I have a teeny-tiny studio space just at the top of the stairs.

There’s just enough room for me, my Elna sewing machine and some fabric. To the right is a bookshelf and further on down the hall is a cabinet and my vintage dress form, Letitia. You can read about the whole shebang in this post.

Here is my tweaking quandary for this week: How do I find space for this?

This is the ‘new’ Featherweight my husband bought me as an early birthday present. Featherweights were designed to be portable, so putting it in the case is always a possibility. But the case smells musty (I’m working on that) and besides, it’s too pretty to be tucked away. But when it sits on my sewing table, it’s right next to the other machine.

You see my predicament. Limited space. I can always use it on the kitchen table. Or on the desk in the den. But I won’t always want to do that and, again, it needs a place to sit.

I have an idea. This table is currently sitting in the den. Since we no longer have a lamp sitting on top of it (it died – in fact the shade was transformed into this) the table is just sort of there. There are a few books hanging about on the little shelf, my vintage child’s piano is on the top. It doesn’t really do anything, especially since we added the coffee table to the den.

I’m going to digress here for a moment. Did I ever tell you the story of this table? Years ago, and I mean twenty+ years ago, I was a faculty member at Boston University’s School for the Arts. I had my own office which was rather spacious. No windows, though, only senior faculty had the coveted offices with windows. But heck, it was my own space. Most of us furnished our offices with a combination of battered office furniture and old props used in student productions. I found this table, which was unpainted at the time, in the prop room and commandeered it for my space. It was a wee bit fragile and needed some gluing. There it lived for a couple of years until I found a rent controlled apartment in Cambridge and needed furniture. I couldn’t afford much, as I was woefully underpaid, so it moved to my apartment. And, somehow, it moved with me to San Diego. And then to New York. That little table and I have a long history which makes it very precious to me. It reminds me of the days in Boston where I was working my tush off and having lots of fun. I painted it a few years ago and it looks pretty nifty.

So, why not move this little table upstairs and place it perpendicular to the sewing table along the wall (under the mantle shelf)? It’s narrow enough, 13 inches deep, and it’s sturdy. I think it just might work. Or will I be trapped in there between the two tables?

I’m leaning toward using it. Any advice?

I’m posting this early so I can link to my pal Brenda’s Tweak It Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.