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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

A fresh start in the work room!

The Sugarplum was started in earnest a few weeks ago, and then LIFE happened. After the four day trip with my mom I came home with bronchitis. I'd let you know in my last post that while I was gone my wonderful husband cleared out my office/work shop (living and dining rooms) and tore out the carpeting in preparation for laminate floors. It was great news for a messy miniaturist with two little puppies and a rapidly shedding beagle. Not so great news because I was really sick for another four days before I could help get the rooms back together again...

New color over old color

When finally I could muster any strength, I decided since the rooms were empty it was a great time to re-paint the dining room. I have never liked the color I ended up with a few years back (never trust a new paint mixer at Home Depot), a pale and cold blue which was supposed to be a warm blue/green, so it was the opportunity I needed for a do over. I got the perfect shade of Valspar called Steely Blue, and the paint itself was thick and really easy to work with. I love it! It will be my go to brand from now on! I primed first because I was going from satin to flat, and one coat covered the primer amazingly. I did three coats though, because I love the durability and depth of color that way.

Yellow ceiling and coral trim.
While I was at it, I got rid of the pale yellow ceiling and the coral moldings (what was I thinking), opting instead for white. Once the ceiling was painted and the coral edited out, I decided that the crown molding, chair rail, baseboards and bead board really needed a freshening up as well. Russ painted the second ceiling coat and the crown molding because heights give me the willies. Thanks honey!

Finished!

Raised the light.
Now the room is bright and clean! The hutch and buffet, which were given to me by my grandma, have found a home in other areas in the house. This means that I can line up all of the drawer units and other storage items along one wall, giving me much more room to move around in the space. No more bruised hips and stubbed toes? I doubt it - when I am focused on minis I hardly remember that my body is there! But having more room to slide from work station to work station on my table in my wheeled office chair will be liberating!

Why does it still look messy? Need to work on that.

Need to add a shelf for finished projects, maybe?

Here's the space before the work table comes in.

Hopefully, by the time I call it a night I'll have the work table back in here and ready for me to play. Right now though, I need something to eat and to let my aching muscles relax a bit.

The rest of the house is in shambles, so I have to spend the next two days hitting the reset on everything. Then work Fri-Sat and hike with the hubs and puppies Sunday. I have high hopes that next week I will be able to carve out some time again on the Sugarplum. Strike that - NEXT WEEK I WILL MAKE TIME FOR MINIS A PRIORITY AND MAKE SOME PROGRESS ON THE SUGARPLUM!!!

Here's a shot of Gertie enjoying a cup of coffee in the newly cleaned and dusted Starbucks. She likes to watch the progress on everything, and when she's finished she just strolls on over to Alki Point for the night.



TTYS :O) Hopefully with some exciting progress!

12 comments:

  1. What a pretty colour. I have to say I am so envious of the huge rooms that seem a standard in the US. I would love a space like that.
    I think Gertie needs to get off her backside, stop drinking coffee and give you a hand with the redecorating =0P

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    1. It's funny because our kids were already grown and out of the house when we built it. Why did we think we needed a formal living and dining space in addition to the family room? I guess because back then we generally hosted the family get togethers and there were 24 of us. That time passed quickly, and we find that most times there are only 12 of us who regularly get together now. When I realized over time that the rooms just sat here, I slowly began taking them over. I am really grateful to have my little piece of "girlie" space. It's the only space left in the house that escapes the "manly" touch, if you know what I mean. It's my oasis!
      Oh and Gertie... she claims that she is disabled due to the fact that her creator fixed her legs into that position. I think she just enjoys being lazy in her retirement from The Chicken Ranch. That's okay - I hope to be lazy someday, too! :O)

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  2. Glad you are feeling better. The flooring and paint look lovely. What a great space to have as your workroom. Mini time is just around the corner!

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    1. Thanks Shelley! It was around $100 for the flooring and about $50 for the paint in the space. Luckily, Russ is a very talented carpenter, and I have lots of painting experience so the labor cost was $0!

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  3. I love the new color! I'm a little jealous of the walls being full sized...my work room is in the attic with the walls only 4 feet tall and a peaked ceiling. Good thing I'm short! I cant wait to see what you do next!

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    1. Wow, Cyd! That makes what you do in that challenging space even more incredible! The first house I worked on was for my daughter years ago. I had to do it in secret on the kitchen table, then hide everything in the laundry room before she got home from school. She got the house for Christmas and never knew a thing! Where there is a will, there is a way!

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  4. The colour is beautiful! I have a paint story too. Went to Home Depot once to get my wood stain for my new shed, In a blue grey shade too. This was the second can and trip I made. Went to stain and it didn't match! When I went back, the guy asked what day I came to get the stain. When I said Monday, he told me that a screw had come loose on Monday and plugged the blue paint dispenser, throwing off all the paint with blue in it. I suspect that was a lot of paint. Lol.

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    1. OMG! Were you ever able to get it matched or did you have to re-paint everything? That happened to me years back when painting a red dining room. I just had to repaint everything! My Home Depot has an "oopsie" rack containing colors like thousand island dressing that are always marked down. I think you must be right about it happening all of the time. I seem to have great luck with my local Ace hardware store, so I seldom use Home Depot anymore.

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  5. Love the color and I'm envious of all that storage! Your floors look wonderful too. Hope you're feeling better.

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    1. Sheila the drawer units were purchased bit by bit over time through Amazon. I still have one more to buy so that I can replace the white unit I started with in 2002. The wide 3 drawer units were right around $50 with free shipping from Amazon. I just could not find anything like them locally, and Wal-Marts online price were the same except they also charged shipping. I filled them up fast, and it keeps the puppies out of things. Do it! Do it! You'll be very glad you did!

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  6. Everything looks beautiful !!! You are so lucky to have that room for your "play" time !!!!

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    1. Thanks Elsie! I am so grateful to have these rooms! I get to keep all my fru-fru girlie stuff in here and the boys generally don't touch it. That means greasy fingerprints from the garage stay in other places, and I can ignore them rather than cleaning them up all of the time! :O)

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