Studio Makeover Update: Warehouse Pendant Installed, Birdie Clock On the Way!

I must begin by telling you how unbelievably ticked off I am at Blogger right now.  Not only has it become a glorious PITA to upload photos to my blog recently, but yesterday I spent a good hour working on this post only to have it VANISH without a trace before I could publish it.  Attention, Blogger -- you're on probation!  There are other blog platforms out there, and I will flirt with other options if you don't get your kinks worked out soon!

Pendant Task Lighting Installed over Cutting Table

Okay.  So the 20" Ivanhoe Sky Chief pendant in Cherry Red from Barn Light Electric has now been installed over my cutting table, and I'm LOVING it.  Similarly styled fixtures are available from Restoration Hardware, Rejuvenation Hardware, and other trendy sources -- for a lot MORE money -- but what I love most about the Barn Light Electric fixture is that it takes up to a 200 watt bulb.  The pricier look-alikes typically take only a single 60 watt bulb, which is totally inadequate for task lighting at a cutting table.  I only have a 150 watt bulb in the pendant now because that's all I had in the house, but already I'm loving it.  I should also mention that we've installed the pendant so that it's centered over my table, with the bottom edge of the shade 24" above the table surface.  That puts the bottom of the shade roughly at eye level for me, so I have very concentrated task lighting on my work surface but I don't have the glare of a bare bulb shining in my eye.  The cherry red pendant shade is a bit darker than the red painted drawer base and sewing cabinet, but I can easily repaint them darker later.



Bernie sits in the folding chair where he wants his "real" chair to be

Right now, I'm only partially moved back into the space so I can "test-drive" my setup (and because I was DYING to start playing with the new Bernina 750 QE sewing machine that I got for Christmas).  I am currently taking up only about half the room for my studio, which is good because it leaves room for that seating area and flat screen TV that I wanted to add.  Now, before you start congratulating me on how clean and open my sewing studio is, I should confess that it only looks so good because 75% of my stuff is still piled in my master bedroom while I figure out where to put everything.  I counted FORTY-FOUR drapery and upholstery remnants on bolts, most of them less than a full yard, in addition to all of the folded scraps, cases of threads and notions, etc.  I sense a purge coming on...  I can't bear to clutter my room up again.

Actually, I'm finding storage to be a real challenge.  Despite the relatively large room with a vaulted ceiling, that ceiling is steeply sloped down to about 55" from the floor on two walls.  Of the two remaining "tall" walls, one of them is broken up with windows and I desperately need a design wall on the other wall because that's the only place it could possibly go and I've had it with laying out quilt blocks on the foyer floor and then running upstairs so I can look down from above and judge the layout.  I think we're going to enlarge both the cutting table and the sewing cabinet, so it can accommodate a serger and/or smaller secondary sewing machine work station, and we'll have to design as much creative storage into those two pieces as we possibly can.  Still working on that.

Meanwhile, I did find a cute birdie clock that I ordered for my studio the other day.  Isn't it adorable?  The finish will complement my oil rubbed bronze spooky chandelier and my sparkly cabinet knobs, and I had to have it because of the bird.  The clock is a VERY important feature of my studio, since it will help me remember to pick my kids up from school on time!

We haven't accomplished much in the studio lately because Bernie was away on business for a whole week and then my sister's family was visiting with my niece and nephew the following week.  Hopefully we'll make some headway on the storage issue next week.