Home Improvements

Just be glad that this posting isn't what I initially had in mind: a political rant celebrating the ostrich-skinned downfall of Paul Manafort (hopefully leading to the ultimate removal of The Orange Menace and Co.) Instead, I am focusing on subjects closer to home.
Like the bedroom, fr'instance. Next to my side of the bed, about four feet up on the wall is the above hole. The former owner of The BauHaus Chicken Coop, Ken the Kreative Karpenter, used to spontaneously redecorate the house with a saws-all. We figured out that this particular hole was carved out to accommodate a television set that was viewed from the bed that had been placed in the opposite direction from where we have it. (We position our bed in configuration with lay lines so that our heads point due north). The hole has remained untouched for the seven years we have lived here, as is, until today. Literally, it was a rough hole with exposed studs and a view of the back side of the bathroom, and a towel used to block the right hand side which opened onto a no man's land that exists behind the bedroom and bathroom. Not a pleasant place!

(There's the hole in configuration with the lamp above the bed.) For some reason, as I looked the hole this morning, I was newly provoked to ask, "Why are we living with a sizable hole in our wall?" I promptly removed the ceramic foo dog, the small metallic wind up walking alligator and the small basket of jewelry that had resided there and began cleaning, thinking I would commit to a small construction project. I decided to attempt to box in the hole.
I was preempted by Bob, who mercifully rescued us and set to doing things in the correct way. I will admit to thinking that I could have sliced up a few odds and bits of sheet rock and wedged them in and thrown some paint on it and called it a day. Bob does things the way they should be done, with drills and screws and skill saws and measurements. Here's a practical demonstration: the furniture was moved aside, tools were laid out and chaos ensued so that order could ultimately be imposed.

I admit that my contribution was reduced to vacuuming six and a half years worth of dust from the hole. (It was so bad that I didn't even photograph it for posting here! I had to bath my foo dog...)
But several hours later, Bob had neatly enclosed the space and all that awaited was for me to spackle the screw holes and paint it (at a later date).

 Big improvement! Neatly boxed in and clean; I was all set to fill in the holes and prepare for the eventual paint job but the spackle had been unused for a couple of years so it was moldy when I opened the can. EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! (It smelled sour, too!)

Hahahahaha. I had to include this to share the grossness! I'll post pictures after we've procured new joint compound and the hole is finished. Betcha can't wait!

At Last... Insulation!

Insulation at last! Bob and Joe and I are in process, installing insulation and sheet rock the better to regulate the climate in my studio. You will remember that we had finished the majority of the hard work last fall, but still needed to get to the ceiling. Work began Friday...
I sort of like the tutti frutti two color confectionery fiberglass; looks like Easter colors. Of course, sheet rock is going up over it. And I should mention that a very generous and gracious client of Bob's gave us the insulation as she was having work done at her house in the attic. This prompted us to bring it home and use it!

But first here's a shot of the scaffolding that's making this all so much easier! (Not that it's not hard work. The fiberglass is nasty scratchy stuff. I cut it outside on a nifty jig that Bob made... so much faster! And the sheet rock- yes, called "ultra light" but believe me, it weighs plenty!)

Here's Bob and Joe. I'm sure they're delighted that I'm documenting their heroic efforts to finish my studio!

And hey presto! Sheet rock goes up, the insulation vanishes and I'm feeling snugger already. Tomorrow, when I return from "the salt mines" (as I affectionately call my place of work) the ceiling should look like... a ceiling!
(And I will mention: I wanted to make a blog posting earlier, but felt somehow not up to my usual silliness after the Paris terror attacks. Being concerned about the self indulgent or petty preoccupations of one's daily existence can seem so minor when confronting the bizarre realities of the world in which we live. I was so saddened and sickened by recent events that I couldn't even blog.)

This Sheet Rocks!

I really feel we're closing in on completion! Bob and I worked to get sheet rock on the walls and should be done with that tomorrow. The begins the messy joy of taping and applying and sanding joint compound.
The walls make it seem like an actual room, not just an uncompleted space. I can already envision making masterpieces here...
Here's another shot of the corner. it is great that we got the entire north side of the studio covered.

It's one of those funny paradoxes: does the sheet rock make the space appear larger or smaller? Maybe a little of both.
And meanwhile, back in my old studio, we had four sheets of sheet rock up for me to work on, and we had to take them down so as to reuse them. Of course, this necessitated my moving an ungodly pile of magazines, art materials, a flat file, years of old work that was piled up. What a mess!

My old studio is a complete disaster! But I guess we can recite the old saw about having to break eggs to make an omelette. I keep reminding myself (and Bob) that a remarkable side effect of my studio being completed is that we'll have a real living room. A place to entertain and (gasp) relax.