Moving In! (01-30-11)

What a day! I finally started moving things in the studio! Of course, it's total mayhem inside. It's going to take me a while to sort all this stuff and get it put away.

Sturio Interior Views

From left to right and top to bottom:
- Photo1: The big table in the foreground was displayed in pouring rain in front of an interior decorator's shop in Sellwood; it was a bargain at $60.
- Photo1: The gorgeous pine wardrobe in the corner was found on Craigslist.
- Photos 3 and 6: The big cabinet with the doors and shelves was a rare find from the Rebuilding Center.
- Photo 5: Of course, there is the Warped Table, a unique find from Tropical Salvage; they thought I was crazy when I bought it (for a pittance); the table is so freakishly wavy, it's like something one would expect the Mad Hatter to use.
- Photo 4 and 5: The small Restoration Hardware bookcase was only $60 on Craigslist.
- Photo 4: I got the library card file cabinet years ago when Jackson County Library was converting to computers.

Final Touches: Baseboards (01-24-11)

Everything about the Shed/Studio Revamp project has been meant to be done economically. Of course, this has not worked out in many cases due to contractor-related surprises, but that was the initial plan. Since Gary lost his job recently, we really are on a shoestring. 

We went to the Rebuilding Center hoping to find some materials we could use for baseboards. It was disheartening to look through the warehouse, and see only piles of junk stacked up against the walls, old cracked planks thick with chipped or peeling paint, nothing that one could imagine to be useable... Finally, we located some beat-up siding, and figured out that it could work out...despite the $30 cost (now, I know, that's a minimal charge when it comes to construction materials, but it was in pretty bad shape).

Once home, Gary braved the cold to install the makeshift baseboards in the studio. The look is now genuinely shabby chic!

A Day of Work (12-31-10)

I spent all morning and most of the afternoon trying to get some yard work done before there is another freeze. Lots of work today: I turned the dirt over in the garden area, to discourage the weeds from settling down for the winter. I stacked up away from the house all the wood logs Gary had split and left near the carport. I carried a lot of the wood debris left behind the studio (aka shed) by previous contractors to the side of the trailer, for a future trip to the dump. Valérie and Julia brought all the trimmed rose branches from the rose garden area and put them in the trailer, with the rest of the yard debris. Then, I went down to the rose garden and trimmed half of the lavender shrubs at the front of the property, and the big hydrangea near the front porch.

One of the pipes at the back of the house behind the laundry room may have burst: there was a long trail of ice along the side of the house, not a good sign...

On a positive note, the outside of the studio is finished, as far as the missing bats are concerned. My friend Julie Olson gave me the phone number of a carpenter who seems to know what he's doing (a nice change, since the last 10 months have been been a wild ride). He worked pretty fast, with no gloves on. Yet, it was so cold in the morning, I couldn't even feel my fingers inside my gloves...

The Lights are Installed! (11-20-10)

I never thought this would ever happen, but we finally got the lights installed in the studio (can't really call it a "shed" anymore).

The big chandelier was in the dining room when we bought the house, and I immediately hated it with a passion; it was too big for the small room. ( It made me think of a monstrous space alien mothership looming in the sky, with tiny people running in panic on the ground.) But in this space, it looks just right.

The light in the foreground is a lovely small 3-light chadelier I got it at Hippo Hardware many years ago. It was on the upstairs landing in our old house, set with flickering flame bulbs (it drove Gary nuts, since it didn't light the staircase at all).


Next in the project is coating the OSB floors with polyurethane, to protect them and give them some sheen.

Contractor Update (10-01-10)

Well, it turns out that the genius carpenter was also a flake. So annoying.
After installing the French doors, redoing the ceiling, setting in a large decorative beam supported by two beautiful rustic posts, and laying the floor out in the studio (aka "the shed"), he disappeared, leaving work unfinished on the outside of the structure. Pretty annoying since he left work unfinished.
I could see it coming a while back: he was getting here later every time, yet leaving earlier. There always was an excuse of some sort; he seemed flustered; he "was having personal problems," "was busy at his other job," etc. I almost expected him to say that the dog had eaten his homework.
Now I am in the frustrating position of having to pay someone else yet to finish what he didn't.

Work has started on the shed (05-27-10)

After days of agonizing over it, I finally decided to hire the artist carpenter since he was available when I was ready to get started with the project.
We decided to focus on fixing the base structure at this point, to get it ready for pest control treatment and insulation. So far, he removed the damaged wood boards (carpenter ants), replaced them with new ones, and installed the French doors I bought at the Rebuilding Center. So here are some before and after photos of this work in progress.

Wanted: A Competent Contractor (05-12-10)

My days are spent trying to get contractors to give me estimates to make the shed usable as an art studio to spread my art supplies around. There is no middle ground; contractors are like day and night.

