I haven’t gotten much work done on the studio this week. Wednesday was my birthday (I’ve officially entered a new decade…the big 5-0!!), so I took off on Wednesday and Thursday to do some fun things. So today, I’m turning my attention back to the studio.
That room is so big, and right now, it’s so cluttered that it’s hard to really see what needs to be done. Over the years as I’ve been working on this house, I’ve gotten rid of so much clutter, but I’ve also kept quite a bit of stuff. And as I’ve started on one room, I’ve just boxed up the stuff I didn’t want to part with, or didn’t want to make a decision about just yet, and moved it to the next room.
For a long time, the guest bedroom was being used to store boxes and other stuff. I got rid of a lot of it, and the rest got moved to what is now our master bathroom. Then when I started on the master bathroom, it all got moved to the home gym. And then when I started on the home gym, it all got moved to the studio.
And now, I’m working on the studio, which is the last room that I have to finish in this house. I have nowhere else to move stuff, so it’s all either packed away in the storage closet, or it’s shoved over to one side of the room.
I don’t want to put any more stuff in the sunroom, and I don’t have an outdoor storage building or garage where I can put stuff (which is for the best), so the first priority will be to figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go, and to get rid of the stuff that I don’t really need.
The rest will eventually find a home in the studio cabinets or the studio storage closet, but I have a long way to go before those things will be usable. So even after decluttering, I’m still going to have a lot of stuff to work around as I try to finish this room. I’ll just have to pile it all in the middle of the room so that I can have easy access to work on the cabinets and other things around the perimeter of the room.
But anyway, this morning, I decided to take inventory on what exactly still needs to be done in the studio and adjacent areas. The list is pretty long. My goal was to get these areas finished by August 19th, which is the date we bought our house. And this year marks our 10th anniversary of purchasing this house. I want so badly to be done with all of the interior rooms by that date! But if I don’t meet that goal, it’s not a big deal. I won’t beat myself up over it, but I do want to give it my best effort.
So after snapping a few pictures this morning, and taking inventory of what needs to be done, here’s what I’ve come up with…
The bathroom will be pretty easy to finish since I’m don’t have any major projects in here. I just need to paint the walls (I’m going with colorful vertical stripes), and then install the new tile. That’s it!
The back entry is also pretty easy. I’m going to paint the walls and ceiling a solid color, hang some new curtains, and then make some art for the walls.
The main room is where things get more complicated. The whole room still needs baseboards, and I’m going to repaint the walls a lighter color. I also need to install a large intake vent for the HVAC system which resides in the storage closet. The light that goes over my desk needs a new lampshade. And finally, I want to find a piece of furniture to use as additional storage for that wall to the left of the cased opening.
Both doors in the main room (e.g., the exterior door and the door to the breakfast room) need casings, and the doors need to be painted. I also want to repaint the bases on my two large work tables a new color. The tables are buried under the clutter right now. ?
On the main wall, I need to install the new wallpaper. The cabinets will obviously be the biggest project in here. I need to install them, trim them out, and paint them. All of the stuff piled on this side of the room is a lot to deal with!
Before I can even install the new wallpaper or install the cabinets, I first need to move 11 outlets up about e inches in the two walls. And then after the lower cabinets are installed, I need to make the countertops.
Overall, there’s quite a bit to do, but this room seems a lot easier than the master bathroom project. That room had a lot of little tedious projects. This room seems a bit more basic. I’m doubting that I can get it done by August 19th, but I’ll give it my best try!
So here’s my official list as of today, June 23rd:
- Sand, prime and paint the bathroom walls
- Install the new tile in the bathroom
- Paint the ceiling and walls in the back entry
- Hang new curtains in the back entry
- Make artwork for the walls in the back entry
- Have 11 outlets moved up on the cabinets walls of the studio
- Paint studio walls
- Install baseboards (wood fill, sand, caulk, prime, paint)
- Install door casings on two doors (wood fill, sand, caulk, prime, paint)
- Paint the two doors in the room
- Finish caulking, priming and painting two window casings
- Add large intake vent for HVAC
- New lampshade for light over desk
- Find or make furniture piece for area left of cased opening
- Repaint the work table bases
- Install the new wallpaper
- Install the cabinets
- Paint the cabinets
- Build the countertops
That’s a long list! And yet, this project doesn’t seem nearly as big or overwhelming as the master bathroom did. This room feels more “back to basics” to me.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
