Sew cool and sew finished! Check out my new sewing cabinet

Last week in my meals plan post, I mentioned that I was working on something big this week.  I’ve been so excited to show it to you, and now it’s finally done!

First things first, I stole this idea from Weekend Sewing, which I checked out at the library a few weeks ago.  I only wish I could take credit for coming up with this! The author turned an old computer cabinet in to an adorable sewing nook.  I knew instantly that I wanted to do this myself!  I also knew that I’d need to paint it an obnoxiously bright and cheerful color.  Because of space issues, I would need to put this cabinet down in the basement where it’s beige city.  In my head, I could picture a tangerine cabinet brightening up the whole room.

Until now, my sewing stuff lived in our spare bedroom in the basement.  The sewing machine lived in the closet, my fabric hung out in a Rubbermaid tub, and my scissors, thread, etc. lived in an old fishing tackle box.   If I wanted to make a project, I’d have to haul it up the stairs, beg Troy to move his studying stuff off of the dining room table, and then sew as quickly as I can before the next meal.  Until the project is done, the “stuff” sat around on the dining room floor waiting to be used.

It’s fun…

What usually happen was that I get started on something, and then we’d have to clean up for people coming over or something.  I’d get so unmotivated to bring everything back out, that the project lingered and I just ignored it.

No longer my friends.  NO LONGER!

I looked at Goodwill and on Freecycle for cabinets, but wasn’t having any luck finding something available and/or in good condition.  I finally found this cabinet on Craigslist.  They were asking $200.  I offered $125 and they accepted.  This cabinet is solid and weighs about 1,000 pounds.  Troy and my father-in-law spent a fun Sunday morning hauling that thing home.

First, I washed it down, then sanded all the surfaces.

Then, Troy knocked out a few of the dividers up at the top of the cabinet, and removed the hanging file holder.  No pictures of that.

Here are my awesome sanding safely goggles.

And just cause, here is my painting shirt with a strip of bacon on it.

After the sanding, I painted the outside with four coats (yes FOUR) with Yolo’s petal .01.

After 1 coat

After finishing up the outside, I painted the inside Yolo’s water .01.  For some reason, I only needed two coats on the inside.

Then, Troy and I (mostly Troy) spent a very exciting Friday night getting this thing out of the garage and in to the basement.  Mr.Perfection then spent about 90 minutes leveling it and securing it to the wall.  Which is fine, because the cabinet was tippy and unbalanced.  A bit like me.

I put sticky corkboard on the inside of one door to pin projects, patterns, etc.

The space where Troy knocked out the dividers now holds fabric.  Released from the confines of the Rubbermaid tub, I can now see what I have without having to dig around looking for “just the right thing”.

Troy cut a hole in the back for the outlet, and we installed a power strip back there.

The former file hanging thingy now holds my scraps basket and big pieces of fabric.

The tray that used to hold the keyboard, now pulls out to hold my sewing machine when I need space for a bigger project.

Troy is also trying to conceptualize something to hold my spools of thread.  He is a dumpster diver, so I can imagine he’ll find something great…it’s only a matter of time.

Now, I have a great space for my sewing machine, fabric, thread, and other do dads.  And the best part is, if I’m working on a big messy project, I can just shut the doors and call it “clean enough for company”.