A Place to Play

Whew! We've been busy and while we're not completely done, I have something to share; a Music Room for my husband's band practice. He's recently been playing with a new Celtic Rock band called Empty Flask (click on the link for more info on them) and wanted a nice place to play (one that's air conditioned mostly).

But this isn't about them...you want to see Before and After Pictures, don't you?? (Bad lighting makes for fuzzy pics, but it's the best I could do.)

Here's what we started with:

A paneled room with a red stanchion holding up this side of the house
Speckled linoleum tiled floor
Retro lights (kinda cool, but not Empty Flask cool)
Windows that didn't open (maybe due to all the dirt!) and had vintage custom-made Sears drapery

Looking into room from down the hall

Baseboard Heating

Ugly, dirty red stanchion that would be too much trouble to remove

This is the beam that was boxed in and I already cleaned it and started painting

YAY! Drywall!

Guitar wall

This will be where the drums go

And now we have this:

The hanging pendant lights are simple pendants and industrial metal cages. The look is industrial and it throws some fun shadows around.

See those floating shelves? I'm super proud of them as they not only look amazing (IMHO) but solve a little issue of the bump out in the wall. They wrap around that oddity and need some stuff on them!

Here you can see the beam painted black - no need to box it in. The stanchion was painted out black also. It works for the space just fine.

The shelves are simple pine boards, built like a box with a open back to attach to a board on the wall so no hardware is showing. I stained them with n a mix of Jacobean and Ebony stain and then waxed with paste wax. At the moment, I'm deciding what type of decorative objects to place on them, but for now there's a mirror, some musical notes, and this:

a beer can found behind the paneling. Looks like the workers building this house might've quenched their thirst while working. Hmmm.....might explain some of the wonkiness in some areas...

The bar you might recognize from another room - it was cut in half and the top needs to be changed, but for now it's fine. This room has had new carpeting for over a year, but is just now losing it's wood paneling...I'll show you that when we're done with that!

This is just the start and there's a lot of wall space to decorate. My husband has a lot of stuff that he wants to put up. Should be fun working on that, but the basics are done and the band is here tomorrow for the first band practice in the house.

 What will I be doing while they're playing? Shopping ;)

Are Owls Still Hot?

I have no idea if owls are still hot or not, but in unpacking some boxes of junk treasures that've been waiting for my office to be done, this collection presented itself. 

An Ikea Ribba frame, an old Latin dictionary, and a baby owl trivet.

There was a spot on the shelves in the living room that needed something, and this fit perfectly!

from across the living room, the thread really isn't noticeable

I now pronounce my shelves perfect! 

And now that you've seen my perfect shelves, here's a sneak peek of something that's taking a lot of my time these days...

Before...

...After?

New Year, New Blog

It's a new year, did you notice? Some days I don't know what day it is, much less what year.

With this new year come resolutions. Like lose weight, make a budget, GET. SOMETHING. RENOVATED. It would appear that getting my house updated and working on my blog are mutually exclusive. Which is a bit of a bummer.

Here are my thoughts about what's to become of my blog:

No more posts about what's going on (or not going on as is the case currently) in the renovation process. WHAT?? No more updates? Wasn't this blog turning into a blog about renovations on my 1966 house??

Let me explain. I started this blog almost 2 years ago as a way of redefining my new life outside of the corporate world, exploring my creative side. Lots of creativity has happened, many projects have been started...with some finished, and I've found a whole new world to explore via style blogs, Pinterest and Houzz.

For those of you that love pictures, here are some of my favorite projects from 2012 are:

Gallery Wall

Pipe Shelving with Bench and Chalkboard Door

Silver Dusted Side Table

Board and Batten Dining Room

Mid-Century Atomic Side Table

Mid-Century Dresser

Penny Table

With all the ideas out there comes Inspiration Overload. It's been a ton of fun refinishing furniture, building stuff, making jewelry, painting stuff...but not much of the home renovations are getting done. 

AND...here's the rub: DIY isn't really my thing. I do little projects and will continue to switch out plugs, paint furniture, etc. but the big stuff like demo and moving walls, new plumbing, new windows, and all that jazz is best left to someone who will do it properly. When I was a single mom, I put in a new kitchen with the help of my dad...and wonder if it's still standing or if the couple who bought that house still curse me for it.

Very long story short, (yes, I'm a rambler and a lover of tangents but if you wait for it, a point will eventually get made...) this house needs some serious work and we are working this year on getting some real renovations. I had thought that my blog would be a journal of sort to show off the renovations, but now I'm not so sure. 

For me, blogging about projects is fun; blogging about my personal life is more like being on a reality show. Throwing my life out there for the world even a few people to read is too intrusive for me. Way to buck the trend, right? Keeping my personal life to my friends and family?? But it's right for me and for my blog. 

So, I may throw in a pic or two of the house as things get done but the blog will be more about things that interest me and hopefully you.

Ok. Hope I haven't lost you with this long-winded post. Happy New Year to all of you and may this year bring lots of good things to all!