C’est Fini!

The other title for this post would be Crazytown, USA. Oh my goodness. I have never in my 59 years experienced anything like this. I thought back over my entire life, and I realized I have never lived in a house that was undergoing any type of renovation, remodeling, or construction. When I was a kid, my parents did the regular things–occasional painting, repairs, maybe a few bookcases being built. But nothing like this.

And let me just say that in one way it was WAAAAAYYY less stressful than I thought it would be. J. the contractor couldn’t have been nicer, or calmer. He worked steadily and methodically. No yelling or bad temper. Always a smile, and a special pat for Noah.

But after a while, all the disarray wears on you. Last weekend I took a few days and just went to a hotel. It was quite wonderful. I realized afterwards that one of the reasons I slept so well was because I did not go to sleep or wake up thinking about what was going to be done next.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I will just show you pictures of my new studio, while it is still pristine.

The new door, going from the living room to the studio (replaced that old sliding glass door!)

Those are LED light fixtures. There are three of them in this room and a fourth fixture with track lighting. All the quilt blogs I read said you just couldn’t get enough light. I think I proved them wrong. It looked like a scene from some martian movie the first time I saw them all lit up! That corner there is where my sewing table will go. I will be able to look out the window at my future new garden (MLG is coming over tomorrow and we will discuss this!)

My pink wall! “Coral Shimmer” to be exact. The other colors are Antiquity and Winter Snow.

Another view–that door leads out to the deck. This picture shows the mini-blinds inside the glass closed.

Looking the other way, toward the front door and the closet.

Same thing…

And the closet. I am most proud that I was able to build those two sets of shelves all by myself. They were super super heavy, and I do believe my arms got just as good a workout as my usual upper body weights workout at the gym.

And the exterior colors. I am so pleased with them, after spending all that time trying to decide on the EXACT. RIGHT. COLOR. The main color is Yukon Green, with Natural Wicker trim, and Savory door. I love the little landing that J. built. So much better than the step that I had imagined! Of course, you can see the old color of the house on there too. Eventually the whole house will be painted. But for now the studio is done. More furniture moving tomorrow.

Because next, J. is going to do hardwood floors and paint and trim, oh, and replace the huge windows in the living room.

And after that he will do the dining room.

And after that….let’s not talk about it. Let’s just say that I have an idea for a REALLY. BIG. JOB. But I don’t know about that one for sure yet.

Tomorrow I am leaving for a little quilt trip, and then I will turn around and take another longer trip. I’ll tell you about that one when I come home. These trips were planned way before I ever decided to do all this construction work. But they are coming at just about the right time. I am going to be happy to be out of the house for a while, and I am sure J. will enjoy working without me in his way.