Sometimes inspiration can come from the most unlikely places. Yes, readers, I am indeed referring to a Real Simple magazine bought on impulse at the Whole Foods checkout. What can I say: de-cluttering advice and beautiful photography of tape dispensers does it for me.

However on this occasion there was a rather lovely before/after of some Hamptonite’s craft room, which is no doubt adjacent to her husband’s yacht carpentry studio. And then while pondering a future time when I might have a craft room, it occurred to me: why, I have a craft apartment! And no-one can stop me! Ah ha ha ha (evil crafter laugh).

So, out with the “work desk” (finally admitting to myself that I do schoolwork on my lap on the sofa has been mentally refreshing), and in with the sewing corner!

As you can see from this artistic photo (amazing what a lack of colour will do): it is situated overlooking a cherry blossom tree, one of the perks of the treehouse-like vibe of my apartment.

Highlight #1: the transparent peg board, as seen in Real Simple, where I can now hang my stuff up! Granted, scissors and a rotary cutter may not be the most aesthetically pleasing wall display ever seen, but it’s my craft corner so I don’t care! This will also significantly reduce the time I normally spend looking for my scissors, estimated at about 40% of total sewing project time.

Highlight #2: side-by-side serger and sewing machine! Perfect for those lazy seamstresses among us, I can sit on my chair between the two and with a mere swivel change from a firm seam to a flexible overlock. Such things are dreams made of. Also observe: my paper pattern blocks hanging on the wall! A great solution for keeping them flat and accessible.

Highlight #3: my little library. A rather modest display (in my opinion) of sewing books, white Container Store lacy files with my patterns and sewing machine manuals, and a basket of serger thread and iron-on interfacing.

Pretty exciting, eh? It’s a great balance between having my sewing things visible the whole time (which significantly increases my likelihood of actually *doing* something), but keeping it contained in a corner rather than rambling all over my apartment.

I’m sure Ms Woolf would be proud.