Okay, here we go!
I've asked the question before — why, in a house with over 5000 square feet of living space, do I find myself in that little place off the kitchen…
All I can say is, I really love it.
{We're going to go through clockwise, starting on the left there as you go in. Imagine me standing in there and turning from the left to the right, talking your ear off about my junk.
The above picture uses a wide angle to get the whole thing (mostly), which makes it seem big. Click for the vintage ironing board re-do.
Also, that floor is not mirror shiny, as this shot would have you believe. No, not at all.}
On the last housekeeping post, commenter Jamie made the point that wanting things to be pretty isn't a bad thing! And that housekeeping is most fulfilling if you think of it as a means of providing prettiness in everyday life!
And that is so true. That's what I've tried to do here, in my own way. Some little things the kids have made…my beloved enamel pots and pans…some holy cards…
Okay, below we have a “before.”
Not a real before, however.
When we moved in, blogging wasn't really a thing, so I never thought to record the mold-covered walls (from a leak above), the huge dumb cabinets (some of which I did repurpose in the mudroom above the washer and dryer), and the awkward door that closed off all that unusable, ugly space.
We pulled all that out, took down the door, fixed the wall, and painted with whatever paint was lying around at the time. But that white is too gray.
Beware of white paint that has gray in it. Just don't go there if you want to be happy and feel warm.
The white wire shelving system to the right of the desk was a yard sale find — $7. It's a tad broken, but it works.
See the stool lurking there? See the 80s teak desk? Don't forget to see the furniture redo.
I now have that white folding table — see it under the window? — in the den.
As you can see, I used to have my computer in the pantry. (Along with the food and the ironing…do you think I'm nuts to do all that in this little room? I sort of am!) I kept the sewing machine tucked in there (see, on the right?) and brought it to the kitchen or dining table to sew.
It made sense — having the computer at hand –I do not think that the computer should be out of your sight once the kids start using it.
But let me tell you something.
I.
Was.
Cold.
Yeah, no heat. Nice in summer, freezing every other time. Especially because there's something about working at the computer that makes your right arm numb in the best of times, do you know what I mean? (I'm never that cold while sewing…)
But even with the ugly floor and the ugly paint job, I just did my best! If you want a little tour — you know, if this isn't already much more than you ever wanted to know and you aren't off to do something exciting like clean your tile grout, check out my clementine box hack video!
Because the computer needed to be close to the outlet, there was nowhere to put the food shelves other than to the right as you go in, which loses space in the corner.
Finally the Chief had it with me being frozen nigh unto death. He said enough to the numb limbs and made me move into the den where there is heat.
At the same time, I thought and thought about where to have a little crafting space…
It all came together when we redid the kitchen floor (also, my mother was praying for me to get a craft room, which was very nice of her).
The Chief, who was understandably worried about the expense and disruption of the floor renovation (to us, an almost insurmountable nightmare), tried to convince me not to do the pantry at the same time.
Can you imagine?
Like what.
People who hate remodeling so much that they live with ugly things for multiple years are going to have the guy come out twice? And he's going to come back to do 77 square feet?
I don't think so.
I also re-painted while my sweet husband was on a rare business trip. He didn't want me to re-paint in here! Because it's too disruptive! When everything is already out of there because of the floor!
He's crazy.
I just did it real fast and he hardly noticed!
Again, I used the paint lying around, but this time I mixed white and yellow (good quality, too), and got something lighter than the kitchen but still warm and tidy.
Okay, enough blather. On to the clockwise part.
Here on the left we have the wooden shelves. Cookbooks, fabric, buttons and ribbons, and sewing notions (the red bucket holds ironing supplies and the plaid tin below holds un-aesthetic necessaries such as elastic, velcro, and seam binding). Crafting sundries in those baskets….
The poster is of The France, a large luxury liner that I actually went on from New York to Le Havre as a 14-year old, the year my father sabbaticaled in Belgium. I found this in a shop, very much marked down, and had to have it, but it's got a heavy poly laminate on it and I have no idea how to hang it. Well, I could make a little shelf for it, that would work.
But it's not high on the list to hang it, because it sits right there, only falling down behind the bookcase every once in a while.
I made that extra-large grocery-bag holder out of a skirt I once had, which I loved.
