A Lighting Dilemma...

I have this ongoing problem with the lighting in my workroom (a.k.a. dining room though it hasn't been used for that purpose in nearly three years). I need bright white LED bulbs in my fixture to provide good lighting for minis, but it casts a weird tone in a lot of my photos. Often, my iPhone camera gets confused by it, causing the display to brighten then dim. Sometimes I can diffuse the light a bit with a sheet of polystyrene dollhouse flooring and that helps. But try to hold the camera steady, hold the diffuser steadily to cast just the right shadow over the subject and push the button simultaneously . It must be absolutely ridiculous to watch! I am trying a few apps that supposedly snap the photo for you on voice command, but so far, the results are sketchy.

I am calling the above photo the "in my underwear" shot, because in order to show you the light fixture I have to show you what my work space looks like when I am in the middle of a project. I do clean up and put stuff away in-between tasks because I don't function well in messy spaces. But there it is - it's okay if you judge me! :o)

A couple years back HBS sent an email flash sale. They were offering a Houseworks Side By Side Duplex kit for (if I remember correctly) $9.99. It's been in that stack of "future dreams" ever since. Lately, I've been thinking I could turn it into a photo box of sorts. When constructed I could replace the plywood roof with a plexi one, then set a diffuser on that to take photos.

Look ma! No hands! :o)

If I used neutral finishes for the interior, I could photograph almost everything in it. The size is 24" wide by 10" deep, so I can easily tuck it up on my shelf when not in use!

So last Saturday, I started the kit. It comes with 6 pieces of luan plywood and 5 pieces of trim for the edges. There are no tabs, slots or grooves, so tape, glue and weights saved the day! The plywood is thin and slivery - I still have 3 of them I can't quite dig out, so if you get one of these kits be aware.

My floor piece was pretty warped, but using the weights made it behave while the glue set. I knew going in it would be challenging thanks to following Kat's posts when she put hers together. I went back to her blog for a refresher before I started. Hers came out awesome and really shows how neat this kit can be with a little imagination!

Each of the three shorter walls are interchangeable, which makes it nice because you can set it up for your specific purposes. The back wall has the windows centered vertically, so you can change the orientation of them, as well. I wanted each space to be separate (think two different business sharing a common wall) so I have the doors on each of the end walls. I cheated the center wall to the right so that the left "shop" had just a bit more space.

For the interior of shop 1, I wanted a rustic but neutral feel. I was thinking of a Pottery Barn or Ballard Designs kind of feel. I had an abundance of 1/8" x 3/4" basswood on hand, so decided to clad the walls in "reclaimed barn wood". I made up a few test pieces with a Real Brown wash (3 parts water to 1 part paint) then set to painting a whole lot of sticks and scrap pieces!

After some drying time, I coated over the brown with a 2 to 1 wash of Warm White. 2 coats, then after they had dried, I sanded to achieve a nice worn and pickled whitewash.

During all that drying time, I painted an undercoating in the room, just in case any cracks should show peeks of the wall. The doors and windows were treated to the same process.

I installed vertical "beams" in the corners and around the door, then began to clad the walls. I am still considering my options for crown molding, so I am leaving the top row off for now.

I decided to go with some Houseworks flooring for this project. I like it's ease of use, it looks really nice no matter what kind of finish you're going for, and it's paper backed - a real plus when gluing onto thin plywood. The less chance for warping, the better! After making the paper template of the room, I just tape the pattern to the edge of the flooring sheet and cut with an xacto knife. Easy peasy!

In keeping with the neutral and rustic theme, I gave the floor two coats of the white wash, letting them dry in between, then sanding at the end. The wood sheet tends to curl during this process but not to worry - it lays right back down as it dries! I installed with Gorilla Wood Glue - same glue I've used for everything so far. While all of this was drying, I settled on the material to use for the baseboards and got them painted. Installing them is the next step!

I'll also be creating a solution for those unsightly and trip hazardly door thresholds. Stay tuned for that in my next post!

Until then my friends, I hope the holiday season is filling your heart with joy and excitement!

xo xo,
Jodi