Monthly Archives: March 2012

Studio Reveal: Part 1 – Workroom

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Welcome to the Workroom!

One of the main features of the space is the huge work table.

The Story of the Table Top: Tyson and his buddies built the top one weekend about 16 years ago.  My husband had just invested in his first computer and I had just had a baby.  I can’t tell you anything about the project other than only one guy really knew what he was doing.  They constructed the table top, gave it legs and when it was finished, I REALLY hoped it would hold the weight of the new computer.  Not only did it hold the weight of the computer, monitor and printer, it has faithfully endured for over a decade and a half.

We said good-bye to the legs when they wouldn’t fit properly around those garage opener boxes coming up from the floor.  Instead, we set the table top on 2 two-drawer file cabinets with the garage opener box disguised underneath.  Then when I would use the table I would periodically bang my shins on the box.  Have I mentioned how happy I am that the boxes are gone?

When we upgraded the studio, we moved the table top onto these Ikea bookshelves creating a spot that is the perfect height to stand and work at. Someday we may paint the bookshelves, but for now we’re really happy with our “new” table.

We also have another work table in here that I received as a birthday present from my mom and grandma several years ago.  It’s from Pottery Barn.  This is weird to say about a table… not only is it pretty, but the wood smells amazing too.  I know… weird… but so true.

Two happy accidents occurred in setting up the Workroom:

1. Both tables are the same height.  It creates a nice line across the room and makes either table comfortable to work at.

2. The table top lines up perfectly with the first inset bookshelf.  How awesome is that?!

In the interest of full disclosure… you know that these surfaces will never be this tidy again, right?  In fact, I already have stuff on them and had to pause and clear everything off just so I could get these photos.  But I am trying to keep the chaos at bay as much as possible.  It’s interesting… when things are organized and pretty it makes me want to keep it that way as much as possible.  Who knew?!

Another feature that came together was the closet.  This was a black hole of stashed stuff.  It was constantly overflowing and a complete eye sore.  (That might explain why there are no “before” photos.)  I was able to bring in a 4 square cubbie organizer from Target and utilize photo boxes that I already had on hand.  Now I actually know what’s in here and can easily get to everything.

Because we are using the bookshelves as legs, that gave us a ton more storage for the space.  We also brought in some additional organizers for the bookshelves.  And then we purged A TON.

I’m so happy with how the room turned out.

I love the warm neutral palette and think it’s perfect for the small room.

That’s the full tour.  I can’t wait to share the other two spaces soon.

Project Notes: Workroom Board & Batten

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When we started remodeling the studio, we knew that we were going to need new flooring. Because the studio is a built-in above the garage, it left low ceilings in the carports below. This made it difficult to have overhead garage door openers.  The solution that the previous owners came up with was to hang the openers upside down.  Yes… upside down… so that the motor was popping through the floor of the studio. They framed in and drywalled around the motors, leaving weird boxes on the floor and limiting furniture arrangement.  There was a box in two of the three rooms. Fast forward a decade later and we were able to install side mount openers in the garage and get additional floor space back in the studio.  Rather than patching 10 year old carpeting, we went with new laminate flooring.

The walls where the boxes were located needed some repair too.  You can see the outline of one of the boxes in the replacement sheet rock that Tyson installed.

It would’ve been easy to patch, paint the area and call it a day, but we decided to use this as an opportunity to do something interesting to the walls.

We love molding and have done several decorative upgrades like this wall and mantel in our family room.

For the Workroom, I wanted to do something a little different.  When I saw that Teal & Lime installed board & batten in her dining room, I loved the solution for our wall.

The Before:

Tyson began by getting sheets of board and cutting them down to the size needed for the space.

Quick note:  Ok… this is not the room we installed board & batten in. I managed to delete the photos of the board progress in the Workroom… Yay me! We hung board in here at the same time as we are prepping it for a different studio project.  It’s the same idea…

Tyson cut out space for the outlets and cable jack.

We glued and nailed up the board.  Bye-bye last remaining trace of garage openers.

About this point on Day 1, I needed to take our daughter to rehearsal for a concert she was performing in that evening.  When Tyson arrived for the event, he showed me this photo of the installed batten.  I might have squealed and not just because the concert was starting.  The wall looks amazing!

Day 2: Time to prep.  Honestly, the longest part of the entire process was caulking all of the joints.  But the finished results were SO worth it.

Me & My Paint Crew:

I might need a new paint crew…

After the wall was prepped, I was ready for primer.  Tyson had used a high gloss board and we needed something for the paint to grab onto.  Good thing they make Gripper Primer.

