crafty hiding space in my dining room sewing area

does this look like a sewing area to you?

no? good.

because it's part of my dining room.

i have a dedicated sewing space in a corner of my bawthroom where i store most of my stash and where i used to mostly sew. that worked great whenever the girls were bathing in there, but i found that at other times, when i had a big project going on a saturday or if jill came over to sew on fridays, that i wanted to be in the main part of the house rather than in the upper corner, hidden away in my bawthroom. i could keep tabs on the kids and be available to everyone if i worked in the dining room. plus there was a lot more room to spread out in there.

the obvious downside to this arrangement was that my sewing took over the dining table and a large portion of the room. we have a kitchen table in the green room off the kitchen (too big for a nook and we eat more than breakfast there, so it's not a breakfast room - what to call it?!) we eat everyday meals in the green room, not the dining room, so my sewing sprawl wasn't a problem that interfered with our family meals. but it did put a stop to the occasional formal meals on sundays or holidays that we use the dining table for. and the dining room is visible from the entryway, so my mess was noticeable as soon as anyone walked in the door. not cool.

to contain and hide the mess, i invested in some inexpensive shelving units and milk crate baskets from target. i already had one of these units in the room for a nature center and i thought it worked nicely. (nature center idea from mariah bruehl's excellent book, playful learning and ecourse, learning spaces.)

i got two more units to put on the west wall under my genealogy chart and heritage photos (pictured above). all the bits from the projects i'm working on are hidden away in the milk crates, as well as my project life supplies, some cookbooks, and a few other sewing tools. a peek into some of the baskets:

i keep my scrap basket and cutting mat under the dining table when not in use. the sewing machine is on top of the table at the far end. it's still in the open, but not nearly as messy looking as it was before. my mr. said it was acceptable. our house is definitely lived in and a work-in-progress type family home, but we'd also like it to be comfortably clean, especially in the guest spaces. maybe some day we will get the built-ins we'd like for this room, but for now this is a happy compromise. my stuff is there, but not readily visible, and can be quickly cleaned up when needed.

i also like that the shelving top gives me sort of a sideboard for holiday decorating rather than using the table top, which wasn't working very well. off season, it houses some of my white cake stands and my current project life book.

unfortunately, daughter #5 thinks it's a great play space. she stands on some project boxes i had tucked away out of sight and plays on the cakestands. oh, naughty girl.

she thinks the sound my threads make banging against the ceramicware is awesome. i don't agree.

something must be done with this cute little monster!
but i don't think she'll fit in any of the baskets or cubbies.