Monday, February 7, 2022

T Stands for The Start of a Project

 Hi everyone.  Happy Tuesday or in my case Monday night  to you. It is time to stop by Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog for T day, where we share a drink related post. 

I hope those of you in last week's big snow got shoveled out and those of you who got ice didn't lose your power. After a full day of rain, the temperature dropped below freezing, and we had a little bit of snow (maybe an inch or 2), before we had hours of sleet. Luckily none of the trees were covered so the power stayed on. It ended the last work week with a dark, dreary and slippery day. It made it clean up  a lot of hard work. At least over the weekend we had sun, but cold again. We are definitely in the grips of Old Man Winter here in New Hampshire.

And for everyone else, I hope you have warm and sunny weather, or at least warmer and sunnier than here in New Hampshire-smile.

Other than, and even with the big storm, I had a fairly quiet last week, but that gave me some time to start a new project.

Welcome to the big mess. This new project at my house is both exciting and stressful.


This  (above) is my daughter's old room and our spare bedroom right now.

And below is  a photo of the walk in closet in the other spare bedroom,  now my art studio. You can see it is  partially cleaned out. No I'm not just cleaning out the closet. The first thought I had (last summer) was the carpet in this room needed to go. We put it in when my daughter was still in her crib, and she is now 30 years old. It not only has close to 30 years of wear, but it also has paint on it. When we had our 2 cats, the litter box was in a corner of this room. And we've had a dog accident a time or 2 on it also. Several years ago our dog Harley, who had severe noise phobia, ripped it up in one corner under my work table to hide there. This rug is more than ready to go. It is well past time to actually do it.


Step one was to start in the walk in closet. I emptied as much as I could into my daughter's room, pulled out half the rug, and then moved the bigger pieces I had in the other half of the closet onto the bare floor.  I could then pull out the rest of the rug.



This is the first time I've pulled out carpeting on my own. When we installed the rug I just ripped out, we had the installers do it. When we pulled out the carpeting in my bedroom, my husband and my daughter's then boyfriend did it. You can see I even got the tack strips up as well as pulled the staples out of the carpet pad. Wahoo!

One of the stressful parts is what to do with all my craft supplies (paper, rubber stamps, skeins of yarn, fabric, boxes of dies, paint, some old books for crafting, etc.) while I continue to pull out carpet. I still have more carpet in that room to remove and supplies in the rest of the room too.

Then we need to pick out a laminate floor and put that in also. 
The other stressful  and exciting thing is my husband and his idea. Let me explain.

This spare room is not very large, and the people who built the house (and that we bought it from) decided to use a quarter of the room as a walk in closet. Basically the room was left looking like a letter L with a big closet in one corner.  When my daughter was very little, it worked because we could put her toys in the closet and a twin sized bed in part  of the L  shape for her. Then when she got older, we moved her into the other empty bedroom of the house  (our house has 3 bedrooms) that fit a full sized bed where she could have a place for friends to sleep and more floor space to play on.

That's the time  I was really getting into art and when I took over this L shaped room as my studio.

OK, let me get to the next step of the big project. Do you see the wall on the left next to my vacuum cleaner?


If you remove that wall, plus a little bit of wall where I am standing, you can change the L shaped room back to a rectangular room.

And I bet you can guess what we are doing? Yes, we will be taking down the wall.

Not only do I need to figure out where to put things, but I now have a bigger project on my hands that will result in a wonderful space. I'll be able to move my work table out of the corner it is tucked into and move it under the rooms only window, a skylight.  (Hello excitement!) But in the meantime, I'll probably have a few months of commotion and stuff everywhere. (Hello stress!) Plus, I can't just stop making art; nope, that is my sanity. Never mind commitments and spending time doing what I love. (Hello more stress!)

Right now I am thinking, what am I getting into? 

This week I am pulling up more rug, packing more items and figuring out where I can put the items I've packed up. And I need to figure out what I need to keep out because I'll want to or will be using. (AUGH!)

Let me share my drink too while I work away. I'm sure you can see it in this photo if you look.


I'll keep you updated as things move along. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll move faster rather than slower, but since my husband still works full time, and  he isn't the fastest of workers, don't expect results too quickly. 

Have a fantastic T day and week ahead.
And as always, thanks for visiting my blog. It is much appreciated.











18 comments:

Linda Kunsman said...

Like you we didn't get much snow, but we lucked out and didn't get freezing rain. However, it has been brutally cold here too! That is some project you and hubby are taking on, but I'm sure you will be so happy to have changed it back to a full sized room once it's said and done. That would make one very nice craft/art room;):). Good luck with it, and happy T day!

Kate Yetter said...

I am guessing you will be knocking out that wall? Awkward room layouts are so difficult when it comes to setting up a space. I am looking forward to the progress of your project.
Happy tea Day,
Kate

kathyinozarks said...

Hi Erika, Yes this is a big big project with needing to take that wall out-hopefully no electric etc inside the wall (I am a property brothers watcher and they find all sorts of things in walls) Sounds like it will be an awesome craft-studio room when completed.
I think winter is a good time for this project-except for needing to get all the carpet and wall into a dumpster, but better now then in the summer I am thinking.
to answer your comment-this is a red headed woodpecker. Missouri also has the red bellied woodpecker which looks totally different, the little downy and also the large piliated woodpecker. This red bellied comes almost everyday now. Happy T and good luck with this project hugs Kathy

Sharon Madson said...

