[GARO11] July 14

 

Welcome to the Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!

My art room progress has come to a screeching halt, but in the interest of being honest and authentic, I thought I would show you some (obviously untouched) photos of what it looks like this morning. The next step will be to hang my shelving to hold my paints, etc. And then I'll begin to organize the room - half classroom/public space, half studio space for me.

What do you think of the green? I never intended to have a green that deep. I do this all the time - pick something muted and subtle and then change my mind at the paint store. A friend said, "I need that exact shade of green in my life in the middle of winter," which I think it is a great point. I'm not going to make time to repaint it, so we'll see how it looks when the room is done. I love the grey - love love love it!

And, I could not be happier with the lighting and new ceiling fans. Third floors get hot and these are working great!

So there is a classroom area, a space for my work and supplies and a seating area. I still need to find a comfy rug (trying to design a room where my kids want to hang out too), but overall, big purchases are done. Phew!

Happy Thursday! xo

[GARO11] May 23

Welcome to The Great Artroom Overhaul of 2011!

Well, the bossy bossy delegating continues over here. My lovely husband painted the ceiling - it looks so much better. Crisper. Cleaner. 

Hopefully the electrician will finish up today. I'm going to see a flokati rug that I saw on craigslist. Does anyone out there have experience with these? Am I just an idiot to have three kids and two dogs with a fuzzy, white rug? We'll see.

Can you see above how angled my walls are up here? That's where my grey paint concerns come in, but I'm going for it as I said yesterday. 

I think Jenny posted the greatest Ikea hack ever yesterday. Ever. I already took her ceiling fan advice for this space, but if she had posted this lighting idea earlier, I definitely would have tried it! xo

[GARO11] May 22

Welcome to The Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!

I'm working - or rather, I'm coordinating other people working over here. The electrician is mid-job and while it's very dark and very dusty up here at the moment, we are thrilled with how things are shaping up.  Everything is covered in plastic and while I can stop working to a degree - I still have a few deadlines that need to be met.

So I'm working on the floor - luckily, this work is mock-up work, otherwise I would be concerned about all the dust. Sheesh - tons of dust. I also had a friend here all day on Thursday and we cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, sorted, sorted, sorted, and then cleaned some more.

And I've made peace with my paint color. I want grey - I know I do, but I'm going for cozy-industrial (is there such a thing?) not cold-industrial, so the contrast shown below threw me off for a bit (that's one color - looking almost white on the brown, and very dark on the white. You can see in the photo above how very angled my walls are, so I want to avoid making the space feel cave like. That same wall above will not have the mirror, but we'll paint that wall last and if necessary, paint it a bright bright color.

Have you seen Anna Maria's new studio. It is amazing!!! White is very tempting - I read all the time about how "real" artists always have white walls in their studios so their colors are true in their work. Alas, can't do it.

More soon. Hope you have wonderful weeks! xo

[GARO11] May 11

Welcome to the Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!

Day kabillion (feels that way)
[Before]

My progress right now is really not so much about "before"s and "after"s because right now I'm trying to re-arrange, re-arrange, re-arrange and to finally put in the basement what belongs in the basement (Christmas decorations, paper shredder, family tax forms, too-big lamps). Well, not everything goes in the basement, but the point is, it doesn't belong up here. 

This 3rd floor has been a dumping place for all things un-assigned since we moved in, so just making sense of that and claiming the space for what it should be...well, that's what's filling my days over here. Things have definitely been re-arranged. We now have a little sitting area by the window as I'd hoped. Shelves for students have been put in the classroom "area" and my personal work space has actually been made smaller - smarter, but smaller. We're using what we have right now, and prioritizing what we need as we move forward. My personal work space will be last because, even though it's in the same room, it's going to be relatively private/off limits. So it doesn't have to "match" the rest of the space.

My inspiration board is coming down - it's just too big. I love it, but as of yet, it has not been reassigned. I'm guessing that once the space is functional, a new inspiration space will present itself. Things are good - if you've read this far, know that things are very good!

