A Space of Her Own

When we were looking at new houses three years ago, one of our main requirements was that it have a study at the front of the house that my husband could use for his video studio. That wasn't a difficult demand to fulfill; a study is common in new home construction.

However, when we started looking around, I realized that all of the studies were very masculine - solid wood furniture, dark decorations. The study was decidedly for a man.

I need my own space. I didn't - and still don't - understand why the concept of the study must be of the male persuasion.

So I decided to make my own demand. I wanted my own space. After my husband kept offering up large closets (in one model we looked at the master closet was almost as large as the master bedroom - "This would a great place for your sewing room!" my husband helpfully offered) I decided that I wanted an official room, a nice room, not just a left over bedroom and definitely not a closet.

We ended up with a house that has two studies - a video studio in the front of the house, and a sun room with lovely french doors in the back of the house that I claimed as my sewing room.

So I had my sewing room. But it began to fill up with toys, and when I started working part-time from home, it became more of an office with papers stacked high on my desk and the sewing machines and yarn were eventually packed away in a closet because those tiny little people who live with me needed more space.

As I started getting back into sewing and knitting about a year's respite, I realized I didn't want to pull everything back out into what has now become the office/playroom (although nearly every room in the house could be followed by '/playroom').

I decided to set up shop in our bedroom. I always use the bed to cut fabric, I set up the ironing board in our closet anyway, so this actually works out better. I even have a whole wall to myself, thanks to my previous lack of decorating and for some reason I have more incentive to tidy up after myself when it is in my bedroom than when it was in a 'sewing room'. So win-win all around.

Time to decorate now.