It's time for Spring Cleaning in my Craft Room (Part 1)

Spring has finally arrived!!! I thought winter would never end this year; it's so nice to be able to sit outside to enjoy the sun and hear the birds chirping. Hope you're enjoying the nice warmer weather.. Sorry for those who have allergies, hang in there..

Say Hi to Jimmy from Beba's Boutique

So with Spring here, it's time to air out the house and do some much needed spring cleaning in the house, especially in my craft room. I bought a new cutting table recently from Beba Boutique at the NJ Quilt Fest and have been wanting to rearrange and reorganize my craft room to make it more efficient.

Jimmy is standing in front of the table I bought. It comes in two sizes 5' (32" x 60") or 6' (40" x 72") and two different colors (white or wood). The one in the picture shows the table with both wings opened and the one on the right, is the table with both wings closed. You can also see the wooden color one in the back. That's the color I chose. I was debating on which size to buy since my craft room is small but I opted for the larger 6' one and hoped it will fit properly.
After deciding the size, the next challenge was how to bring it home from the show. We only have a Honda CRV. I didn't think it would fit but we were able to put the whole table in with the wings closed, standing up in the cargo area with the back seats folded down. (FYI, you will need strong guys to lift, the table is super heavy)

The table is 6'(40" x 72") and it came with a cutting mat to fit the full table surface. The height of the table is the perfect height for cutting fabric. I don't have to bend down to cut fabric so it's easier on my back. The best part is that I can cut directly on it since the whole table is one big cutting mat.
These pictures below can be found on Beba's website.

Cutting Mat and Table with both wings opened

Originally I was thinking that if the table is too big, I could use it with one wing closed.

Table with one wing open

Or maybe store it with both wings closed and roll the table out when I needed it for cutting large pieces of fabric.

Table with both wings closed

With any craft room, the cutting table is probably the largest piece of furniture since you need a large space to lay out the fabric to cut out patterns. But with my small craft room, I have reorganized the furniture at least 3 times in this room to try to get the cutting table to function like a kitchen island. When cutting fabric, I'm always trying to turn the fabric or pattern around to get to where I need to be but with an island table, I can go around the table on all sides and not move my fabric.

So I thought I did a pretty good job on my last attempt to rearrange my furniture. I was able to get two tables for cutting with enough space to walk all around the cutting table. I used a dining table for my main cutting table and a folding table with risers to raise the height for my secondary table.

Main Cutting table

Secondary Cutting table

This table configuration worked great as I was able to go around the table but it was too short and after a while, my lower back was hurting with all the bending. So when I saw the table from Beba's, I couldn't resist. The size, height, storage and free large cutting mat was perfect for what I needed.

After a few tries, here is my new cutting table.

I took my main table and moved it to the back wall and overlapped it with the new cutting table under one wing.

I also had enough height under the new cutting table to place my embroidery thread storage units underneath it.

I was worried about the size but I was able to fit it in the room and still have enough table to walk around the table. With this setup, the room feels more roomy and more spacious than the last configuration.
Look at the length of my new cutting table.. Isn't it lovely.. :-)

More Spring cleaning and organizing to come... What are you doing for Spring cleaning?

~~Words of Encouragement~~
The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do.
Deut 28:12 (NLT)