The trouble with letting things go for a long period is not that you eventually have to catch up with everything, but that sometimes, just when you think you are gaining the upper hand something lets go on you and you are plunged back into chaos.
Monday the sewing table collapsed, strewing sewing machines, buttons, thread, and various other things I about the room in a loud clatter. This time it wasn't my fault, or I don't believe it was; I hadn't neglected anything. I had sturdy legs under the table; I had used them for years under my desk, and they had been in the basement where G thought he would use them when he rebuilt his workbench, a task he never managed to get to. They were adjustable by a large screw handle that held them in place. Apparently the threads of the screws gave way and the table collapsed, apparently worn down over the years and the locks no longer hold.
Between cleaning up the mess, making a trip to Ikea in New Jersey, and just dealing with other previously scheduled activities, it has been a busy week, but I managed to get the table back together.
I believe the new configuration is an improvement. The metal legs, Vika-Moliden have a much smaller footprint than my original table legs, which will give me much more room to work, and the other cabinet, Vika-annefors, gives me some much needed storage space and is narrow enough that I will still have room for three machines on the table.
Leg space was always an issue in the old sewing room as I had bigger cabinets under the countertop, and the table served as my desk as well. It was usually far too crowded for effective work of any kind.
As you can see in the top photograph, the unfinished end of the countertop is now exposed, as it was in the opposite corner in the old sewing room. I have a plan to a compact sewing table that fold up in that location, giving me a little more workspace and hiding the unfinished end. Two of the original cord holes are no longer functional either, but I have a gap at the back of the counter where I will run the cords so it doesn't matter. I can live with the black rubber cord holders, maybe they will work as cup holders so that the cats don't keep knocking my beverages over as they chase each other across the table.
Next I need to get the sewing machines back up on the table, and thoroughly inspect them and hope that they still function. I am a bit worried that crashing to the floor did not do them any good.
