Just last night I was chatting online with another embroiderer who has named her machines. I commented I haven't done that yet, but I am sure I will eventually. What I forgot all about was that I may not have named my machines yet but I have named my work room. Today I'd like to welcome you to "My Happy Place"!
My embroidery room (the Happy Place) is located upstairs and is actually considered one of three bedrooms upstairs. We have a four bedroom home with the Master downstairs. As small as this room is it has actually served as a bedroom when the kids were small so the largest room upstairs could be the their playroom. That was great for a few years and then it got left behind as the boys grew and decided to claim the larger rooms their bedrooms because they didn't want a playroom anymore. I have used this room as a craft room for some years, but it's always been kind of a cast off place for unwanted furniture and very unorganized. I tried to cozy it up several years ago when I sold jewelry, some of you may remember that. But never have I had it so put together that I totally enjoy spending time up here as I do now. I cannot say enough how much I enjoy this space!
In the overall scheme of posh and pretty rooms this one will not make the mark by far. But I have been able to set up my room so that its so functional and so calming to my soul. It's funny how you can sometimes wrestle with that for years with a space isn't it? One of the things I am most proud of about this room is that I pulled it altogether on a very low budget. The biggest expenses in this room are my machines, computer and supplies and that's the way I hope to keep it. I scoured thrift store after thrift store to find extra items to make my workroom function well. So enough foreshadowing already, let's take a look!
After walking into the room along the longest wall I set up my hooping station. This is where all thre prep work goes on before the items go on the machine. The hoops hang on the pegboard when not in use. I hope to add several different sizes of hoops here eventually so thats why it kinda looks bare now.
This folding counter has been in our garage for so many years. We actually used it to store the cat food inside. My husband emptied it out and was about to take it to the dump when I stopped him and begged to let me take it upstairs. It was in such a state that he didn't want it in the house. I told let me do my magic and then you decide. So I washed and scoured it clean then sanded it down, repainted it, added new knobs (actually old knobs we had around the house) and let's just say he had to eat his words. He liked it so much he tried to claim it for his workshop...Not happening ladies! LOL!
And because I wanted a girly girly room I had to add a little scented wax melter pot. Oh, it's sets me in such a good mood!
This small cabinet I've had for awhile now. It holds wrapping paper, gifts bags, wrapping ribbon and now also serves as a stand for my small ironing board. I found both the ironing board and the iron at our local thrift store for a whopping total of $4.00, at $2.00 a piece. Seriously, I was so thrilled because I quickly realized I did not enjoy running up and down the stairs to where I keep my big ironing board and iron to do the ironing I need to do with the embroidery. That was a big issue.
Further into the room is my new computer. I knew I would need a computer for my software but I hadn't planned on getting one quite so soon. I had an old laptop that had crashed years ago and my son revived it for me. I was using that but it took forever to load and was struggling to keep up. So my husband surprised me and said let's get you a new one. Whoohoo! He wanted me to get another laptop but I already have a chromebook I use for surfing the net so I didn't want that. I wanted something that would sit here and stay here. This is command central. A few weeks ago I decided I needed a computer chair and found this one at another thrift store. I paid $6.00 for it. They actually had several to choose from. This one was in great shape no tears, stains or problems that I could see, and smelled fine, I did clean the upholstery after getting it home and the best thing about it is that is super comfortable.
Next to the computer on the bookshelves is my old Singer sewing machine. I even have it plugged in and the presser foot right in front of the shelves so I can use it for straight stitching if I need too.
The shelves below may look like a mess to you but I really do have a system set up here.
Wrapping the corner of this wall is my large green desk where all the magic happens. We inherited this desk from my FIL years ago and I have been in love with it ever since. The lime green is the original color and there is a matching chair. I don't use it in here because it's not quite as comfortable as this brown chair (another inherited chair from my FIL) and I like the way this chair glides across the carpet.
Currently I have decided to use several flip lidded boxes to house my threads. These are my new threads I keep on the desk. I've started investing in better quality thread now that I know how much I enjoy embroidery and want to keep my machine in good shape. I have three long moulding plate shelves that I found for $1.00 each at the thrift store. I've already repainted them and was going to peg them out to use to hold my thread on the wall but I've kinda shyed away from that as I'm thinking I might want to keep the threads covered from dust. We shall see though.
Of course I had to decorate the space behind my machine ya know. I found these frames at the thrift store, yep, really and stitched out the designs myself. They are cute little sewing and scissors designs with embroidery words all around the background.
In the small little dormer nook are a few more functionary items.
We finally finished up this easy conversion of a shoe rack to a ribbon holder. I had previously used this for wrapping paper, that was a mess because it kept falling off. I saw something similar to this on pinterest on something else. I knew it would be perfect for this. Now I just need some more cute ribbon right?
The dollar tree really came through for me this year with these adorable mix of storage baskets in a color that I just couldn't resist.
I was storing my rolls of ribbons in this holder and my paints in a box. One day I also saw something similar to this on Pinterest with the paint bottoms showing the colors and suddenly it clicked. Sometimes you just need to see how to reuse what you already have.
One of my other favorite spots in this room is this little corner. I have my rocker here next to these shelves that hold an assortment of doodad craft items and several of my books.
I even set up a special place for Maizey so she would know she is always welcome up here with me too. She doesn't use her bed too much though because she likes being upstairs with me but prefers one of the bedrooms that she can get on the bed to see out the window instead. Silly girl!
Last night I worked on this dishtowel and thought you might enjoy seeing this one. While this design is a common one, it's not really one that I bought. I have learned to use my software a little more now and created this by using different font's that I have and I pulled the spoon from another design that I did buy. I love what I am learning to do more and more everyday. It's so fun!
It is such a joy to be able to be home and to be blessed with a room to call my own to be creative in. If you are a creative person I can't stress this enough how gratifying it feels to your entire health. It's even more enjoyable now that it finally feels like me. I have a hard time getting other stuff done now because I just want to get back to my happy place all the time.
Well, that's the end of the tour my friends. I hope you liked it. Mostly, I hope you will also see that you don't have to spend a lot to make your space enjoyable either. You can do it, even on a budget!!!
I'm sharing this space with Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Hugs and Waves,
