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Studio Renovation: Structural Repairs & Design Plans (post 2 of 4)

Studio Renovations
1. Studio Renovation: The Beginning (post 1 of 4)
2. Studio Renovation: Structural Repairs & Design Plans (post 2 of 4)
3. Studio Renovation: Planked Ceiling (post 3 of 4)
4. Studio Renovation: Complete!
5. Studio Renovation – here we go again!
6. Focusing on a Finish – Studio Bathroom Renovation
7. Studio Bathroom – sink, faucet, toilet, and tiles!

A year after moving to our new house and starting renovations on my studio space, I feel like declaring, “The end is in sight!”

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Actually, realistically, we’re probably only half-way through the renovations and the end is a ways off.  However,  we’ll be done with the insulation tomorrow, and then we can go like gangbusters and not be waiting on any contractors or sub-contractors.

Finding someone to insulate the ceiling in the studio was a tremendous pain. We can’t DIY spray foam and it seemed that the job was just too small or too far out in the country for contractors to bother with, but instead of just saying as much outright, or charging us enough to make it worth their while, contractors would string us along. I know that it’s a very minor problem in the grand scheme of the world, but that didn’t stop it from feeling tremendously annoying and supremely frustrating.  And then once it was scheduled, there was a problem at the supplier, then a problem with the truck’s pumps.  We were rescheduled three times in the last two weeks!  They finally started the insulation today (they’ll finish tomorrow) and I’m so excited.

StudioLet’s review what’s been done and what’s left to do. UntitledSeptember 2014: We bought a house (left side of picture) that has a detached garage with a mother-in-law apartment above it (right side of picture). While the house was throughly inspected, the garage building was sold to us “as is,” meaning its condition was not guaranteed and was expected to be pretty bad. Indeed, it was very bad! The family we bought the place from had turned the plumbing and electrical off years ago. They weren’t using the apartment at all. The garage was used for storage.   The roof needed to be replaced immediately. The apartment smelled moldy, the carpet was torn in places and there was a huge depression in the floor.   In the garage below, there were wires and outlets dangling along the walls. At some point, some idiot had cut the floor joists along the east of the building, those need to be rebuilt (this also explained the dip in the floor above). The exterior staircase was seriously askew and covered in moss.

Jon and I have uncovered pieces of the story of this building from various neighbors. The house was built by a family who lived at what is now the next door neighbors’ house.  The mother-in-law apartment was, in fact, for a father-in-law. Our home has passed hands a few times–I think we’re the 5th owners in 40 years.  Somewhere in the middle, someone used the garage/apartment as an office; they put in drywall in the garage and the outlets were in the drywall. They also had an internal staircase from the garage to the father-in-law apartment—that is why they cut the joists. The stairs and drywall were torn out at some later point, but the joists weren’t repaired as needed and the building wasn’t structurally sound. Yikes. Once Jon and I moved into the house, we got to work on the building right away.  Jon and his dad demo’d inside the studio space, taking out the carpet, a wall, and the ceiling over the main room. These drawings show the old floor plan and the new floor plan. This is what will be my studio–a big open room!Slide1We had a new roof on the building pretty quickly. UntitledIn the late fall,  Al, the best handyman in Michigan, spent a few weeks on the more serious repairs to the interior space.  Al repaired the floor joists, pulled up the linoleum flooring, repaired the subfloor, drywalled in the extra doorway, fixed the electrical, and cleaned up the roof trusses. UntitledUntitledWe then entered a long and drawn-out process of trying to find a company to come in and spray foam insulation on to the roof deck. After months of frustration, we eventually found Mark, our insulation savior. Before Mark could do his work, Jon and I needed to do some work to get ready for the insulation. You see, insulation strong enough for our Michigan winters will be deeper than the 2x4s of our roof joists. Since the plan is to plank the inside of the roof deck (like this cabin), we needed to extend the roof joists. UntitledThe cheapest and lightest way to extend those joists that we could find was to cut 2x4s and screw them up into the existing 2x4s. Luckily, they make woods screws that are strong enough to go through the boards without pilot holes, but thin enough that they won’t split the boards.  In the photo below,  Jon is cutting 48 lengths of 2×4 and then putting them up! Each length has three screws in it and wood glue as well. UntitledUntitledUntitledJon and I were both surprised by how quickly this step went!  We had envisioned it taking a full weekend, and instead we were done by 3pm on Saturday!   However, in adding the 2x4s, we realized that we also had to prepare the south wall (pictured on the left below) for how the planks will meet the wall. This meant adding 1x4s and 1x10s in a neat little puzzle.UntitledWe bought a couple of sections of the tongue-and-groove planking to be sure we were visualizing it correctly and getting the angles right.     By the way, the triangular thing over the window is a cove heater; you can also see the in-wall air conditioner below it.  We know the heaters work and are supposed to be fairly efficient, but we’re prepared to put heat into the floor (from the garage below) or an electric fireplace or whatever if that proves wrong.   Also, that old light in the middle of the room will be removed and replaced by the most beautiful ceiling fan in the world [affiliate link].   UntitledOnce the insulation is finished, I will order all my ceiling planks from the local lumber store.  The planks I am planning to use are basically what you see these DIYers using, except the boards are 1×8 and have tongue-and-groove on all four sides.  Buying them from the local shop was slightly more expensive than from the big box store, but worth it for the help (they are amazing at that store) and the lumber is higher quality.  Once the planks arrive, I will paint them white, then Jon and I will put them up.  The exposed trusses and all walls will be painted white.   The goal here is a big, open, bright space.   I love the color of white paint we used in our home, so I’m going to use the same color: Popped Corn from Behr.    I love to paint and can’t wait for this step, it means the end is so near!

