Art Studio - Flooring Installation Done!

Jon finished laying the floor in the art studio on Monday.  I vacuumed up the dust and snapped these photos.  Next weekend I think Jon will install the tabletop height (30") L shaped countertop in the sewing room (west dormer).

I'm standing in the west dormer looking into the northeast corner of the art studio.  The center north wall will have a countertop and some frame storage below.  Northwest corner floor to ceiling will be a built in unit for canvas storage.  Jon installed one of the three fans this past weekend.  Sure makes a difference in this 95-100 degree weather.

Above is the south wall.  At the ceiling (left) you can see S curve 3-bulb light fixture.   14 more light fixtures to install.  Two soft white compact fluorescent bulbs in positions 1 & 3 on the 3-bulb light fixture to point to artwork on the walls. And position 2 will be a special 5000K  75 watt bulb to be pointed down at a student's easel.

 Student easels will be arranged egg crate style, to accommodate 10-12 students.  A nice class size is 8 students.  12 students in a class is tough work.

Standing in the middle of the studio, I turned toward the west dormer (sewing room). 

The east dormer elevator shaft. 

 The west dormer sewing room.

I have 5 vintage wrought iron and vinyl chairs for the studio.  This weekend I purchased this 5'x7'charcoal rug that will be in the east dormer when you get off of the elevator.  Should help keep the floors cleaner (I hope).

Above: a detail of the 5 vintage chairs I purchased at Reflections (vintage/antiques shop) in Nelsonville, WI.

Close Up of the vinyl fabric

Below: I found 4 chrome  chairs at a garage sale--$2.75 each.  Oh my goodness, did they ever stink!  I was glad to pull off old fabric and foam, make pattern, and re-upholster them. I used brand new foam for the chair upholstering projects.

I pulled the old fabric and foam off, and made paper patterns from the new materials.

Here is one of 4 chrome chairs (finished) I re-upholstered for the studio.  What a fight to the finish and punished my fingers trying to stuff the fabric cover over the foam of the back rest.  I almost wanted to give up. 

NEVER GIVE UP!

Below:  I found side two chairs (garage sale) $5 each, deconstructed them, and re-upholstered them for the studio.  They'll be waiting chairs for the east dormer as you get off the elevator.

They smelled so bad the day I bought them and drug them home I could hardly stand to have them in the car to drive home! 

While deconstructing the chairs, I asked for Jon's help--they were so dusty I had to stop and put on a face mask--I couldn't stop coughing from the dust.  I photographed the deconstruction to have reference photographs to re-upholster the chairs. 

The chrome chairs and these two side chairs were my first attempts at chair re-upholstering.  

Love the gray chevron weave fabric. I used up every scrap of this material to recover two identical chairs.   AND used the left over material to make purses!

The south end of the studio.  The natural gas heating unit will hang from the ceiling in the corner and controlled by thermostat. 

Again, here's the sewing room, west dormer

Instead of the light bulb shown in this photo, there will be a ceiling fan.

I'll continue to add photos as we move along and finish the window and baseboard trim.  The exterior wood siding (same style as the old barn) needs to be installed before the end of summer. 

I have a special surprise to show you for wet canvas storage--that storage should be finished about the same time the window and baseboard is installed.  I think you'll really dig it. 

Installing Floor in New Art Studio

The Art Studio is coming together.  We started building the two story garage/woodworking shop - lower level in August 2009.  Then in May-June-July 2010 added the second story creating space for the art studio. 

Here's my darling Mom, Lorraine removing brass hardware from one of the 120 card file drawers, getting it ready to sand each box to remove old crazed varnish finish, followed by primer coat, then two coats of black satin enamel.  Mom cleaned all the brass hardware fixtures with fine steel wool.

By the way, Mom is sitting in the garage below the studio, sitting on one of the 5 vintage chairs I purchased at a vintage/antiques shop called Reflections. 

This is the East Dormer under constructionin May 2010.  To the right you can see shaft opening for the elevator, and the ladder sticking out of the floor--our makeshift entry/exit during the studio build.

Well this is bare bones, isn't it?  It is the East Dormer walls being framed.  Nice view of the old barn.

Looking South is the Balcony Doors.  To the left is the East Dormer.

