Sunday, August 29, 2010

Now you see it now you don't...

Today I'm joining Metamorphosis Monday with our lovely hostess, Susan from Between Naps on the Porch Thank you again Susan for inspiring such creativity and hosting this fun event! 

This is one of my favorite rooms in the house, its my sewing studio. This was formerly the original master suite when my husband and I built our home twenty years ago. Its at the back of the house, which is south facing. The room overlooks our property of beautiful Pacific Northwest Douglas Fir. It was always a lovely light filled space but believe it or not, almost too bright for a cozy bedroom. So one evening while sitting in my sewing room that was originally on the north side of the house, I had a thought and sketched out an idea...how about switching the two rooms, do a flip-flop. Make that bright, light filled room into my quilting studio and make the north facing room into the master suite! Great idea but Mr, La Bella Via wasn't going for a major remodel at this point in time.
It would mean changing the master bath around to accommodate the new suite...blah, blah, blah! After all, we had only been in the house a few short years, however he did agree to make the switch "someday".
Well..."someday" wasn't soon enough for me, so what was girl to do? I got out the sledge hammer and started the demo on my own! I thought I could just rip out the closet and make a new doorway into the bathroom...NOT!
I soon found out once you start ripping out walls and carpet you better just keep going! So...after my husband got over the initial shock of his wife ripping walls down, he buried the sledge hammer somewhere on the property and helped me finish what I started!
It took a few years but three new rooms later; my studio, our master suite and the new master bath (I'll do a post on that later) turned out perfect!

I knew in my mind what I wanted my sewing room to look like plus it had to be multifunctional. It was not only my studio but would have to double as an occasional guest room so this is what I came up with it...enjoy!

Most of the time my studio looks like this only messier!
For some reason today it was fairly tidy!
But that's not typical. I usually have fabric every where and bits of thread all over the floor...
you can certainly see why I HAD TO have this room for my studio! The sun just beams in here which makes it a really happy room to be in. 
Mr. La Bella Vie built the Cornice board valance and we upholstered it together with my main theme fabric called "Chatelaine" pictured here on my lamp shade.
 

This is looking at the opposite side of the room looking toward my little reading nook. Mr. La Bella Vie built everything in this room for me according to my very stringent specifications:) The shelving area at right displays part of my antique toy sewing machine collection.
The "Wall Words" caption was a Christmas gift from my husband although the phrase is mine:)
(click to enlarge)
below a close up of my Koala cutting table
 
below is just a few of my toy sewing machines. Someday I'll do another post on all of them as well as my pin cushion collection. Again, these are on display in the shelving unit Mr. La Bella Vie built.
 

 

One last peek at what this room normally looks like. 
This is my quilt rack with 1930 Double Wedding Ring quilt hanging on it. I found this vintage quilt on my first trip to the Houston International Quilt Festival ten minutes after walking in the door!
The quilt hanger my sweet Mr. La Bella Vie made for me our first Christmas together to hold one of my antique quilts. He used old door knobs out of an old house on the end of the pole.
The door knobs come off to remove the pole from the holder...
The quilt comes off, the little feet pop out
(see them under the rack?)
it glides down on whisper quiet hydraulics...
 to reveal...
 this...
 oh so clever...
 Murphy bed!

once again, the before...
where there was once a large sewing cabinet is now...
a beautiful guest room!
(Dresden Plate quilt c. 1925 on the bed)


Thank you again Susan for being a gracious hostess on another
Metamorphosis Monday!

27 comments:

  1. Oh my dear friend I so enjoyed this post for so many reasons... what a beautiful to set about creating some wonderful pieces. The window is magnificant!

    I chuckled at your intiative ... it brought back so many memories of "well just how difficult can it be" moments, I started on my own - I was never one to understand "someday" myself.

    And what a wonderful Hubby ... to be so helpful and encouraging. Love the wording on the wall - reminded me of Charlotte in Sex and City... when faced with - her husband possibly having an affair with the Nanny ... her thought was "I can't lose the Nanny!"...

    Wishing a wonderful day!! HHL

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  2. That may be the most fabulous sewing room I have ever laid eyes on!
    What gorgeous colors! And the built in's and decor just took my breath away.
    It's just stunning!
    Thanks for sharing,
    Cindy

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  3. What a beautiful sewing room. It is very much my style in my sewing room, beadboard, windows, etc. I love your french doors. I love your sewing machines. I love it all!!

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  4. I just love it!! The murphy bed is such a great creation! Why have a bed in the way when you only use it a few times a year??? Love your sewing machine and everything! I have tons of thread on the floor and material everywhere too! My area is only half finished since I stopped to work on the family room! Love the sunny windows, too!

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  5. That is FABULOUS!!!!!!!! What a clever lady you are! You have created such a cozy and well thought out room! Looks like it should be in a magazine!

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  6. What a great room! So many clever ideas. Such a wonderful room to inspire creativity!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  7. OMG.. I had to stay a while and dream of having such a room! So beautiful and so many work spaces... nice!
    Thanks so much for your visit to my blog today.. I love your room!!
    Sandy

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  8. Terry. I am soooo jealous! I WANT that sewing room you have...and hey I always have TONS of thread on the floor..the poor cat walks around the house with thread in her fur....

