We’re back again with this year’s edition of the Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop, put together by my friend Cheryl Sleboda of muppin.com and sewmuchcosplay.com. Cheryl chose me to lead off the group this year, on April Fools Day, because I’m usually the person who seldom has a messy studio!
This is my sixth year joining in the Spring Clean and usually I show off something that I needed to sort out, along with lots of organizational tips. If you plan to use some of your safe shelter time doing a little spring cleaning, check out the prior years posts (go here for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019) as I cover organizing lots of different stuff!
And so to this year! This is how my studio looked last time I showed it to you – take note of the fabric storage drawers on the left:
I’ve had those drawers for about 20 years! They’ve made a couple of cross country moves with me, and have lived in SIX different studios. I like them, but the bottom drawers have always been really hard to pull out because of the weight of the units on top. So last October I decided to change it up for something where the bottom drawer would be easily accessible, and I bought this system from IKEA:
As it happens, the fabric moved from one system to the other pretty much one drawer to one drawer. However, the old drawers were taller, and thus the fabric was sticking up in the new baskets. This made it catch on the basket above, and made pulling the drawers out hard. Again! SHEESH.
So I decided to take each drawer and refold the contents, and also do a cull while I was at it. In my studio, have a rule that if I have more fabric than I do space, I let go of fabric – I don’t add more drawers or baskets! I find that well organized fabric generally needs less space, so I also did a bit of color organizing too.
This was the end result in the ORANGE drawers:
And now all the drawers are moving freely!
This is what the wall looks like now, and yes, I culled out all the fabric on top of the drawers. I’m selling it in my shop at de-stash prices of $5-$6 a yard – over 60 bundles so take a peek!
Here’s the entire studio with the new storage after the spring clean – I love how much lighter it feels! It will feel even better once I have all the fabric on top sent to new homes!
Please follow the rest of the blog hop here:
April 1 – Sam Hunter – https://huntersdesignstudio.com/blog <<<—- YOU ARE HERE!
April 2 – Marian Pena – http://www.seamstobesew.com
April 3 – Jennifer Fulton – http://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions
April 4 – Martha Wolf – http://Www.pinwheelprodns.com
April 5 – Jennifer Strauser – http://www.dizzyquilter.com
April 6 – Steph Carton – http://www.theelimonster.com/blog
April 7 – Simone Fisher – http://www.simonequilts.com/blog
April 8 – Kate Colleran – http://www.seamslikeadream.com
April 9 – Carlina Moore – http://www.alwaysexpectmoore.com
April 10 – Jen Frost – http://www.faithandfabricdesign.com/blog
April 11 – Leanne Parsons – http://www.devotedquilter.com
April 12 – Becca Fenstermaker – http://www.prettypiney.com/blog
April 13 – Sarah Myers – http://www.quilted-diary.com
April 14 – Mitzi Redd – http://www.reddhomestead.com
April 15 – Jeanette Larson – http://www.Jenonthefarm.com
April 16 – Camille Ainsworth – http://www.stitchinthenw.com
April 17 – Becky Philips Jorgenson – http://www.patchworkposse.com
April 18 – Bobbie Gentili – http://www.geekybobbin.com/category/blog
April 19 – Janellea Macbeth – http://www.janelleamacbeth.com/blog/
April 20 – Lisa Ruble – http://lovetocolormyworld.blogspot.com
April 21 – Debra Davis – http://www.tuning-my-heart.com/blog
April 22 – Rona Herman – http://www.Ronatheribbiter.com
April 23 – Sue Griffiths – http://www.duckcreekmountainquilting.com
April 24 – Sarah Ruiz- http://www.saroy.net/
April 25 – Jessica Caldwell – http://www.desertbloomquilting.com/
April 26 – Tammy Silvers – http://tamarinis.typepad.com
April 27 – Ebony Love – http://www.lovebugstudios.com/blog
April 28 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com
Love that design wall Sam… I use bins for my fabric also and like to keep my fabric in the bins just to keep it better organized. I use to have the fabric out just on the shelf, but I found that difficult because of pulling a fabric you wanted from the bottom, with a drawer it’s just easier to pull the fabric you want out of the drawer. 🙂
I love that wall too!
This Hop couldn’t have come at a better time! The contractors just finished their part of my new studio YESTERDAY! Now to figure out what goes where.
OOOH! I’d be so excited to fuss my stuff into a new space – best of luck!
I love your design wall! My sewing area is in our basement/family room so my ‘design wall’ is three movable boards made from foam insulation boards and batting. They work for me but when I’m working on something big, it ends up on the ‘design floor’ where my cat likes to help. 🙂
My prior studios always had big movable boards… but they were too tall for this space, sadly. So I built a permanent one! I still have the portable in the back of a closet… one day I’ll have high ceilings again!
Wow you do have a clean studio! Love how neatly that fabric sits in your drawers. Maybe I need to think about doing that. I have so much though I’m afraid it wouldn’t fit!
I hear you! One of the things I enjoy about doing this is that I get to re-remember cool things that were lurking in there 🙂
Hi Sam. I like your table arrangement in the middle of the room. I don’t have room for a big (and expensive) sewing machine cabinet, so I’m curious about the small table that your sewing machine is on. Could you let us know more about it, for instance the brand and model? Thanks!
Hi Mary – It’s a Janome table – it weights about 60lbs, so it’s really stable with bigger/faster machines in it. It uses standard machine inserts, so my guess is that you might be able to use it for other type of Machines.
Nice! I have a Janome 8200 so it looks like just the thing I need. Thanks Sam!
Cool – you’ll love it – spendy buy really, really STURDY. Way better than a lot of the portable tables like Sew-Ezi
Oh, I wish I seldom had a messy studio! I do like the IKEA drawers and how lovely they look with all those beautiful fabrics. They really freshen up that space. I did do a fabric cleanse at the beginning of the year, you are right, sometimes it really is time to say goodbye. I noticed tooo the lights on your ceiling. We installed what looks to be identical in our garage this year and wow! what a difference. I need to consider them for my studio space instead of all the lamps scattered around to make up for poor ceiling light. It has been a delight to visit your studio. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure! I bought the lights from Costco – they daisy-chain, and it’s possible to turn them on and off separately! I find the older I get the more light I seem to need!!
I love your space, Sam! Your fabric looks wonderfully organized and inspiring 🙂
thank you!
Gorgeous bin organization!
thank you!
Drawers are my favorite way to store fabric. I have the same problem with bottom plastic drawers. But I hesitate to use mesh drawers for fear of dust and fading. But maybe it’s not an issue because you use up your fabric faster than I do?
I’m not sure I do… I sew a LOT specifically for fabric manufacturers, so my stash can be quite neglected. These baskets aren’t in direct sun tho, and it did occur to me that I could tuck a piece of muslin across the top of each basket if I was concerned about dust or sun damage.
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