Sewing Center Makes Excellent Use of Space
Shaker furniture goes well with virtually any style, from colonial to modern, so a project designed for do-it-yourselfers by Georgia-Pacific Corp. in this style makes sense.
It’s a sewing center that is enclosed in two floor-to-ceiling units measuring nine feet four inches in total length.
The center is designed for a typical 10-foot-by-12-foot bedroom. Three doors enclose the unit when it’s not in use. The center features storage for patterns, fabrics, yarns and other drawers and cubbyholes for craft and hobby needs.
A compact sewing table and footstool can be stowed beneath the drawers, making the sewing machine available for quick repairs. The design, described in a 16-page how-to guide, includes a fold-down ironing board as part of a pull out work table.
For a copy of the Shaker Sewing Center book, send $2 to “Shaker Sewing Center,” Georgia-Pacific Corp., Dept. PK2-11006, P.O. Box 2802, Norcross, Ga. 30071.
If any of the readers of this column have creative solutions to a sewing center or crafts room in a house or condominium with limited space, please send details and non-returnable photos to my attention. The best ideas will be described in future columns.
If you didn’t get around to reading Tracy Kidder’s “House” in the hardcover edition (Houghton Mifflin, 1985), by all means pick up a copy of the Avon paperback that just came out.
Kidder tells the story of Jonathan and Judith Souweine, their architect William Rawn and their builders--Jim Locke and three others--and the challenges and problems faced in building a 3,000-square-foot custom house in Amherst, Mass. in 1983.
If all this sounds dull and boring, forget it! Kidder brings to often too vivid life the problems encountered in constructing a custom home. The Souweines come across as typical Yuppies living in what one character in the book calls “Granola Valley.” Jonathan is a lawyer who once ran for district attorney and Judith (not Judy!) has a doctorate in education.
Kidder rivals John Updike in his characterizations, especially the complicated interplay between the contracting firm and the architect.
Read the book for what not to do, rather than as a how-to guide. The major mistake made by the clients was not having everything spelled out in the plans and specifications.
ADD CATALOGUES: Leichtung Handys Fall 1986/Winter 1987 catalogue contains woodworking kits that would make great gifts, including car kits and other transportation kits (trains and planes) and clock kits. Also featured is a Lervad workbench from Denmark at $275, the lowest price in 11 years. From Leichtung Inc., 3944 Commerce Parkway, Cleveland, Ohio 44128.
If you’re going on vacation, it might be a good idea to shut off the hot and cold water on your clothes washer. Our house recently had a cold water hose rupture--fortunately when I was home--but the mess would have been formidable if it had happened while we were away.
The rubber hoses leading from the taps to the washer usually fail around the metal connectors. That was the case at our house. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to check the condition of the hoses and replace ones showing signs of wear. The cost is about $6 or $7 each.