates it as being no earlier than 2015, the position of the red chair dates it to before 2018 which is when I got an ikea cube for that spot to house my books, the notebook on the cutting table dates it to around 2016 as I got that notebook fromFlorence in 2015.I love my sewing room, always been a real haven, no more so than these past 2 years.

A friend is having problems just now and it made me think about how much of a sanctuary my sewing room has become, unconsciously I seem to have surrounded myself with comforting things.

My patchwork and quilting books, c'mon I'm a librarian! There must be books. In author and height order in case you wonder. All catalogued on good books.

Fat quarters, in colour order, all to hand ready for a quick fabric pick if necessary.

Boxes, I love boxes, the box with hearts contained a wedding present from best friend, the shoe box contained my wedding shoes, a present from my wonderful sister. All now contain fabric, or projects. I make a beeline for biscuit boxes from M&S brilliant size for patchwork block, the jubilee was a great year for boxes.

The bed (well it is technically a spare bedroom ...) very handy for laying out quilts in various stages of development, cross stitch cushions, probably about 20 years old. The black object in the red bed, is a knitted dog, a lovely lady made him for me when my beloved dog Bud died, mini Bud is so much comfort. He even has his own mini quilt :-)

Things, just things, Jo Malone bag holds pens and pencils, came with a present from my sister, I love my sister. Small jar holding clover wonder clips and boy are they ever wonderful. 3D kangaroo, present from friend (the one who is having difficulty just now) she gave it to me when I had cancer, she told me that I was the baby joey and I had to hop into the pouch of my family and friends, she was right, I hope now to try and be her pouch.

Fabulous card from fabulous friend, the writing says it all. The red cupcake box at the back is an empty hand cream jar from another good chum. Chums are the best, don't know where I would be without mine.

My sewing machine, a rather rash purchase when I finished chemotherapy. Do I regret it? Do I heck as like :-) love it to bits.

Finally view from my sewing machine, I made these during chemotherapy, they make me smile and remind me of what is really important.

So that's it, my sanctuary. For this and so much more I give thanks.

Mark did repaint the sewing room in December 2019, that was when I chose the yellow that was on the walls. It was not a good choice but you never really know that till you live in it do you? Bless him,. he did it because he wanted me to be happy in the room I was because he did this for me.

1st retirement renovation, August 2022

It wasnt just the work from home office which had become infused with work and work stress, the sewing room had taken a lot of it too plus retirement is a time to reflect and just see exactly how i want to make it work for me now in retirement. SOOOOOOO a long over due renovation started.

Above is how it started! I really wanted to get all the fabric in order so cue much unpacking and re folding, very therapeutic!

Who is the queen of fabric folding? well that would be ME!

This is still a work in progress but it feels so much better now

2nd retirement full renovation January 2024

Well! We are here! finally ... This post has been lurking in my drafts folder for years. I started to put together a post about my sewing room with its various iterations over the years but it was never "the time" to do it. Then I wanted to renovate it after retirement and I did to a certain extent but that was right at the beginning of retirement and if I know one thing it is that you need to "bed" into a room or situation once there are drastic changes, so you can see how you need it to function and to feel.

The sewing room has always been my sanctuary especially when I was working. As a result when I retired it felt quite stale and overstuffed, I had so many things in here which were here to comfort me. In retirement I dont have the same needs, especially as far as function goes, after a year of using the sewing room in retirement I now know how I need it to function for me, it is semi a workroom, I now use my laptop in here. It is also an exercise room. I needed more floor space for all of that plus my sewing I have made a few bigger quilts recently and just an extra few inches of floor space would have made all the difference. So, where to begin?? lets begin with the before.

A few folks commented that this wasnt really cluttered, well perhaps to them it wasnt cluttered but it was to me and thats what matters!

I needed more light, I had though when Scoobs re painted the sewing room a few years back that a nice yellow would be warm, it wasnt just ended up being dingy, so white it was for the new look!

I posted in my instagram stories about my progress mainly because I wanted to keep a record, I totally underestimated how many folks would literally enjoy watching paint dry! 😂

First step was to emtpy the blooming room .... a good declutter was had in the process

I got cracking and everything was going sooooo well until this happened:

😖No idea what happened here its on the ceiling. Quite a few folks suggested I had put 2nd coat on too soon which I think is probably correct. I sanded and repainted you can still see it slightly but it works ok for now. Scoobs is going to redo properly when I go to Japan 😊

Next up was a clean of the carpets, the carpet is still the original carpet about 18 years old ..., the cleaner did work well, but hey it is not a miracle worker! the iron carpet burns are still there 😂

😆😆😆😆😆😆 no renovation is complete without a trip to Ikea for new storage!!!! and a new table top, the table top for cutting was slightly too big, just loosing 20cm makes a big difference plus the old table top was showing its age.

And of course new trolleys!!! I am quite enamoured of these wee Rashults, very practical.

New walls and ceilings looking good!

Oh my giddy aunt!!! this wee picture sparked much comment on Instagram. I have had this name platge since I was about 8, it was such a treasured childhood posession. Many many people commented they had/still have one or couldnt get one because their name wasnt an option, so much strength of feeling about this one wee picture.

The panda enclave was one of the first things to go back up 🐼

New cutting table, still a great sixe but give me more floor space

Oh SQUEEEEEE I love a flat pack!

Also bought in Ikea, new light bulbs!!! the one for the sewing room is 1.5k lumens, thats 1k lumens brighter and oh my what a difference!!! I have been able to get rid of the side light which sat on the sewing table, dont need it any more, that in turn frees up a socket which in turn means I can get rid of an extension cable!!! win win all round.

Before

After

OK some of the flat packing was a challenge 😂but we got there! I love using a hammer or tools, first husband was a technical teacher and I was only ever allowed to clean brushes or hoover up after any DIY, not any more!

So! I wanted a less higgldy piggldy look for the storage, previously there was a mnix of repurposed book cases and cupobards. I love Kallax so got one more of those and determined to fit everything in it .... 

Thankfully the baskets I made for the Liberty fabric fit in the kallax perfectly - phew!

Oh my wee rashult! only problem is I now think I should have bought 2 😂

When putting things back everything had to "earn" its place, no room for overstuffing in this new room!

But this jar does not need to earn anything, this is Buds gravy bone jar 💗this will always be here

but now it holds the christmas decorations!

Painting the room was hard work but not as hard as deciding what should and shouldnt come back in and where it should go. I used my tried and trusted method of "chucking everything on the floor and seeing what happens!" 😂

Aww my Branble graphics Doric stickers!

Now this was a lovely wedding present, its been holding pincushions for many years but now I want to let those go. Time for something new! 

It now houses my Michael Miller cross stitch cushions.

Working with students was a great priviledge and one I adored. This cup was a gift from one, I love it

It houses "useful stuff" and is by my chair

Right! next up is the pictures! I know exactly which ones are to go up, just need to get the placement right.

Next up the minis! Maybe not as much ceremony as they would have liked but hey we were on the final stretch I was knackered!

And that is a wrap!!! For now anyway. This was a hugely emotional experience, doing this made me feel I was really really retired now, this was the last step in bedding in I think and one I was only able to do now. I let go of many many things which have comforted me over the years, through work and through ill health, I dont need them now. They were hugged and thanked for their service and carefully put away to rest.