[After]

 

  

[Footnote]

One of the bonuses of all this clearing I'm doing is unearthing favorite family things, like this photo of my kids. They were sharing a lemonade at the Statue of Liberty...gosh, at least 5 years ago. Sigh...

Thanks for checking in! xo

[GARO11] May 5

Welcome to the Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!

Day 3

 [Before]

 

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Today's overhaul project is a bit lame, but necessary nonetheless. I needed to clear out my flat files, and I was dreading it because in addition to holding art supplies, this file holds all-things-from-my-kids-that-I-don't-quite-know-what-to-do-with-but-don't-want-to-throw-away. And general family things too as evidenced by that photo in there of me and David in high school. Yowsa.

I also found many (many) unfinished projects that I started when my kids were younger. It was hard to throw these things away even though my kids are too old for activities that they were. Sigh. I also knew that by clearing this space my project would leak down to my basement where there is also plenty of sorting and clutter clearing to be done. But so be it. It's time. So all family sentimental went into a bin in the basement, all unnecessaries found their way to the trash or recycling bin, and now I have two whole empty drawers to use purposefully when the time comes. 

I love these files. The wood on top is burned for some reason (craigslist find), so I need to buy a counter to cover it (and also raise the height a bit since I hunch over here to cut paper). Need to get the walls painted and pick something bright and cheery for the countertops. Also, I bought that red thing at a tag sale and we've had a hard time finding hooks to fit into it (which explains why right now there is only one hook). I need to get to the bottom of this and either find hooks, or set this piece free.

[After]

Summary: Great to clear this space, but denial may be setting in since a big stack of stuff was relocated to the basement. Need to keep track of how often I'm doing this.

Up next: Closet

Money Spent: Zero, a counter needs to be ordered.

[GARO11] May 3

Welcome to the Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!

Day 2:
[Before]

 

What I'm learning today is that many many many baby steps are in order as I convert this space, and I can't lose my momentum. In these shelves alone, I unearthed so many jars (love jars) that need cleaning and probably donating, unfinished jewelry projects, list after list and random art supplies that had no "official" place where they belonged.

Most everything has a place now, although a few things were tucked into my closet (display items - I've used them three times since October but I need them - what to do with that kind of stuff?).

It's a gorgeous sunny day here today, so you'll notice that the lighting up here is a bit wonky/not ideal. Must problem solve about that too without spending too much to fix. Also, I'm guessing these shelves are on their way to Joey's room, but if not, something needs some paint up here, too many wood surfaces in the same color. Bleh.

[After]

Summary: 90 minutes of cleaning (not counting jar washing and trip to Goodwill.) I have a long way to go, and I need to have some space up here just for me - not for classes, kids' projects, collage parties.

Up Next: My flat files - ugh. (I shouldn't be dreading just my third day, should I?)

Money Spent: Zero

[GARO11] May 2nd

Welcome to The Great Art Room Overhaul of 2011!!

I have given myself the whole month of May to really clean out my art room and then repurpose it into a classroom and studio space. And I've decided to chronicle it in my blog being very honest about the process, the cost, the successes, my laziness (ahem), etc. So here is how it's going to work - whenever I work on this goal (deadline first week of June) I will take at least one before and one after photo.  Sometimes there will be text/banter/resource sharing/babbling and sometimes it will just be photos. Photos will be posted same day. Hope you'll check in on my progress!

Day 1:
[Before]

 

 

I don't believe this, but these photos don't actually capture how horrifically messed up my art room was this morning. It was post show and I banished my kids from going up there for three days because of loose needles on the floor, glasses strewn about that could spill on something I was making, etc. Ridiculous.

So the goal for today was to just get to a starting point for clearing things out. Today wasn't hard because everything that was out gets used and has a place - a place I know about. But now I'm trying to create a space that students/guests can navigate. Today was a good day - I ate a baked potato with a side of potato chips for lunch, but that was really my only set back. Ready for tomorrow!

[After]

Summary: 4 hours of cleaning.
Up next: going through paper and donating excess supplies, etc.
Money Spent: zero