The studio is pretty much finished, and I have some “after” pictures to show you!
Here are some “befores”, when it was an efficiency apartment that we rented out…
And the “afters”…
We decided not to paint the floors like we originally planned. We sanded the floor really well, then put three coats of a protective finish on it. The floor is one of my favorite things about the room. I really love the natural look in this room. It suits the space perfectly.
We bought almost nothing for the space. We already had all the furniture, we re-used the cabinets from the original apartment, and I shopped my attic for the accessories.
My work table is an old cabinet that we found for free along the side of the road a few years ago. The top of the table is an old door that we cut down to fit the cabinet.
A sign in progress…
I used lots of vintage green jars that I got recently from my mother-in-law.
That large old map was the inspiration for the colors in the space. I found it in the trash along the side of the road (yes, I have no shame). I framed a few old maps I found at a yardsale and hung them next to the map. I’d love to find some old globes yet to go in the bookcase. Husband made the bookcase many years ago for my crafting supplies, but it was in Avery’s room for a while because I didn’t have a place to put it anywhere else.
The kid table came from Goodwill and the chairs were from the old New Holland Elementary school which was torn down. They were originally pink, and I spraypainted them blue and silver. Love them.
I made the little chalkboard out of a plastic tray I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It originally was red, and I spraypainted it white. Then painted the inside with chalkboard paint.
I covered the window (which wasn’t usable) with corkboard (I bought a roll at Michael’s) and a chevron-patterned fabric from Hobby Lobby. It’s now a handy bulletin board.
I made different “zones” for the space. A work area for me, a sitting area with a chair that I just made a slipcover for, and a play area for the kiddos. I mostly just have their crayons, coloring books, books, puzzles and movies in here.
I’m still on the look-out for more seating for the kids for when they watch movies.
The wall space above the chair will stay empty for the most part. I use it to take pictures of signs I’m working on. The “Lead Me” sign hanging in the picture has been sold.
The little cabinet that the tv is sitting on was white. I painted it with Valspar Twighlight Meadow. Here’s a tip when painting small pieces – I bought a sample paint jar from Lowes for around $2 and it was the perfect amount of paint. Instead of buying a whole quart, buying a sample instead saves a lot of $. After the paint dried, I sanded it like crazy with a hand sander and the white paint underneath shows through.
The inside of this door (which goes into the little bathroom) was an old mirror that I painted with chalkboard paint. You can find the “Play” arrow sign in my shop here.
This clock was originally dark red and gold and hung in my sister’s coffee shop. As usual, I just spraypainted the crapola out of it with white paint, then painted the numbers on. It worked like a charm!
We all use this space constantly, and I seriously can’t get enough of it. It was a lot of work but so worth it. We still need to put in new windows, toekick under the cabinets, and a few other little details. And we also need to eventually renovate the very 1950’s bathroom, and I want to spruce up the closet that has a sink.
I love the wall color that I picked out. It was exactly what I wanted – it’s a very light taupey-gray that reads slightly green depending on the light. It’s called Valspar Woodlawn Snow and the trim is Valspar Ultra White.
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Happy long weekend!!