In this basket you will find paper towels and napkins, as well as old kitchen towels for mopping up spills.
Now, moving to the back of the pantry…you can see that those shelves fit in perfectly under that dumb useless soffit thing.
Wait! Not true! It has a use! It funnels the frigid air in from outside. It used to be a vent of some sort. One day as I was huddled, clothed in multiple layers, at the desk, checking my email, I realized that torrents of freezing air were pouring down upon me. So my dear husband plugged it all up. Still.
{Go read about how to hack your clementine boxes!! See them there? I've updated my instructions to include using the front panel that you take off to make a support for the exposed bottom.}
Here you have the window, which is a blessing, don't you think? I even cleaned the window!
{We actually do need those lanterns…the power goes out quite a bit in these parts. Maybe I'll find a place for them in the mudroom at some point….}
Most of my house has no nooks and crannies. Just wide open high-ceilinged spaces…so I never have a place to tuck little things for display. They end up here!
Rosie loves any kind of paper craft, and one Thanksgiving she made those little origami boxes to hold place cards for the whole extended family.
Everyone forgot to take theirs home! After doing that thing where I had them in a basket, shifting them around the craft closet for quite a while, I got the idea to string them in a sort of colorful garland.
And the banner was from Joseph for a long-ago birthday…maybe he was 11? How sweet is that? It was meant to be a flag, hence the staples on the left 😉
The rest of my house is so big, with such demanding spaces, that there is not much scope (or perhaps too much intimidating scope) for this kind of frivolous exhibition. I find it safe to throw things up here.
Couldn't resist this metal aqua storage shelf at our local antiques (really, junk) shop.
Too bad the only place to put it (under the window) means it's not visible unless you're well into the pantry.
With our back to the window, let's look back at the wooden shelves, okay? I moved the ironing board out of the way 😉
Okay, turning back, I'm not absolutely sure what to do with that big basket of yarn…
So, do you want to see more? Who doesn't want an interminable tour of a tiny room!
We are now on the right wall of the pantry as you go in.
Remember, it has taken me 30 years to get to this point, the point of “not as good as a lot of the pictures that inspired me in the first place,” but good enough for me to feel creative, peaceful, and not in a constant state of annoyance at not having space to work. I bet you could be much faster!
I love a sewing machine, I realized, because it doesn't need to pre-heat, and you don't have to do anything other than toggle that little switch! You just turn it on and go! You can take three stitches and walk away from it if you need to. Nothing will burn…what you're working on will just sit there until the next time.
Basically, my “sewing room” is a desk with my sewing machine on it, and some shelves for fabric and other crafting necessities.
But it looks like more than that, doesn't it?
I think it's because of putting things up on the walls.
The wooden hangers, embroidered linen towels, and many of the sewing notions — many many of them — come from my mother-in-law's vast stash, which I inherited after her passing. Some of them are so old that they are fun to look at. It's a pity to get rid of them or put them away!
The orange paper star is leftover from Rosie's wedding decorations.
I didn't “decorate” this, you see! It's just the stuff that I have already, and some other stuff I can't resist at yard sales or junk shops.
What do you have that you could put up? Or arrange in a pretty way? You could get started. It can evolve, right?
I keep some thread — upholstery, quilting, and silk — out in those little cubbies, but the rest in the plastic box under the top of the desk on the right. In the last post I said that thread kept out will deteriorate (if it works for you, then by all means, ignore me!) — and I had wanted those pretty spool holders….
The yard-sale shelf is now in the corner, a position more felicitous as to space usage. It holds more fabric, paper, and mailing supplies.
And piles of stuff on top.
(I'm going to make candles, but first I have to find a pot at a yard sale to melt the wax. I'm not paying $17 at Michael's for a dumb pot!)
I like to clothes-pin things to my shelf…
…if they inspire me!
Now we're inside looking back out towards the kitchen. At some point, long ago, the door on this wall — on the left there — led outside. But now it's quite blocked off, so I just keep adding coats of paint to it! As I told you in my nailing the broom to the wall post, we are the kind of people who just paint over a bitten up piece of molding, I guess.
One must have one's broom and one's air gun handy. Dirt and squirrels…the enemies!