An upscale-looking remodeling website recommended this contractor based on my zip code. Right off, when I see that this gentleman specializes in Lake Oswego and West Linn remodel, I doubt that my modest project will be worth his attention… In any case, he comes promptly with his dad, a retired architect. Both are dressed in business casual, and, with similar perfectly creased pants and matching shirt, look so much alike that I can’t help repeatedly cast surreptitious glances from the father to the son during the visit. Rather than give pertinent directions as to what I am expecting from the project, all I can do is distractedly point to the inside of the shed and lamely say that I want it, you know, “nice.” They walk around the inside of the shed, take notes on a legal-sized pad, nod their head in unison, and promptly leave with the promise of an estimate... Neither ever calls back.

According to my real estate agent, this guy is a true artist who worked on various local artsy projects on a regular basis. He looks like a nice quiet young guy, but seems to be pretty bummed out due to some recent losses in his life. He explains what could be done to turn the shed into a really cool building and seems knowledgeable about how go about to achieve that result. The problem is that he doesn’t have any tools at the moment, and neither do we; I am not sure how this problem can be overcome. He sends me a rather vague text estimate via his cell phone.

The day I find a crudely printed black and white flyer in my mailbox praising the merits of this contractor, I am particularly fed up with deciphering Yellow Pages ads in tiny print, so I call him, my heart full of hope. He seems competent enough, but I am not sure he understands what I mean by "an artistic look, like in North Portland," using materials from the Rebuilding Center. The blank look I get in return and his immediate naming a nearby suburban home improvement center as a perfect source for materials suggests that he does not, in fact, know what I am talking about. As I ponder whether this guy has ever been anywhere outside of suburbia, he clears his throat and spits something huge on the gravel outside the shed... (My mental picture of my perfect little shed is now jarred by the presence of pools of spit…). His high estimate confirms my determination to not hire him.

Many times, one relies on a network of people who recommend people who did a great job, etc. This contractor, a smiling, happy-go-lucky type, comes with high recommendations. His estimate is very affordable, but I am not sure he understands the scope of the project, despite my best efforts to overcome the language barrier. When I mention getting recycled materials, he suggests vinyl windows, then shouts "No problem!" when I object. In fact, he keeps interjecting "No problem!" for every issue we may find, be they carpenter ants or structural beam that need strengthening. This is a man with vision. He gesticulates, waves his arms around; we could move over that wall, remove the siding; we could even tear down the building and build a new one! Despite his contagious enthusiasm, deep inside I suspect that there will be problems down the road...

Again, the homeowner benefits from using references, and references from other contractors are valuable. This guy exudes a quiet self-assurance in his capabilities, seems competent and immediately comes up with sound solutions to eventual issues we may encounter. He clearly knows what he is talking about and asks me to give him a chance to prove his skills. As I finally think I may have found the right person for the job and I see my charming little art shed taking concrete shape in my mind, I get an email from him. His high estimate is distressing; I just can't afford him.

So, it looks like I will either pull my hair over costs, or pull my hair over having to babysit someone all the way...

Our Very Own Vermin!!! (05-01-10)

Here are some photos of the disgusting carpenter ants we found in the shed.

1. Beam damage; 2. Remnants of nest; 3. They're back! 4. Still trying...

But that wasn't all...

A rat's nest!

Cleaned out the shed, etc. (03-29-10)

I am amazed by everything Gary and I did today.

While Gary took down all the ratty shelves inside the shed, found a rats' nest and killed a bunch of ants, Julia and I carried dozens of 2 x 4s and put them in the trailer. After that, we took a load of lumber to the recycling yard, then went to the dump.

Later, we picked up a huge red bookcase for the living room and, best of all, we met with the tax accountant.

And I forgot to mention that all this was done in POURING RAIN, and I also met with two tree guys for estimates...

First Project: Tear Down of the Lean-to (03-22-10)

This is the first project we've undertaken: to repair the shed, the crumbling lean-to must first be removed...

Gary and Valérie at work

Cleaning Out the Shed (03-09-10)

I thought that a good cleanup of the shed would make a world of difference. But a closer look reveals that all the shelving and ramshackle built-ins will have to go.

Junk! Out!

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Moving in and sweeping out (03-08-10)

Gary rents a bigger truck and we load it up. He decides to take the black and white cat with him for the trip. A couple of people from church come by to help along. Things get taken out of the rental house that shouldn't, such as food and pots and pans...

When Gary gets to the house, immediately runs upstairs to hide in the room that will become my closet and stays there the entire time.

I start cleaning the shed out. I see a what appears to be a large sinister spider by one of the windows and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't pounce on me unexpectedly.

Sweeping takes me a couple of hours. There is so much crap in the shed, all I can do is dump everything out the door: old rusty tools, boxes of nails, floor tiles, pieces of lumber. A dumpy looking dresser with drawers has been nailed to the walls and is attached to a hollow core door supported by wobbly feet, meant to be used as a makeshift workshop space. I start removing the drawers and notice a very sizable amount of sawdust. I suspect there may be carpenter ants in there...

There are so many boxes, they get taken in anywhere in the house, willy-nilly. I never realized we had so much stuff... I am overwhelmed by how much we need to get rid of.