Technology has not been my friend this week. The web server for my blog has been down off and on for almost two days and on top of that I have somehow lost the charger for my camera battery (that’s how things go after a move.) I ordered a new charger which was supposed to have already arrived except it was mis-sorted and went to Pennsylvania instead, needless to say the delivery has been delayed. I’m hoping my I Phone photos will do for this week, but we’ll see. With all this calamity I’m running little behind on my posts for this week, most importantly my Thursday update for the One Room Challenge.
If you have been following along the last three weeks you know I’m participating in the One Room Challenge hosted by Linda of Calling It Home. Twice a year designers and bloggers are challenged to transform one spaces in just six short weeks. The full reveal will be November 12th with 20 featured designers and over 150 linking participants (that’s me.) This is week four of the challenge and I am working on updating my Studio/Sewing room which will also double as a guest room.
You may remember last week I was struggling with where to put my cutting table, it’s very large and heavy so it’s very hard to move. I sometimes need open floor space to layout large pieces of fabric when making curtains, for this it works best near the shelving. I also take a lot of photos using the light near the window so it works great on that side of the room for setting up small displays but needs to move out of the way if I’m photographing something bigger. Last week an amazing reader Carla made the ingenious suggestion of putting the table on wheels. Why didn’t I think of that?
The cutting table which is actually an Ikea VÄRDE island already had leveling feet so it was just a matter of removing the old feet and screwing in the locking casters I bought at Lowes for about $7.50 each. (If the bolt on the wheels does not match the size of the existing t-nut these can be removed and replace with a larger size by drilling out the hole and replacing the nut.)
With the new wheels the cutting table glides around the room like a dream! Thank you Carla!
My second task for week four was lighting. I know fluorescent lighting would give me the brightest light for the work space but I just couldn’t do it. Instead I opted for lots of different lighting sources.
I found this super cute daisy chandelier at a local antique shop for $89 and with a little work I got it working perfectly in this space. I even decided that since my cutting table could travel so could my lighting. I added a two different hooks so I can move the light as needed so no one hits their head when the table moves. Since the ceiling are low this is easily done without even needing a step-ladder.
Near my sewing machine I added an LED strip under my ledge shelf
By the serger one of my tiny West German Pottery lamps.
And for the side tables next to the sofa/bed I am using my old lamps from the living room. I think maybe I need to find a way to make them a little more fun like the two tone lamp on the right by Land of Nod, but for now at least we have light.
I still have lots left to do but things are definitely coming together.
If you want to check out the progress from the beginning have a look at Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3
Great idea to put the island on wheels! Thank goodness for comments and suggestions! The room sounds like it is coming together nicely 🙂 Love that lamp revamp idea too!
Love it! The chandelier is so perfect.
And I see “Vera” is framed! She looks great! Kiss my grits.
Love the chandelier! That was a great idea to put the table on wheels! Easy moving and so much space still available for big projects.