Contrary to what you might think, I do have a place to hang the ironing board out of the way. I can tuck it right there, between the wire shelf and the wall!
I rarely do, though…
Since taking these pictures, I found a cute vintage red clock to replace that chrome one (which I got for free somewhere). It had just stopped keeping time!
Since the cord is so short, I had to move things a bit, and in the process, found a place for this darling little drawing that has been sitting around, forlorn, because it's too small for anywhere else.
And that's it! I really think that's it for the pantry!
But if I think of anything else, I'll let you know!
carla says
What a nice work room! And I especially like the personal things like the handmade flag, the vintage ironing board, the sewing table and the wood shelves on the ironing table.I'm hoping to get my sewing/ironing/craft room back soon. It's an extra bedroom but my husband and I decided that we don't have enough overnight company to warrant 2 guest bedrooms.My dream room is a screened dining porch with rocking chairs and a daybed for afternoon naps.This was my first visit. You have a lovely blog.
sarahovertherainbow. says
"Dirt and squirrels are the enemy"Love it! Thanks for sharing your room, I like all your vintage crafting / sewing apparati.
The Kampers says
oh, I just know I would feel so very much at home in your house! So many things remind me of my mom and I see similar things in my house! What a snug, special little space! I love to use what we have and run with it! Thanks for the tour!
Wendy in VA says
Oh! I. love. it. I could sit in there for an hour, at least, just looking at everything.
Pippajo says
So, do you make house calls?You've given me some ideas for reorganizing my pantry and the large shelves in my laundry room.But that will all have to wait until after our Non-Vacation.
Jodi says
So cheerful, thanks for sharing!
Margaret Perry says
I love the tea towels on the old hangers. S and I should do that! 🙂
becomewhatyouare says
big baskets of yarn are meant to be seen! leave it there. it's lovely. thanks for the tour!
Leila says
Thanks, all! Pippajo, you know I'd be there in a minute! Make it pretty! Make it so you enjoy it!bwya: but…it's in the way 😉
Gardenia says
I love posts like this, where the hostess takes us through every square foot (inch?) of a room. Especialy THIS room. It gives us a glimpse into the inhabitant (you). love your display of handmade love drawings by children and family and your Our Lady cards, an St. Therese artwork. Just so beautiful. I imagine you spent many happy hours in there, smiling.
Anonymous says
What fun! But what I really like most is your encouragement that it won't take me 30 years to have a space that is decorated the way I like it.Thanks for leading our tour.Mom in MO
seashoreknits says
Oh dear, I do love posts like this one. Sharing one's crafting room is just the best – I feel like a friend with such a privilege. Love everything, Leila! The sweet embroidered towels hanging from the vintage hangers, the hamper on the floor, and St. Therese (I assume?) smiling at you as you sew. I have a small San Damiano crucifix nailed right above my sewing machine. It reminds me of what a professional sewer once told me (a man, by the way): "Never start your machine without saying a prayer asking God to bless your sewing". So no matter how humble a task, I do. Bless your new craft room!! Happy sewing and knitting and crafting-in-general!Teresa
MomCO3 says
Thanks for inviting me over! Come for a cup of tea and see my craftaster sometime. =) You'd be very welcome.
Amy E says
I love that you have not it fact decorated, but instead lived in this room. Oh and thank goodness your husband took a business trip.
messy bessy says
What a great tour. Better, in fact, than the in-person kind, since I can spend as long as I want just inspecting! Today I was at a lovely lady's home in which she has an entire room for homeschooling — it's awesome, and I didn't have nearly enough time to soak in all the interesting shelves, baskets, maps, charts, tools, etc.I do love this post.
Freckled Hen says
I feel like I spent the afternoon with you! You have so many wonderful ideas. I love the little handmade touches from your kids, they make the room such a friendly place. And your fabric is folded so nice and square. I could go on and on, you are the best at show and tell. If your house is 5000sq feet and you showed us 77 today that means there is 4923 sq feet left. Hooray!
Karen says
I love your craft room. You've inspired me to take a second look at my oversized laundry room. Something tells me I could have a nice craft space if I don't mind being chilly in the winter.
christine says
thanks. i love looking into people's room. especially happy yellow crafting rooms. thank goodness for (even the rare) business trip. i've only been married 10 years…my friends and i joke that i was the original "while you were out" – that TLC redecorating show.
