Art Studio Progress January 2016

Taking a moment to appreciate another gorgeous sunset
....while painting wood for my baseboards, of course.
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And watching my kiddos play Indians. Ever since Zoe learned about our Choctaw and Black Foot heritage she has been fascinated. They are so adorable making up their own Indian names, crafting headdresses, and going on "hunting trips" through the yard. 

We've worked on so many things the past couple of weeks and it is wonderful....but being this close to the finish line is making me one antsy-pantsy-artist!

Check out these updates and special projects:

 First, we have a completely functional half-bathroom with a big utility sink.

Before we began "finishing out" the room we had to mix and pour and smooth out 6 containers of ready mix concrete in the toilet area because there was a huge jack hammered hole from the original construction phase of the building that we needed to repair.

 Jeremy brought in the toilet and utility sink to measure how big he could build the cabinet base.

And since the floor was pretty awful looking I didn't want to clear seal it like I did the rest of the studio so we went shopping for alternatives.

Fortunately, the room is only 4' x 5' so it wouldn't be too costly to cover it. We looked at tile, vinyl, and laminate options before choosing this. It is 100% waterproof luxury vinyl flooring (got ours in stock at Lowe's around $55 for a box that covers 20 sq. ft. It looks like wood planks. It has a great texture and it was so easy to install.  It just snapped together over the top of the concrete (although we did choose to add a layer of the thin foam underlayment since we had some left over from doing the bathrooms in our house). It adds a bit of cushion and sound buffering over the cold, imperfect concrete.

This is the sink base cabinet that Jeremy built with a small ledge on the right for counter top space. Big enough to set hand soap or small stuff while using the sink anyway.

 The front was pretty big and plain looking so I grabbed an old drawer facing left over from another project to add a little decorative element.

I sanded everything, then mixed a light gray color and painted everything twice.

Then I mixed a dark custom glaze with a bit of metallic shimmer in it. I applied the glaze using one brush to paint it on and another large clean brush to brush it off going in a consistent up and down pattern to give a wood grain like effect.

 After the cabinet was finished and installed we put in the flooring.

 I also found this really cool peel-and-stick back splash material at Lowe's. It looks like brushed metal and I love it. It can be cut to size with a utility knife and applied to a smooth primed wall. We added a small amount of liquid nails wen applying to make sure it didn't come loose over time. It also needed clear waterproof caulking along the seam in the corner and on the bottom edge where it meets up with the sink counter. I think it's fantastic. Easy. Inexpensive. No grouting or cutting tile. Done in less than 10 minutes!

I wanted a cool shelf above the toilet so I grabbed a good size scrap piece of 4'x4' from our wood pile, sanded it, and wiped it with some gray/charcoal wood stain. Then we used two 2.5" L-brackets to mount it to the wall. By screwing the brackets to the wall first and then setting the wood on top and screwing into it from underneath we created a sturdy floating shelf.

I already love this deep utility sink and my sprayer faucet.

Cool Projects

Never wanting anything to go to waste...and always looking for ways to make something unique.
Here are all the ways we are using my old wooden ladder:

First, the main climbing part of the ladder will be put on wheels and attached at the top to metal piping that runs along the front of the studio loft to be used as a kind of "library ladder" (more photos on that project later...it's in progress right now)

Second, we cut off the back side of the ladder and leaned it against the wall in the bathroom next to the toilet. It is attached at the top with small L-brackets for safety. We drilled a hole in the side and threaded a pipe through and screwed on metal end caps to make a toilet paper holder. I will hang hand towels on an upper rung.

Third, we dismantled the unused top section of the ladder and pieced it together with other scrap wood to make an awesome step stool for the little ones who visit my studio so they can reach the sink. I used some of the same metallic glaze mixture from my sink base on the stool but kept it pretty transparent because I didn't want to cover up all of the gorgeous, distressed, aged wood.

My $1 basket from the Thrift Store fits perfectly on top of the stool under the sink to store extra toilet paper, soaps, etc.


Outside:

The huge wrap-around deck is going to be a great place to relax and make art, stargaze at night, watch fireworks in the summer, have cook outs with family and friends...especially when the weather is nice.

Stairs lead out into the back yard. 

 Only a few more boards needed then we will have to start on the railings....

I am ready to see it all stained and painted on the exterior....anybody want to come help me with exterior painting?

No, really.

Could totally pay with monopoly money or cook/bake something really yummy to entice workers.

xo

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