Design Studio Update: Photo Studio for Quilts

Over a year ago I converted my guest room into a design studio or craft room for my sewing, scrapbooking, painting and other creative pursuits.  I updated it again to have more storage and now I've updated it again to help me take photographs of my handmade quilts.

I've been using thumb tacks, push pins and even safety pins to hang my handmade baby quilts so I can photograph them for our Etsy store.  This has left hundreds of holes in my wall and has caused my post production color issues as my wall is slightly pink.

I had been doing research on backdrop systems photographers use for photo shoots, homemade pvc alternatives, quilt hanging wood blocks, really everything I could think of.  On a visit to my favorite furniture store, Ikea, I found the perfect thing -- a curtain rod with curtain rings with clips! Great news, its not expensive or hard to install either ;)

I can move my storage containers around, quickly and easily clip up a quilt and take pictures.  When I'm not photographing quilts then I can put my storage containers back.  While I mostly only use a small portion of the curtain rods and clips for the majority of our baby blankets, I got a curtain rod long enough to support a a king size quilt to show off my larger master pieces.
 
With the white clips and rod I can more easily find true white when correcting the color of the pictures.  I also added colorful, inspirational fabric in black frames to help provide more color to help the graphics program make better 'automatic' adjustments.

Ikea Shopping List:
Racka curtain rod
Betydlig wall/ceiling bracket (I got 4 for the length of my curtain rod)
Vasentlig finial set
Syrlig curtain ring with clip and hooks (comes in 2 sizes, I got 4 packs)

Design Studio Update

Unused craft space from June 2011

Over a year ago I shared how you can build out your craft room or design studio for under $1,000 at Ikea.  I've loved using my ultra-functional and totally-beautiful work space but found the random extra pieces of furniture to be a bit combersome when breaking down the room for guests.  Each time we have visitors a bookcase, dress form and quite a few totes have to be moved next door into our office.

I decided to get some white Ikea Billy bookcases to utilize unused vertical space against the window. Not only do the white Billy bookcases look great with the rest of the room they are cheaper than the other color options. I only spent about $155 only spent on the 5 new bookcases! (That's a pretty great selling point if you got to convince your husband to let you update your craft room -- Ikea is much cheaper than Craft-specific furniture out there.)  I also invested in more black Kassett boxes to organize everything in.  This set up has 2 great advantages for serious sewers... the thin bookcases are great for holding bolts of fabric and the Kassett hanging file box is just wide enough to hold patterns. I also love the adjustable shelves so I can configure perfect spaces for boxes or organize and show off colorful supplies like fat quarters and skeins of yarn.

Update with Ikea Billy bookcases and more labeled boxes

Updated Design Studio.  It only looks this clean after Guests leave ;)

Once its time for guests to visit transforming this Design Studio is very simple.  The sewing machine fits tucked away in the desk alcove. The main work space is a gate table which breaks down to a very low profile and serves as a night stand for guests.  We carefully vacuum the floor several times to ensure all stray pins have been found before filling up a high queen inflatable bed.  Its not as nice as a real bed, but with some egg shell padding its pretty comfortable. Not too comfortable... you don't want guests to stay too long and keep you away from your current crafting projects ;)

Craft Room transformed into Guest Room

Want this craft room or design studio for your self?  Visit my first post about how to create a craft room or design studio for under $1,000 at Ikea.

New Design Studio for under $1,000 from Ikea

For the past year and a half I've been using our spare guest room as my craft room.  The room was a nice size with a queen bed and some chests of drawers, but things got very tight when I'd set up a 6 foot banquet table to cut and sew on. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.  Recently my sister asked if she could have the queen bed. A quick call to my in-laws, our usual guests, verified they'd be fine on a sofa bed or air mattress. Suddenly the possibilities were endless! I could have a real design studio!

It took a while to dream up what I think might work, then a day and a half of graph paper planning and online browsing to make my shopping lists. Besides for the items I had already, the entire room was made from Ikea products for under $1,000!  Really! Here is the Ikea shopping list if you want the same sewing or crafting workspace. 

Now for the tour...

Hutch
I completely fell in love with this Hemnes hutch. It was supposed to go on a desk, which is sold out, but it worked out even better on the sofa table.  I especially love how I added an inspiration cork board to the middle of the hutch (using Command Strips) where a monitor would usually go.   It's also the perfect size to store my sewing machine when not in use or hold a laptop.