Leila says
Thanks, all of you!Karen — I do find that somehow when I'm sewing I'm moving around and I stay warmer, and I can't remember what I did last winter, but I know I do have a space heater if I need it. But it would make the computer crash, so I couldn't use it back then!And, I don't know where your laundry room is, but I will say that I'm better at sticking with my projects b/c this room is close by all the activity! If it were upstairs (and believe me, there is plenty of room up there), I would never go.As to the business trip, Christine and Amy, never fear, I would have done it even if he had been home, but it was just easier with him gone, although I HATE it when he goes! Usually. 😉
50s Housewife says
I really love all the pictures you showed us and how you have everything displayed! It's so creative and cozy, yet functional.
Sue says
Wonderful! Your little space reflects your personality (at least the part of it I know from reading your blog) – creative, clean and tidy, yet whimsical.
Anonymous says
Perfect timing! We're just moving into a house with a real laundry ROOM. I'm planning on a lot of crafting going on in there, and your posts are always so inspirational. Even those posts about crowded little pantries! Loving you new clock–it's much more "you." :)Birdy
Kris says
Don't you love Carl Larssen? (picture clothes- pinned on your wire baskets) I could stare at his work all day long! I wish I had a little Swedish blood in me, they seem to know how to achieve simple beauty without trying. 😉
Woman of the House says
Very inviting room! Thanks for showing us! My sewing area is waaaaaay up in our finished attic (third floor), and I do feel isolated sometimes.
Anonymous says
I loved the tour, Leila. Cozy spots like your craft room are so nice. I've been inspired by your posts lately and now that our home school is off for the summer, I intend to, room by room, make our nest especially nice and organize so I can keep it "reasonably clean". Your advice reminds me of my mother's motto: "Clean enough to be healthy; dirty enough to be happy." 🙂 One of these days I want to make a picture for the wall with that motto. It has given me balance over the years.BTW, I keep my pretty basket of yarn by my chair in the living room. It is cheerful and bright and I keep one current project on the top so I can reach down when I have the opportunity to sit for five minutes and work a couple of rows.Thank you for sharing your home with us.Joy
Andrea says
Soo beautiful! My dream room. I've long for a craft room and the kitchen supplies look so beautifuly arranged. i could be standing just looking at it for hours and imagine how to make mine. It's hard when you're constantly moving but I hope sometime I'll settle down and have my own space.
just hannah p says
I love it! About the candles… a coffee can in a regular pot of steamy water works very well for dipping candles, and you don't have to own more pots.
Leila says
I want to talk to each one of you! ;)Kris — I DO love Carl Larsson, and find a lot of inspiration from his books. I too would like to be Swedish (also Scottish). But Egyptian-Irish will have to do.Hannah — Thanks for the idea! I'm not planning on dipping right now, but making votive sized candles (we seem to use a lot of those, as well as tapers). So I kind of think something with a spout would be good, don't you? Maybe I can bend a coffee can…
Melanie B says
Oh I love it, I love it, I love it.You make me want to tackle my pantry/sewing room as soon as I get home. (We're visiting my mother-in-law in Maine.) My sewing table has become a dumping ground and I am very unhappy with our shelving situation in there. But maybe I can make some progress with what we have on hand…. I wish I had your knack for finding junk to repurpose.
JoAnna says
Love the space! Can you tell me anything about the floor – I really like it and have been looking to put in wood floors.
Leila says
JoAnna, the floor is white pine, and it's soft. It has the virtue of being CHEAP. And the dents and scratches go with our aesthetic, which is very "make-do"!We chose it because we had not a penny to spare and anything was better than what was there before. At least in the pantry the old dirt-colored vinyl was intact. But in the kitchen it was breaking up…If you can get heart pine or hardwood, do!
