Finished at last! Bar a few finishing touches.

No, not a new make. That would be too much to expect.

Rather, it’s my new ‘sunny’ happy sewing room. ‘Sunny’ in quote because it’s actually not a sunny room, being north-facing in gloomy London. But the colors are certainly cheerful. Reminds me of sunny Mexico or Mediterranean.

Here it is with my new Horn Eclipse cabinet all set up. Well, sort of. I’m still trying to figure out where to place the overlocker for a comfortable serging. And wondering if I can squeeze an embroidery machine in there somehow. Not that I have one yet. But one can always dream…

Here it is with the cabinet closed…

It’s a shame that with all the furniture in place, my back-breaking paint work is all but covered up. That’s like 10 layers of color-wash and varnishes on the walls and ceilings!

Here it is before the furniture all went back to their corners…

That lovely band of aqua color-wash is as inviting as a pool under the hot sun. Even if I don’t swim I still want to jump into it.

The woodwork have been glazed over with cream-tinted clear varnish to remedy my mistake of getting paint a shade too dark.

I’ve since found out from the experts that when you choose a medium to dark shade on a paint color stripe card, you should go with a shade lighter than the one that you think you want from the card. That’s because when you go from a small swatch to a big wall, the color intensifies and it will appear darker than the small swatch you chose from.

But I quite like the end result anyway. It reminds me of rustic glazed tiles. Damn, now I feel like a margarita!

And here’s a reminder of my inspiration for this cheery color scheme…

And here’s a reminder of what it looked like before…

Not the best picture, but you can still see the rather plain Jane Shaker color scheme. Most definitely time for a change!

OK, now I run out of excuse for not sewing.

Oh boy! A present. A Very Big Present!

Yeah! My Horn Eclipse sewing cabinet is here. Unfortunately my sewing room is not ready to welcome it.

Six coats of paint on the ceiling & four on the walls later and I’m still not finish with the decorating. My arm is not exactly happy either. Probably should have tested the colors & techniques first. But I just didn’t have the patience.

Bright but boring after coat 2:

Hmmm… Looking rather Lemony after coat 3:

Ceiling looking like a cheesy Italian restaurant after coat 6:

Then I ran out of glaze medium, so couldn’t finish the walls,
even if the arm were willing – which it wasn’t.

So the Eclipse is now waiting in the hallway:

Hopefully I’ll get the painting done this weekend. So no sewing for a while 🙁

All change in the sewing room

Nope, no sewing show & tell yet. But I’ve been replanning my sewing room.

I had originally wanted to move into a bigger place so I can leave sewing mess around like the Other Half does with his dirty laundry. But we’ve given up. London is just too expensive. And I’m frightened by news story about people going on holiday, or even visiting family for the weekend, and coming back to find their house broken into by squatters, their belongs strewn all over the garden. I can’t bear the thought of anyone doing that to my fabric piles.

So we’re making do with our small place and decent neighbours. And that means rejigging things around, and clawing more space from the Other Half.

The fabric piles have moved into the bigger bedroom. Sewing gadgets & books are staying put. I’ll need access to fabrics less frequently than gadgets at the rate I sew.

I’m also taking the opportunity to repaint the room. I got patches of test paint on the wall: white, white, & off-white. Tempting. Especially as the room doesn’t get strong sun-light. But too boring for a hopefully creative space.

So I’m debating between sticking with the same colour as now (top 2 Dulux paint chips: Coral Canyon 2 & Pharaohs Gold 1) or going crazy (bottom 2 Dulux paint chips: Moroccan Sands 1 & Grecian Spa 3).

I chose the latter. Sod resale value. I’ll only live once & I want my sewing space to be a happy space. So bright orange & turquoise it is then! 🙂

The inspiration came from this picture in my Paint Recipe Book:

Oh yes I am. I’m so sticking to my so 90’s paint effect tricks. Sod the modern trend for matt flat colours. I think in a small space like mine, matt flat colour is going to be too claustrophobic.

Maybe not quite as runny & ready-worn as the picture above, but a glaze of transparent colour over white I think will make the walls feel deeper, more interesting, jewel like.

My current colour is a 3 layer colour wash: cream base + yellow, peach, cream washes. It was inspired by this Shaker style decor from my Decorative Style book – yes, another paint effect book, this one by Kevin McCloud of Grand Design fame, who used to do theatre set designs.

And it can be used on ceilings for that sunny blue sky effect. Mmmm… Holidays!

That was inspired by this Grecian style decor from Decorative Style:

Back to sewing room…

I’ve also taken the plunge & ordered an ugly Horn sewing cabinet.

I’m hoping the medium oak colour will at least match the fake oak laminate flooring. In reality, I would like to paint both. But I’m not sure if you can paint either.

So my Eclipse should arrive in 3 weeks. Then my sewing machine & overlocker will both have a home to hide in.

What about you?

What does your sewing space look like? Is it a happy place full of engery? A calm & orderly place? Am I totally mad with my colour scheme?