The quest for the perfect studio space feels like a never ending journey for many creative people. We get a space we love, organize it, and for a while it’s perfect. Until we pickup a new skill and need space to store new things and the new things we’re making.
My first official sewing room was a 12×10 bedroom in my first house. I used my old dresser for storage and a 6ft. folding table to cut and sew on. At that time, I wasn’t sewing a lot so it was fine. Later on when I started making fascinators, feather clips, and other accessories, I needed more space so I moved my studio to the larger primary bedroom and I made a cozy little bedroom in the smaller room.
This worked great. I purchased two of the wire grid units which stored a lot of stuff. I had an old library bookcase unit that was gifted to me that stored notions, irons, books, etc. I added some Ikea tables for my sewing machine and serger which allowed me to have the 6ft folding table as a dedicated work space.
Three years ago, I moved into a new home that was a bit larger. I claimed the attic bonus room as the new home for my creative space. For the first time in my life, I painted a room white. I put in new carpet to match the other carpet in the house. For storage, I added IKEA Kallax units so I’d have as much storage as possible since I was losing the wire shelving units I had in my previous bedroom home studio – a converted primary bedroom.
The Long Pause
Every now and then, I’d walk upstairs and think, I really need to finish this. And then I’d walk back downstairs.
There’s something quietly heavy about unfinished creative spaces. They don’t demand attention, but they do carry weight. I always knew the potential was there. I just didn’t have the capacity or the immediate need to remedy it.
Until now.
Starting Clean
Few things excite me like the idea of creating a new brand. The potential for Olivia & Queen to include sewn products has given me the push I needed to get the studio together. I’ve also learned that I have way too much fabric going unused. I also have too many new, unused sewing patterns from the early 2000’s to now that I’ll most likely never use that I need to figure out what to do with.
My goal was to start 2026 with everything in it’s place. I’m 80% there so that’s progress, and progress is the goal. And for now, that’s enough.