Jane says
I do love your sewing room/pantry! We moved into this house, on a street that I first drove down 25 years ago and loved from that moment on, two years ago. For the first time in our 30 years of marriage, there was a spare room for me to have a sewing room. I was so excited! I didn't "decorate", I just filled it with things that are dear to me, and it became a blessing of a place to be. There's the odd long table that fills most of it that used to be a bartop in a local breakfast restaurant until remodeling, that my son cut down to the perfect height for a worktable for me, the wall shelf that another son made for me years ago that held all the large spice containers in another house, that now holds ironing things like my sprinkler bottle and tailor's ham over my ironing board, the little wooden box that my dear father always had on his workbench that now holds my rotary cutter and spare blades near to hand, the corner cupboard that we'd had forever but no corners anywhere else in this house for it, but it holds my quilting fabric beautifully… what bliss it is to spend time in that room surrounded by so many bits of my life.An idea for the lovely yarn basket – can it be hung somehow from a hook somewhere? I have a few baskets with items in them hanging from some pre-existing ceiling hooks in our laundry room. I love this blog, thank you for it!
Lynn B says
I'm in love! Pitter, patter…
Leila says
By the way, Melanie, the shelves in there (other than the white wire one)are boughten. The wire shelves are from BJs — I got them right at the very end of my industrial phase and right before my whole-hearted vintage one ;)They are very sturdy and useful. I particularly appreciate that they have wheels.There is something in me that doesn't like things heavy and immobile. I like built-in, but a big huge piece of furniture, piled with stuff, that you can't move out easily…not my favorite.The wooden shelves are from Ames (I don't think there's Ames anymore). They were cheap, you put them together yourself, and my mother was their best customer 😉 She has many…I just painted them at some point with, you guessed it, leftover paint. They are very lightweight and you aren't even supposed to put anything on the top shelf. (I guess they could topple over easily.)Sometime I'll do a post on thrifting and re-purposing, but here's one thing: decide what you need and then become obsessive about looking at stuff at yard sales and even on the side of the road on trash day with that in mind. Trash day in the city (or near suburbs) is treasure day!!Jane, sounds like you have a beautiful, memory-filled room! And I think I need a shelf up on brackets in the corner above the wire shelving… I really do…and a hook of some kind, you're right…
Anonymous says
Thank you for this peek into your lovely and very authentic home. When I look at your craft room, I think how much fun it must be for your children to live in a home filled with so many little things to inspire creativity, and a place where things don't have to be perfect to be on display. You have certainly inspired me!
Livin' in the S says
Thank you for the little tour. Your creative space is just so cute and it looks like you have made the most of your storage space. I may try to copy some of what you have done. I am really enjoying your blog. Thanks!
Anonymous says
Auntie Leila,I laughed several times as I read this…especially the parts about the man not returning for 77 square feet, (so you hustled to paint) and seeing the picture of the broom hung on the wall with the airgun. Funny! And as a Mum to five little people including one baby I ought to be sleeping instead of reading…so, that is a compliment!Thank you for sharing your humour and life,Sincerely,Donna
Connie says
I have a son getting married the middle of August. He has a nice bedroom in the basement. I'm going to take it over for my sewing/work room! I'm so excited. You have inspired me with your beautiful room! Glad I came over for a look-see!
alecat says
I've come via Down to Earth … Thank you for the tour! :)A sewing room is on my wishlist. At the moment I have a few shelves full of sewing things, plus some boxes, and the machine comes out to the dining table when needed .. which (as you can imagine) is annoying when you're mid-project and need to constantly pack up for meal time.So, I'm very inspired! THANKS!!!!
reformedcynic says
Thanks for posting this – it's quite an inspiration to me. I currently live in a 283.5 sq ft studio on Beacon Hill in Boston (yes, I carefully measured and guesstimated!) and love to see the efficient use of space, especially spaces used for .1 purpose, as in your case! Thanks for the inspiration and ideas!
thesewallsblog.com says
I love it! The craft room, the detailed tour — all of it! And I have to note that I have almost the exact basket you do — the one you store your napkins, etc. in. Mine is actually pictured in one of my {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts. It's in my own "craft" room, which is really more of a junk room than anything else! I absolutely love it (the basket). I got mine in an antique store in Annapolis.
Christina A says
What a charming room! I think I see Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan on your cookbook shelf? My SIL gave that to me for Christmas on year. The Cranberry Upside-Downer and Bill’s Big Carror Cake are fabulous. Her recipe writing style is so motherly and warm; love it!