Changin' up the "studio" a bit

I have replaced my old ironing board/big board top combo and my small folding table (used as a cutting table) with this big (6 foot x 3 foot) solid maple work bench! The bench is recycled (local business shutting down a facility and getting rid of old equipment). I love it because my cutting mat is now oriented lengthwise (good for cutting long cuts on fabric!) and since the legs are adjustable, it's at the perfect ergonomic height for cutting and ironing. It's got room for my mammoth tool box (which I couldn't sew without--it's got *everything* one could ever need in there), room underneath to store stuff (note my big roll of Warm and Natural in its box), and it doesn't wiggle or shimmy around at ALL. This is one solid bench--the top is solid 2-inch thick maple and weighs a ton.

I think I will mount a power strip to the underside to make the iron cord a little less sloppy. You can see my little design wall behind it--because the table is so deep, it's a little harder to reach the wall, but that's o.k. The windows look out at ground level to the backyard--good for some extra light during the day. That tall-ish storage unit to the right of the bench is one of those basket drawer units from Ikea--note it is stuffed to the gills. And on the top of the drawer unit you can see my British issue of GQ that had Daniel Craig on the cover. Ah well, a girl needs some distraction now and then.

I also had to rearrange my sewing machine table and my light table--not sure how I feel about that arrangement yet.......I'll live with it for a while and see how it goes. Time to go fix lunch for the kidlets. DH has softball tonight, so it will be a quilty evening here for sure! (Maybe I'll even treat myself to a glass of wine after the kids are in bed!)