The walls are gray, dark floors, the woodwork will be off white.  This is the view looking north.  The north end of the studio will have a 12' wide countertop with storage below for canvas art frames. To the left is the West Dormer (my sewing space).  I bet I've moved those vintage chairs dozens of times during the build.  We just ran out of room in the garage below to store easels, chairs, conference table, boxes of flooring, etc. 

Sunday, I sat on the floor and re-installed all the brass hardware on the 120 card file drawers.

Here are four sections, each section contains 15 drawers.  Two boxes stacked equals 29"--just the right height to add a laminate countertop.  I'll sit (sew) facing the west double windows with two care file boxes on my left, and two boxes on my right. 

Last summer when Mom and I worked a couple of weeks restoring the two old credenzas, here are some photos showing the drawer dimensions, and how I plan to use them in the sewing room for notions, and in the north end of the art studio for paint tubes/brush storage.

In this photo, just behind this credenza is another matching credenza.  As I mentioned before, I removed the vintage legs, and unbolted the four sections making up this unit of 60 drawers.

At one point during the card file restoration I took some photos showing how I plan to use the 17" deep drawers by 5" wide.  This will work out so well in the sewing room.  I'll be able to keep the sewing supplies organized.

 

The north end of the studio we will use the other card file storage sections to support a standard countertop height 35".  We'll have to elevate the sections by means of a 3-4 inch wooden base (platform).  Here is a photo showing how I'll use the card file storage in the art studio.

Jon is doing a great job of laying the flooring.  Note, middle of photo at the left in the floor is the now boarded up temporary entrance/exit, without the ladder sticking up through the floor.

Once the proper lighting fixtures are installed, I think you'll see more definition in the wall color.  I'll be using 5000K color lighting.  There will be three ceiling fans with lights for ventilation and comfort.  Let's see how long we can get along without a/c. 

Above is the East Dormer, and our new temporary exit/entrance with a ladder in the elevator shaft.

The building exterior siding will arrive soon.  It is the same style of wood planks as the old barn.  The color we're painting the exterior is a beautiful shade of . . . .

Fluted Glass Holophane Shades and 1907 Harvey Hubbell Pull Chain Light Socket

I removed these two antique Holophane Glass Shades from upstairs bedrooms, and replaced them with larger vintage light fixtures for better lighting in the bedrooms.

These awesome fluted shades I'll re-wire with new fixtures and use over my sewing table in the west dormer of the art studio.

The pull chain socket fixture on the left turns out to be an antique as well.  The label markings seem to fit the description of a manufacture date of 1907. 

See link below for more information about this pull chain socket invented  in 1896 by Harvey Hubbell.

http://antiquesockets.com/hubbell.html

Discussion about the Birds Eye Maple Desk (more photos)

I received some great comments from Mark, Richard, and Ann about the Birds Eye Maple Desk I posted a couple of days ago.

Mark, Richard, and Ann have wonderful websites I follow.  Be sure to check them out!

Richard's
http://www.myoldhistorichouse.blogspot.com/

Mark's
http://www.althingsruffnerian.blogspot.com/

Ann's
http://www.asentimentallife.blogspot.com/

Birds Eye Maple Desk:  Richard and Mark agreed the desk was Eastlake.  I added some photos to confirm Richard's review that the desk once had a top to it.  Here are more photos noting peg holes and a cleat.  I'm hoping to hear more comments from them about what the top might have looked like. 

Summertime - Marinating Cucumbers and Onions

Last night we made a Chicago style grilled hotdogs for dinner.    I started with 8 for $2.29 Aldi's Angus beef hot dogs grilled in a hot pan on the stove (raining outside, so didn't use the gas grill).

Grilled the buns in a bit of butter.  Chopped a tomato, green pepper, sweet pickes and added "1 hour quick marinated cucumers and onion slices."  Here's how.  I chopped up the last 10 bread and butter pickles and saved the juice.  Sliced one half of a large cucumber, and one half of a white onion.  Stuffed 'em into the pickle juice for an hour. 

Last night we punished the marinated cucumbers and onions.  So, this morning I chopped up the remaining cucumbers and onions and tossed them into the juice.  Tonight we'll eat them for a side dish.  We're having Baked and BBQ Sauced Chicken Drumsticks, and Buttered Rice with Broccoli.

And, we're having Lemon Pie.  Jon will take one to work, and we'll eat the other one. 

The best part of being retired is having time to cook, bake, and go to the Fitness Center.