In early spring, I was offered the opportunity to share studio space in the old Bayview School in Langley, Washington. I was familiar with the place because I had been doing some bookkeeping there and this particular space had long ago stolen my heart so I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

I share the studio with two women, both therapists and we each have our own days of the week so solitude is also part of the deal. Delicious.

My end of the room has three tall windows, the sink, and an island which I am using as support for one end of my work table. Here a is the before picture.

I wanted to create a unique table top that went with the theme of sewing, so I started by gluing down vintage pattern pieces in a random way. That was actually the challenging part! So I took my time…two or three each day. From a collage class by Leslie Rottner, I learned about using a credit card to smooth the tissue and that trick was a lifesaver! After that, three coats of water based polyurethane, some fir trim and walnut plugs for the screw holes.

I stewed for weeks on how to support the end opposite the island. I wanted to use the same materials as the table top…walnut and vertical grain fir…and create something simple yet elegant. I finally found my inspiration on Pinterest. Since my supply of walnut was limited to a few pieces, I built my design around that…repeating with the walnut plugs and curving the bottom most inserts for aesthetics.

Here are pictures of the finished studio.