Studio Renovation

This is NOT the big reveal! I don’t know if there’s a name for this stage of a renovation, but “Big Slog” sounds appropriate about now.

Lily painted this at the initiation of the wall painting. Here you can see “Cookie Crumble” vs. “Paperwhite.”

Earlier this fall, Tom, aka “My Biggest Fan, proposed a facelift of my studio space (which doubles as our basement family room) in order to make the space more visually appealing, as well as useful. Ladies, when your husband suggests to you that you renovate a space, you don’t bat an eye to consider the ramifications. You jump on it! We built our house 15 years ago and besides replacing the flooring upstairs (good bye carpet!) we haven’t done anything major. Truth be told, this isn’t a major renovation. Walls are not being moved, flooring is not changing. But nonetheless it takes a tremendous amount of time. I took advantage of Ellen’s love of painting to get started on the project while she was still home on break. But now I mostly go it alone.

This is the rolling workstation that my dad built out of used cabinets. All cabinets and shelves will now be painted in “Calligraphy.”

I determined that the biggest need of the space was for storage. I had taken over a large IKEA shelf, a filing cabinet, and a bookshelf, but most of my things were stacked in storage bins, albeit as neatly as I could. It was evident that I was encroaching on the walking space. There was a bit of a maze of boxes to navigate as you walked through the room (which Tom needs to do to get to his office…). I definitely was not in contention for any design accolades. We were already utilizing every available wall, so the only way to go was UP! I wanted to maximize the generous ceiling height by using tall shelves. I also wanted to have as little open shelving as possible, to keep the room looking more “Family Room” than “Garage.” And, of course, I didn’t want to break the bank.

I turned to IKEA. I measured every wall and angle. I measured the existing storage I was using, I read reviews, measured again, dreamed about IVAR and other Swedish names I can’t remember. I finally figured out exactly what I wanted on each wall. I made a list. I visited IKEA, over an hour’s drive away. Turns out IKEA was out of stock of much of what I wanted. And they couldn’t tell me when the items would be in stock. I left IKEA dejected, but already scheming Plan B. Plan B started to take shape in the Home Depot which happened to be IKEA’s neighbor. There I found unfinished kitchen cabinets which come in all sorts of size configurations that match up like a jigsaw puzzle. BONUS: There’s nary an Allen wrench in sight, that is, no assembly required. Take THAT, IKEA!

This massive desk served me well for 10 years, but I wanted work space that was more flexible. I’m so thankful to have gifted it to a local business for use in their warehouse. It’s a beast that took 4 of us to move it out of the house and up to the front yard to haul away.

I traded the IKEA website for the Home Depot website. I sketched out what I wanted, consulted with my General Contractor, aka, my dad, and placed my order. The plan was afoot! In the meantime, the girls convinced me to repaint the walls. I dragged my feet because I knew it would add time to the project and I really didn’t mind the existing color. But in the end I decided a fresh coat of paint would be nice and I traded “Cookie Crumble” for “Paperwhite,” an excellent choice since it brightens the room so much. I also chose a very dark blue for the cabinets and shelves, so it’s good to offset that with the white walls.

Sage advice from my grandfather (a carpenter, among other careers) to my dad and finally to me: “It’s a poor carpenter who can’t cover his (or her) mistakes!” Truth be told, the same advice is applicable to sewing!

I’ve divided the project into phases because there’s not space to tear up everything at once. In Phase One I traded my massive-but-served-me-well-for-10-years sewing table for a drop leaf table and a separate rolling workstation that is at counter height. Counter height is essential, even for a shorty like I. My dad built the workstation out of 3 separate cabinets that I found at the Habitat ReStore. I painted them and he assembled them together and added a countertop from IKEA. I did find a few useful things there.

Phase Two jumped across the room to the wall where the T.V. resides. This involved a second trip to IKEA to pick up the parts for a simple but workhorse-of-a-shelf, their iconic IVAR. I have many storage boxes and I need shelving that is wide enough to accommodate them. So far this shelf is open. I’ll either buy the coordinating doors from IKEA, or more likely, make curtains to go on tension rods to hide the boxes.

Phase Three is the one I’m most excited to finish! This is where the Home Depot cabinets come in. I designed lower cabinets, a countertop and upper cabinets. This will be my shipping station and I’ll have all of those supplies in one place, with the counter top to aid in the process. This area would be done by now but Home Depot had to order one last cabinet to finish it off. So right now it looks like it’s missing a tooth as well as its countertop.

Phase Four is my least favorite but probably the most helpful, in conjunction with Phase Three. The existing IVAR shelf I’ve used for years is getting a coat of paint (or 3 coats…). Once I finish that, and paint the wall behind it, I can really start to plan where I will store my supplies. I just won’t know how everything will fit until it’s all there. Which leads me to…

Phase Five! Four more kitchen cabinets will be attached to the wall with some faux legs under them to look like a large piece of furniture. This is where most (fingers crossed) of my fabric will reside.

My aim in this project was to maximize space so that I don’t have boxes stacked around the room and to lend a bit of an aesthetic flair to the room. I hope in the end to accomplish those goals. And I just can’t wait until it’s all finished! All day long I paint and paint and paint. But in the end, it will all be worth it!

How about you? What renovation projects are you most proud of? Do you have any helpful advice when it comes to organizing spaces? Do you have a wishlist of storage options? What’s the space in your home that’s in biggest need of a makeover?