Studio Organizing Idea

Hello, my friends!  I just wanted to show you how I organized my t-shirt stash.  I used one of those wire cube shelf things that I got at Target.  I ended up wiring the pieces together - that way it won't come apart on me when I pull out a shirt.  Then I folded the t-shirts in half crosswise, put the sleeves inward and then rolled them up tightly.   I put the shelving on a garage sale coffee table in order to increase the storage.  I plan to put baskets of scraps underneath.  


The colors look so pretty, I hate to use them now.  But this way I can see everything without rummaging through boxes.  It's easy to pull one out without disturbing the others.  

Here is the room in my studio cottage that I have the t-shirts.
Isn't that little handmade built-in cabinet great?

Here are all the t-shirts - aren't they pretty?
The icky shag carpet has to go - that's the plan! 

What creative idea have you come up with for organizing your stash and tools?  

Getting Started at Mary Zoom's Cottage

Well, today I started on the front bedroom of Mary Zoom's cottage.  This is where I will have my sewing room.  I am really excited to have a space all my own that is not in the basement. It is a nice big room with windows, and there are 12 foot ceilings!  The first thing I did was pull up the icky carpet, which will lead to the next step of sanding the wood floors to get rid of the stuck-on carpet pad.  It will be a lot of hard work but will be worth it!

Here is the floor without the carpet.  In the background you can see what it used to look like.  You should have seen me all covered in black dried-out carpet pad dust!

Here is a picture of the door and the closet.  The woodwork doesn't look too bad through the eye of the camera, but close up it's pretty rough.  I'm wondering if I should paint it white?  My favorite white is called "Atrium White" from Benjamin Moore.  It would definitely brighten the room.

Look at the beautiful hinges!

This is the north window.

This is the east window.  It looks out over the front porch.  I'm thinking of putting my sewing machine in front of this window.  That way I can watch the world go by while I'm sitting and sewing.  Also, it is the PERFECT window for african violets.  

Mary Zoom's Cottage

Well, we did it - we bought the little house next door to our house.  We call it our "Southern Home" because it is next door just to the south.  Our Southern Home was built in 1910 and is the oldest home in our part of town. The house we live in was built in the 1930s, and there are many homes that were built as recently as the 1950s. It is quite an eclectic neighborhood.


We plan to dust our Southern Home off and restore her to her former turn-of-the century simple glory.  After that, I will move my Mary Zoom studio next door and once again this wonderful house will be filled with laughter and sunshine.


Here are some "before" pictures:

Here she is - our Southern Home.  Isn't she beautiful?

This is the original chicken coop in the back yard - Don't you think it will make a great garden shed?

This is a detail of the woodwork on the front door.

Here is the kitchen - I have lot's of ideas for this room!

The bathroom leaves a lot to be desired, doesn't it?

This is a view into the little bedroom.  Don't you love the original finish on the woodwork?

It's like that throughout the entire house.