That is a huge project! Tearing down a wall? You are brave! Even tearing up carpet is brave as far as I am concerned! I had to search and begin to think you put up the wrong photo, then I spied the coke! LOL Happy T Day!

Angie's Recipes said...

Can't wait to see the final look of your art room! Have fun, Erika :-)

Iris Flavia said...

Wow, this looks like a lot of stress!! I hope you have good music or such along with this.
Have a happy T-day and I´m looking forward to how you organize all that.

CJ Kennedy said...

A studio makeover. How exciting! I'll enjoy watching the progress. Still a little slippery out this morning, but temps to get in the 40s for the rest of the week. Good-bye snow and ice! Happy T Day

Valerie-Jael said...

Oh my, Erika, that is a huge project and a lot of work, but it will give you a wonderful space when you are finished. Happy T Day! Hugs! Valerie

Divers and Sundry said...

Wow! I need carpet replacement but have too much heavy furniture to even contemplate the options *sigh* You're my hero! I look forward to updates.

Happy T Tuesday

Let's Art Journal said...

What a great craft space, I bet it will be amazing once all completed - yay! It looks like you've been busy and how lovely to have space for all your creativity 😁. Can't wait to see more, Happy T Day wishes! Hugs Jo x

DVArtist said...

Sun is shining here but not real warm. You are taking on a big job. Always nice when it's done though.

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Good luck with this whole project, Erika. I hope that it goes smoothly and tempers don't flare! A few years ago I stopped doing this kind of thing myself, because it just drags on for so long. Fortunately we don't have any wall-removing plans in mind and if ever we do I am calling a contractor. I bet when yours is all finished that you will have a crafting studio that's the envy of all your friends. Hugs, David

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I agree you have taken on a hugh project. what an amazing undertaking. Of note. While everything is out of the room, be sure to sort like items together, if they are not already. Make a design and be sure to set up zones. Keep wet zones in one area and dry ones in another. Don't invite your daughter and her fiance to spend the night unless you have good air mattresses (grin)! Keep us updated on the progress. Have you considered laminate wood? If I ever get rid of my carpeting, that is what I'll install. Even dried paint can be removed easily on this type of floor. Please keep us updated as to your progress. Looks like you will be drinking lots of Diet Coke along the way, too. Thanks for sharing this with us for T this Tuesday, Erika.

Jeanie said...

What you are experiencing in your re-do is what I have been avoiding by not re-doing! But boy, will it ever be worth it when it's done. And well done pulling on the carpet -- that's a total pain. I tried and failed and had it done. So bravo! A huge and wonderful project. Can't wait to see progress reports!

Birgit said...

I am glad you are not putting in another rug. This is a big project but you will be rewarded with a lovely craft/art room. My hubby took 6 months and rewarded me with a beautiful craft room. He took old boards, painted them and made a wrap around table top for all my stuff plus shelving. We picked up an old dresser that someone was throwing out which he converted to have all my stamps in there. I bought pull out plastic trays to place under the table tops to hold my paper etc plus I have a file cabinet for more paper.
Now, as for our bathroom where the pipes burst back Jan. 6th, 2018....bought all the tiles, tub, toilet, sink but there it sits.
My hubby tore out the upstairs living room and kitchen, that was where my mom lived, for his art room (he is an amazing artist working on wood). He has to tear down the ceiling in the kitchen which is not a nice job. This is also years in the making. Ughhh

Aimeslee Winans said...

Oh my, good luck with this. Our carpet is sooooo old but I'm not ready to do what you are doing, plus I guess I love closet space way too much, lol. xoxo

Empire of the Cat said...

Oh wow Erika, there must be something in the air I think, when we are taking on these big projects in the winter lol. We don't have a lot of houses here with built-ins or walk-in closets but in this house some previous owner did something similar to yours and added a built-in to two of the bedrooms. The bedrooms are in the roof basically so the ceilings are sloped and the only full sized wall is where they built the built-ins. So the beds have always been under the sloping walls. The BIs did hold a lot of stuff but they were also frustrating, so a few years ago, I started to remove the big one from the main bedroom just like you are doing now. Then I replaced it with the IKEA wardrobes that recently fell apart lol. I still have remnants of the BI that I can't get removed from the floor and ceiling, I'm a little worried it might pull the ceiling down haha so I might need an expert for that, but apart from that, it has given me a bigger room and the BI must have been from about 1970 something anyway.

Oh and you asked if I ever regret donating something, YES, all the time. Actually dug into one of the bags of clothing and decided to keep a shirt this time, but everything went off to charity shop yesterday so the temptation is gone now. The longer they sit around the house, the more tempting it is to keep everything! Happy T Day and good luck with your project, you will enjoy your bigger art room for sure. Elle/EOTC xx

Tracey@Hotchpotchcreations said...

Just keep thinking it will all be worth it in the end Erika and you have a fabulous space to work in, you should see the size of my little studio which is still a work in progress with more stops than starts. I'm sure you will find some treasures amongst it all and find it easier to detach yourself from things once you see the progress you make. Keep warm whilst your sorting.
Hugs Tracey xx