Sewing in Small Spaces

We've been in our new place for a couple of weeks now and I have finally got my sewing room set up.  This room also doubles as a guest room and office and although small has been cleverly designed so it can meet all these needs (though not at the same time!).  The room is too small to be able to take useful pictures of the whole thing, but has a few nifty design ideas that I will share here;

I have a cutting table built into one wall, to use it I just flip out two horizontal supports and pull down the table.  I can also store all my fabric inside the cupboards behind the table surface.  

There is a sofa bed underneath that pulls out when we have guests staying - currently being made hairy by cats!  I also purchased a small tabletop ironing board from Ikea which is just right for pressing seams etc. and I can hang it up on a hook on the back of the door.

On the other windowless wall are more storage cupboards and a desk.  The back wall of the desk is a magnetic whiteboard which will be useful for scribbling and posting notes and ideas.  The left hand desk drawer is not a drawer at all, but a small pull out surface for my serger and I have an office chair on wheels so I can swivel between the two machines easily.

I have windows on the other 2 walls so lighting in the day is great.  For night sewing there are lots of ceiling spotlights and also a fluorescent tube above the desk surface.

So I am loving my little sewing space and am currently working on a top from the June issue of Burda in a brown and cream printed linen from my last post, you can just see it in the photos above - it's nearly there so more details on that next post.