Clean slate/fresh start/blank canvas and a peek at my fabric stash

So a mere two days ago my studio looked like this.  It's amazing what a little carpet and paint can do, eh?

So I ended up going with a color quite similar to my old studio because, well, it's my favorite!  This shade is Sea Lily by Valspar.

I really really really wanted to put in a wood laminate floor and I even had plans to make one of those giant crocheted rugs from Crafting a Meaningful Home that would look just perfect against the darker floor, but I went with function over form this time.  Michigan winters are just too darn cold to have hard flooring in the basement.  Actually, it's amazing how much warmer it feels in this room just by throwing down some carpet.

We ended up going with attached pad carpeting mainly for price.  We found lots of regular carpeting in our price range that we loved, but by the time you add in the pad and installation costs, you can pretty much double or triple that number.  With this, the pad already comes bonded to the carpeting, and you can install it yourself.  You pretty much just cut it to fit the room and secure it with some carpet tape around the edges. 

Just the essentials have been moved in so far (is the dollhouse considered an essential?).  And there's still lots of work to be done.  I've still got to replace or do something with those ceiling tiles and I've got to add some trim around the base of the wall, paint the doors and trim, and replace their hardware.  And I still have plans to cover that back wall in fabric at some point.  The room is so large, that I'm also hoping to get a couch to set along the right wall to make this place nice and cozy.  I was thinking about something like this.

Have I mentioned that I like to scrapbook?  Well, I do - but I'm pretty far behind at the moment because it always takes a backseat to sewing.  I'm hoping that turning that far corner into a space solely meant for scrapbooking will help.  Before, I would always have to clear all of my sewing stuff off of my workspace and drag out all of my scrapbooking supplies and then switch everything back afterward, and it just became a giant hassle.  I'm planning on putting up a ton of shelves so my materials will always be within reach. 

The first thing I unpacked was my fabric.  I used to organize my fabric primarily by color, but I switched it up this time and sorted it by type of print.

Clockwise from top left:  All of my Heather Ross prints; stacks of fabric divided by collection (Nicey Jane, Flea Market Fancy, Midwest Modern, etc); novelty prints; on the left is polka dots, stripes, and plaids, and on the right is my japanese fabric; these are all floral prints, with small scale florals in the back and two stacks of large scale floral in the front; solids and gingham.

Clockwise from top left:  Flannel; more flannel; some wools; the pink bin is full of batting; fleece, chenille, and minky; knits.

Clockwise from top left:  these are my leftover miscellaneous prints divided by color; holiday fabrics on left, and bird prints on right; multicolored prints on left and kitchen prints on right; home dec fabrics; notions; browns and neutrals.

These bottom four cubes contain some more home dec stuff, wools and apparel fabrics, and works in progress.

I also reorganized my collection of fat quarters into similar categories.

And while I've been doing all this, Phoebe has been making herself at home too.