Jason’s Studio Before

10/14/2010

I shared some pictures on Monday of the not-quite-finished main part of Jason’s studio remodel. I was able to find a few before pictures but the rest must be on a different hard drive. When we moved in the room was carpeted. (I can’t find any of those pictures.) Then our cat peed on the carpet various times in various places and we ripped it out and threw it away. (I hate cats. And carpet. Sorry to anyone that I just offended.) Under the carpeting we found that the original flooring had been painted some some kind of white something. It was dirty so we painted it with Kilz. Then we painted it chocolate brown thinking maybe it would match the rest of the house. It didn’t look good. (Again, can’t find any pictures …) Then, we decided to do the whole room in black VCT tiles. Cheap, durable, dark … good for a room that people are dragging amps and guitars and drums in and out of. As this room has evolved into less of a practice room and more of a full-blown home studio a real remodel was desperately needed. Here are some pictures from the previous state:

We love this gigantic, unbelievably-heavy gold vinyl mid-century sofa bed. Besides weighing as much as a car, it’s really long and in the original floor plan of the room there was only 1 option of where it could fit. Right smack in the middle of the room facing the door to the living & dining room.

Jason’s brother’s drums lived in the corner of this room for about 3 years.

Jason’s desk was fitted into the space between these 2 closets covering an impractically high window seat. Not conducive to proper studio monitor acoustics.

This is without a doubt Lucy’s favorite room in the house. She always keeps her toys in here. When Jason is working at home she’ll curl up on the couch or under his feet. Sidenote to a sidenote: I HATE this leather shag rug. I thought it was a bad idea from the beginning. I remember when Jason picked it out at the store and I was distracted on the phone with my sister and couldn’t say “What are you thinking? How are we going to clean that thing?!”

Lucy also loves to look out the backdoor. It’s a window just her height. I always imagine she’s waiting for him to get home from a tour. (Actually, here she seems to be staring at that guitar, doesn’t she?)

The original floor plan was this:

The new floor plan is this:

It’s amazing how much bigger this space feels now that it’s cut in half. Even the main space feels bigger than the old space. Jason took out of the closets which allowed us to fit that giant couch perfectly into that nook. The space behind it is half the impractically high window seat and half a ledge that will eventually be shelves on top. The smaller room, “the loud room”, will be used for storage and tracking. It’s still needing insulation, sound absorption and drywall; shelves; lighting; rug; etc.

I’ll have some finished after pictures whenever the room is fully finished. Don’t hold your breath – it might be a few months. Check out Monday’s post if you didn’t see the pictures of the mostly-finished main space.


Home Office Part 1: Small Homes Require/Inspire Creativity

10/12/2010

We have a three bedroom house. One room is used as a bedroom, another is Jason’s studio (he’s a full time musician) and the other is my home office. We plan to have kids someday, we’ll need another bedroom and if you know me you know I like to plan ahead. (Remember my post about the addition we’re planning to do … in 10 years or so?) Therefore, I’ve been pondering for a while now about where I could relocate my home office.

(LUDVIG $120, CYRIL $199 and JONAS $150 from IKEA)

I love this corner desk that Jordan Ferney created for their living space. They have a modest size home and therefore have to be creative with their space. This room is a living room, home office and a playroom! The desk is from IKEA but Jordan made it much prettier! (Sidenote: I also love these posts on her son’s closet bedroom and wisely planned toy area! Seriously smart and creative use of space.)

IKEA sells a ton of home office options. Even more compact than the armoires above, I’ve considered one of these for a spot on the wall in the living room or maybe even our bedroom.

(IKEA PS $59.99)

But the living room is crowded enough already and how would I concentrate on work if someone was watching TV? And I hate the idea of bringing my work into our restful bedroom. And with this or with an armoire, where would I put my printer and second monitor?

