Storage or Work Space?

Not long ago, my daughter sent me a blog link to a beautiful sewing room (You can see it at the bottom of Stash Attack posted May 08, 2009 on Chemistry Couture.) The room looks bright and airy - quilting fabrics are organized according to color shades. There's a sewing table and lots of storage space. Organization experts tell you - store what you need close to where you need it. So this space is absolutely perfect!

My first thought was, where - in my house - can I create a sewing room as lovely and as useful as that? There must be somewhere...

But as I thought about it, I realized that this well-organized sewing space would never work for me. I love to do my sewing in the center of the house - in the midst of family action - where light streams in through large windows - and I can glance up and see flowers and trees outdoors. So I sew on the dining room table, where we eat all our meals! Yes, it does disrupt meal time a bit - but that's where I like to be! Unfortunately, there is simply not enough unused space on the main floor for me to create a lovely sewing area there.

So my new goal is to create - not a sewing room - but a useful storage space somewhere, probably in the basement or an upstairs bedroom, where I can easily find what I need when I sit down at the dining room table to sew!