19th Century Inspired Sewing & Crafting Space

Hello sweet friends! For the past three months, I have slowly been working on creating a 19th Century Inspired Sewing & Crafting Space.

19th Century Inspired Sewing & Crafting Space

You may remember back in May when I shared all my initial plans. This post shares the very first piece of furniture I found for the space and it was FREE!

The process began by selling all of the very modern Ikea storage systems that had been used by various members of our family for many years. I also sold artwork and accessories found around our home that were no longer being loved. This gave me a budget of $300 to begin searching for storage items I thought would help transform the space. My goal was to furnish the space entirely with second hand finds. I am happy to report that between estate sales, thrifts shops and Facebook marketplace I was able to accomplish this and come in under budget!

One of the first things we did was switch out the modern fan which offered very little in the way of overhead lighting. As I often sew and craft at night I need very good lighting. Luckily, my handsome handyman works for cookies so that also helped with the budget. 

We continued to be mindful of not creating landfill waste so we sold the single domed light fan we took down for $20 on FB Marketplace. That money then also went into my budget. 

The Fandelier

Early on in my design process I had settled upon a fandelier (fan + chandelier) to use as overhead lighting. As we live in a warm climate and the room faces west, with full afternoon sun, a fan was definitely needed. 

Now the fandelier I wanted was $199. This of course would blow my budget. So I entered a search term in FB marketplace to be notified if anything similar was listed. Because you never know!

After almost 6 weeks I was notified by Facebook that there was something just listed that might be a match. Friends, it was the EXACT same fandelier! 

The seller, Elizabeth, had ordered it and decided she didn’t like it. She set it aside, and forgot about it, and missed the return by date. She sold it to me for $30!!!

Why I love this design is because when the fan is running, it looks like a traveling wagon wheel. This suits my Little House on the Prairie asethetic very well. 

Work Center

After weeks of searching I had almost lost hope of ever finding an old fashioned white desk with hutch and matching dresser. Every set I found was either out of my price range or required a tremendous amount of work to transform it. 

With the Little House Anniverysary Festivals in full swing I just didn’t have that kind of time. 

Then one day I stopped by our towns little thrift shop that benefits the local children’s home. There in the center of the store sat this set. I hesistated because the two pieces were priced at $250 and I still needed to get a bookcase and some artwork still needed framing, etc. 

But I barely slept that night and decided I would go ahead and buy the set. Sweet Guy and I were there when the doors opened on a Tuesday morning. Much to my delight I found out that on Tuesdays all furniture is 25% off making the set $187.50.

Friends, I needed this Godwink so badly. This was right smack dab of my 3 month foundation and flooring nightmare and it filled me with the strength to keep going.

I currently have my favorite summer Regency era bonnets on display up top.

My collection of bias tape, ribbon and other trims were separated by color and placed in glass jars from Ikea. The slotted center section of the hutch contains fabric and patterns of various works in progress. 

The other hutch and drawers contain various treasures that I use often or enjoy looking at. 

The other side of the room features the free armoire, a dressing screen I’ve had for several years and a tilt top tea table. 

The armoire holds a wide variety of things I use in dressmaking and tailoring. 

The antique tilt top table can be flipped down and placed against the wall if I need more space. It can also be easily moved to the center of the room in front of a settee that you can see in this week’s video.

My hope was always to create a space where friends could join me to sew or craft.

The Artwork

The are two new pieces of signed artwork in the space. The first is of my favorite home town gal and dear friend, Charlotte Stewart, in her role as everyone’s favorite schoolteacher.  Miss Beadle’s Wardrobe was created by my dear friend and talented artist, Eric Caron. 

Monsieur Caron provided all the schematics, drawings, and reference materials as well as the blueprints used by builder, Derek Hecker, to create the Little House sets for the recent 50th Anniversary Festival in Simi Valley. 

The Nellie Oleson Catwalk poster is also a delight! You can see it near my ironing station in the video. 

This space is still definitely a work in progress. But I thought you might like to see it so far. 

I’ve since added a dog bed to one corner of the room as my best girl always wants to be in the same space as me. 

This Week’s Video

To see inside the armoire and have a closer look at some of the details please watch this week’s video. 

If you wish to view the video in a larger format just click on the black box in the lower left hand corner that says Watch on YouTube.

 

I’ll be back on Friday. 

Laura