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  9. That's amazing, who would have thought, behind that shelf? Oh my, what a treat to visit your lovely room.

    p.s. love the bead board! :)

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  10. Well FIL and I, MIL were out for a ride and just happened to stop by to see Mark & Terry, and upstairs in the sewing room was Terry with the sledge hammer pounding away at the wall in the closet that was to be the new door to the bathroom. We've done a bit of remodeling in our 60 yr but that was a sight to see! OMG!. But Terry made her point and as you can see the finished product is beautiful. Love MIL

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  11. Wowsa! What a room! Just beautiful. To think of all the creativity that must go on there. I love it!!

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  12. Terry, so many thoughts come to mind, spectacular, beautiful, out of this world, charming, just incredible! Your sewing room is one of a kind, it's just so awesome and what a lovely place to be and to create! And what a surprise to see that Murphy bed, just as clever as can be. Okay, I could go on and on about everything, have to scoot, my coffee is calling and it's really necessary this morning~

    Have a happy day, working and creating in that room, must be easy to do!

    Hugs,
    Nancy

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  13. Fantastic! I love your room and the quilts are so pretty. I am having my before and after party tonight, so come and join me if you would:)

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  14. Wow! So great to have your own craft studio. It is so organized and I love the murphy bed. What a nice multifunctional room....Chirstine

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  15. Im speechless...that is an amazing room. I love the fact that you started it yourself. Men dont get the sense of urgency.lol Especially when you've sketched it out, then you know your serious! I love the murphy bed, that is truly genius. I have just recently attempted sewing for my new mini home accessories line which includes tons of pillows. I dont sew, well I havent since Home Economics class in middle school. lol I did score a vintage Singer machine this wkd, however I need needles for it and dont know how soon I can get it up and running. Your room has given me tons of inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. HI Terry, Your room is just beautiful and what a great guess room it turns into. You must keep Mark very busy with all your ideas!

    Aunt Marie

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  17. What a luxury to have such a wonderful creative space and all that storage!

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  18. Terry-

    You and your husband are geniuses! This is an amazing room! So clever, functional AND beautiful! I love the Murphy bed concept, and the old doorknobs holding the quilt rod in place. The storage and display areas are tremendous! It must be so pleasant to be able to work in this room.

    -Pam

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  19. Terry, thank you so much for dropping by my blog and sharing the links, I feel so much better about my own endeavors to create a sewing studio out of my own chaotic little "want it all" room! Your studio is absolutely awe inspiring! I am so ready to swipe hubby's sledge hammer and commence to gaining that window I have so longed for! LOL! This should be no problem for hubby, it's what he does for a living, but just to get him motivated, I hear the cry, "Tawanda!"

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  20. My dream craft room:)... so so beautiful... I am trying to get one like this and still trying for it ..... your old sewing machine ohh I love it... And what a quilt it is.... simply gorgeous. very lovely...
    I am your newest follower and thanks a lot for your kind and encouraging words on my post. Its so nice to meet a lovely and crafty person like you...
    http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
    Love
    Farah

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  21. I enjoyed seeing this room the second time around as much as the first! I'm considering switching around my workroom with a bedroom. It's a huge undertaking. Still trying to decide.

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  22. I found this post on the Pinterest Murphy Bed search. I'm thinking of putting a Murphy Bed in our office to give us more "creativity" room. I love, love, love your sewing room.

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    1. Thank you Katharine,
      This has always been one of my favorite spaces in our home. So happy you found this post although I'm not blogginlike I used to due to time constraints.
      Happy Pinning!

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  23. This is truly my DREAM CRAFT ROOM that doesn't always have to look like a craft room. I live in a beautiful home which was born in 1947 and have 2 rooms that would be ideal for this. I even have two "Mr LBV's"! (my husband and my son) Now to just send this on to them and see if I can generate a little enthusiasm for giving me the gift of a life time...my own beautiful space to call just my own, and then one I can transform into a beautiful getaway for my guests as well.

    Thank you for your blog - just found you today. I also have more Crystolite than I can count! Kindred Spirits??? :) I made a darling child's dish set out of some of the pieces. Can I send you a picture??

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    Replies
    1. Dear "Unknown"
      Thank you for the nice complements, however I can't accept any attachments for pictures of Crystolite until I know your name along with a valid email. The email I received from you is a "do not reply" which either means its simply spam or a robot so until then, thanks again but not thanks :)

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    2. I'm so sorry, but I'm not used to posting on blog sites and didn't know how to get my name on here. I would upload a picture of me, but didn't see that option when I "joined" just now. Even though I've just done that, It still gives me the option below to reply as: ...but none of them fit me. I'm confused. Do I have to have a url to be take part? Is that what "Open ID" means?

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  24. Dear Carol, OK its nice to know you really aren't a robot :O)

    I don't believe you need a URL but normally it shows up as "Anonymous" although maybe that option isn't available anymore; "Blogger" keeps changing things around so I'm not sure.
    However that being said, I am so glad you found my blog although as you can see I haven't been able to post for a while mainly due to working too many hours etc. I'm hoping to get back into again soon.
    Anyway glad you stopped by and welcome!
    Most sincerely, Terry

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