The instructions state to sand the area before applying, but I wanted a really smooth surface so I did a test sample.  Even with a fine grade sandpaper, the scuff was coming through more than I wanted it to. I risked it and painted the wall without sanding it.  No problem.  I’m so glad we used the Gripper Primer.  It gave us enough texture for the paint to stick to, but helped us achieve the ultra-smooth look we were going for.

Day 3: Paint.  I applied three light coats of Behr semi-gloss in “Artist Canvas” and I LOVE the results.

Now I REALLY want to add this treatment somewhere else in the house.

The finished wall came out better than I had imagined.

For your comparison:

This was the last major element we had to finish in this section of the studio and I’m so glad it’s complete.  Up next… a full view of this workroom and creative space.

Pixelgarden Studio

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One of the huge selling points when we purchased our home was the studio space that came with it.  Tyson is a freelance Illustrator and Designer and we knew he would be working from home.  We needed a space that would be functional for him and not in the main part of the house so that he could get work done and the kids could still be… well, kids; noisy and rambunctious.  The house that we ended up choosing has a three car garage and the former owners had wisely converted the vaulted ceilings (in the garage?) into a finished space.  It was a perfect fit for our family!

However, because it is a space off the main house, it has fallen to the bottom of the list in terms of putting our unique thumb prints on it.  That is until, last fall.  It was time to create a space that functions well and is inspiring to work out of.  The man spends A LOT of time in there.

Since it’s a three car garage, there is a room over each bay.  We planned to use the three sections and create three specific work areas:

The Hub: Tyson’s desk and main work area.

The Lounge: a recording space, standing work station and meeting area.

The Workroom: a space to spread out, work on a project and get a little messy.

We are getting close to finishing the studio and I’m thrilled to get to share all the details with you here.  To keep you from drowning in an overload of photos and text, I’m going to break it up into a couple of different posts.

It has been a lot of work and a lot of fun to create a space that inspires the whimsical art of Pixelgarden Studio.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Project Notes: In the Doghouse

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This is Sparky.

And this is Baxter.

Most of the time, they spend their days doing this:

Except when we have visitors.  Then they become 130lbs. of excited, wiggly fur.  It can be a little (okay… a lot) overwhelming if you drop by.

They’re good boys, but about once a year they like to surprise us with their own creative ideas about… ahem… “home renovation”.  Most of their suggestions come as a result of us leaving them alone a tad too long.  What can I say… they like to be “productive” when they’re unsupervised.

Awhile back, they decided to help improve our ventilation.  Surprise!

We had to respectfully disagree with their “vision” for the window.  Luckily, replacing a screen is super easy.  And it’s even easier if you don’t have a wife taking a whole bunch of pictures and saying things like “do it again… that shot was blurry” and “great… wait… nope… still blurry.  Can you just not move for a second?” and my personal favorite, “um… one more.  Can you look like you’re not annoyed?”  I am married to a VERY patient man.

Anyhow, I thought I’d share our how-to steps here since we were thinking we’d need to call someone out to fix this, but my girlfriend, Jenny, told me that this was a job we could totally handle.  (Hi Jenny!)

I picked up the supplies so that we could get to work.  The screen frame was fine.  We just needed new screening…

… and new spline to hold the screen in the frame.

First things first: we removed the screen from the window.

Then we had to remove the old spline.  Tyson used his screw driver to dig it out from the frame.  He then slowly pulled on it as he worked his way around the perimeter of the frame.

Once the spline was out, the screen easily came off.

We had purchased the new screen at the window width we needed.  Tyson laid it out and cut it to the size of the frame leaving some over hang.

Then it was time to install the new spline.

We also purchased this tool to help get the spline into the frame.  The guy at the hardware store said it wasn’t absolutely necessary, but it seemed like a good idea.

Tyson lined up the screen with the frame and starting in one corner, working his way around, pressing the spline into the track.

He held his end taut and I pulled on the opposing end to keep the screen as tight as possible.

Once the spline was completely in, it was time to trim the excess screen.  Tyson used a utility knife to carefully cut off the extra screen without accidentally puncturing the newly installed one.  That would’ve been such a bummer to have to start over.

Finished!  I don’t know about you… but we often have projects that we think should be quick and simple, but end up hitting snag, after snag.  Thankfully this was not the case.  Replacing the window screen was easy – start to finish.

So pretty!  Looks exactly like it’s suppose to.

Good thing these guys are so cute… their design skills could REALLY use some work.