This is not going to work …


Jason’s Studio Remodel

10/11/2010

I gave you a glimpse of Jason building a wall a couple of weeks ago. Then last weekend a snapshot of bamboo flooring installation. And, of course, there was the big poster print we ordered of Great Grandpa Carl. We’ve had a little secret remodeling project going on. Jason (and I) turned his roughly 13’x22′ two closet home studio into a two room studio. The main space now has one closet (he took out the second one) and is his main work area, about 13’x11′. The other space is for tracking and storage and it’s not finished yet. It will probably be about 13’x10 when it’s done. Here are a few pictures I took of the almost finished main studio space:

I didn’t take many pictures of the floors because Jason hasn’t had a chance to do the quarter rounds yet but we’re really happy with how the solid bamboo floors turned out. They were on sale at HD for $1.99/sq ft! We left the black VCT tiles in the other room since it’s more of a work room. We haven’t figured out what to call each room yet but we’ve been calling the small room “the loud room.” I hope the main area can stay this neat and organized. I love to leave the door open so it extends our main living area and feels like a lounge.

By the way, I’m pretty sure this is the 4th kind of flooring we’ve had in this room since we moved in 3.5 years ago. Maybe later this week I’ll scrounge up some before pictures from the various states. The first flooring—carpeting—probably didn’t even last long enough for any photographs.


Phone Photo Friday

10/08/2010


The Tree of Life and the Starburst Clock

10/07/2010

I decided to swap locations for our metal Jeré-like tree sculpture with my favorite retro starburst clock. I like the tree in the dining room (though I want to lower it a bit) but I’m not sure a clock in the hallway is very practical. I think I’ll move the clock back into the living room/dining room/kitchen somewhere and find something else for the end of the hall. What do you think?


Before & After: Love Birds

10/06/2010

Jason and I picked up these ceramic birds at a thrift store a little while ago. Birds are kind of trendy and I like the trend but also my parents used to collect white bird figurines. That could be partly why I thought these would look best in white.

Though, I have to admit, my first suggestion to Jason was that we paint them orange or red. Ultimately we decided white would go with anything and emphasize the shape. I like them.


Weekend Update

10/04/2010

This Weekend I …

• went to my favorite Mexican restaurant with my husband, his brother and our sister-in-law

• watched the ultrasound video of our little baby niece

• made lasagna at midnight with Jason

• took lasagna to our friends and got to see their precious, teeny 5 day old Matteo

• spent the afternoon in the Tennessee hills at the home of the musician Jason will be touring with through the fall

• helped Jason finish installing bamboo floors in his studio

• went to church and lost track of time

• had a lunch date with my sweet husband

• put on “Wild Pacific” and took a much-needed Sunday nap (felt GLORIOUS afterward!)

• pulled my favorite winter hat out of storage (it got cold yesterday!) and headed out to our neighborhood coffee shop with Jason (in our pus) for hot chocolate and some website design

It was a wonderful weekend!


Phone Photo Friday

10/01/2010


Solar Beat

09/30/2010

If our solar system made music, this is what it would sound like. Maybe. I like it though. I find it very relaxing to listen to and mesmerizing!

Click here to see it in action.


Man Gifts: Greenhouse & Smoker

09/28/2010

I’m having [another] crazy busy week between work & freelance. Blah, blah, blah, everyone is busy… I know! I’m sorry for the lame excuse for light blogging. Here are a couple of quick photos of some new things around the ol’ mid-century modern ranch.

My parents and I bought Jason a greenhouse a couple weeks ago. He was quite surprised to see it out on the back patio when we woke up on his birthday. It’s out in the yard now ready to over-winter some of Jason’s tender tropicals.

This was like a birthday present from God for Jason. He’s been wanting a smoker for years but they’re pretty expensive ($150-250 for a big one like this) and no one ever seems to sell used ones on craigslist. We were riding our bikes home from a coffee shop run a few days after J’s bday and guess what our neighbors were selling at their yard sale? For $20! It needs cleaned up/fixed up but Jason can’t wait to use it… rack of ribs, smoked salmon, jerky …