I’m less excited for the work I have to do on the floor. Remember this image when there are later pictures of pretty floors in #rossiecraftsstudio I'm hand scraping the glue that held down linoleum and it's grueling and gross. #theuglymiddle #thewholetruthThere is a fair amount of glue from the linoleum floor on the subfloor and it needs to be scraped up before the new floor can be installed.  Scraping it up is gross and sweaty work, and it has to be done while wearing a dust mask. I HATE it. The floor is going to be gorgeous, though.  I went through several stages in thinking about this floor.  From wood floor to laminate to tile to wood floor and around again.  In the end, I realized that I knew exactly what I wanted (a white wood floor), but wasn’t sticking to it because it was one of the most expensive options (though not by much).  Also, it could not be bought from a local company or from Lowe’s (where I have a coupon).  I think it also seemed like too individual of a choice.  I’m just not sure how much OTHER people will like it.  But it’s my studio, and I know it’s what I want, so I’m doing it!  If we ever sell this house, I really doubt the flooring in the outbuilding is going to make a huge difference to the buyer, so I’m going for it. Are you thinking, “WHITE floor, WHITE walls, WHITE ceiling, YOU ARE SO BORING!” Are you? Well, good news for you, the plan is to paint the window trims, casings, and baseboards in robin’s egg blue.  🙂 studio design I’ve had this little inspiration collage for a while now, and it features that window casing that’s been done all in that fabulous Bart Simpson yellow. Yellow won’t work in my studio because I’m keeping the gold linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom, but I’m pretty sure that robin’s egg blue will be perfect. I’ve also got THREE pieces of bright green furniture in the plan.Color contemplations for studio renovations. ???????? out with yellow, in with robin's egg blue. anyone have suggestions on paint colors in robin's egg blue? #studiorenovation #rossiecraftsstudioI've been working in earnest in the studio renovations this week. We have an insulation guy lined up FINALLY (this has been a major stumbling block), so I've been picking out floors, ceiling fans, & painting some furniture. Hoping that once I'm insulated  And let me show you the kitchen area… UntitledThe appliances are out. The extra cabinets are out. And I’ve been busy with my paint brush. Greeeereeeereeereeeeeeeen!! ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? #rossiecraftsstudio #studiorenovationAs for lights, well, the natural light in here is GREAT and I will be positioning furniture to optimize it. UntitledBut of course, artificial light is sometimes needed.  When we tore out the drywall ceiling, we also tore out the overhead lighting. I had the handyman fix it so that the light switches run to outlets that are up at the ceiling level.  I plug in corded pendant lights to those outlets (I already own these paper ones from Ikea).  This means I can move the lights around as needed, the cords will just wrap around the trusses and then drop wherever I want them.  This is really flexible; I can remove lights for photographs, move them if I move my desk, etc.UntitledIf you are impressed by my foresight on this issue, please note that I somehow failed to think through the fact that this switch is in the middle of what will be my largest design wall.  Uh…..that’s going to need to move. UntitledI have to say, one good thing about this process taking over a year is that I have a chance to think through these things. Moving that switch is the only thing we’ve spent money on that we’ll now have to spend money to fix (though, we might be brave and move that box ourselves.) As I mentioned, I’ve gone around and around on choosing flooring.  And I have drawn and redrawn (measuring and remeasuring) my storage wall and now I know exactly how I will stack up and fill up that furniture.  I need to buy just one set of shelves from Ikea.  Stuck in bed with a headache that won't quit. So I'm planning my wall of storage. #studiorenovation #rossiecraftsstudio

What do you think of our progress?

Also, does anyone have ideas or sources on baseboards?  We have to leave 3/4-inch between the flooring and the walls and I can’t seem to find a baseboard that I like that is thick enough to cover that gap. All the thick baseboards seem rather Victorian and that style just won’t work in this space!

This Post Has 17 Comments

  1. Would it be too weird to use one inch by however-wide-you-like boards to be the baseboards? I could imagine that as soon as I finished reading your post and saw your question? I am not sure that painting them blue would work, but they could be white and be virtually invisible, especially since you will have furniture and shelves in the room.
    I love your space!
    Juliana

    1. Totally a possibility. The problem being that a 1×6 is not actually 1-inch thick, but more like 3/4″ and maybe less than that. If I could find boards that have an actual 1-inch thickness, I think that could work! Only one wall will have furniture against it, the rest will all show!

      1. What you would want for this is 4/4 wood (four quarters – much like a 1xwhatever, except it’s actually an inch thick). It’s commonly used for trim work, and shouldn’t be too hard to find. You could easily route a chamfer or bullnose on the top to alleviate the dust catcher issue.

        Thanks for sharing your progress! I can’t wait to see it all done.

  2. Awesome post- I have been curious about how the studio was coming. One thing I don’t recommend is using anything along the baseboard with a flat top. The new house has tile used as trim in several rooms, and the idiots didn’t use bullnose, just regular tile. That 1/2″ flat spot collects dust and dirt like mad. It makes me angry just thinking about it.

  3. You have amazing taste!!!! I have been waiting to see your progress, can’t wait for the final reveal! I LOVE the white ceiling and floors! Good luck finishing up and continue to make your space exactly the way you want, you are going to be so happy in your new studio!!

  4. I love the white floorboard option. The room should be amazingly light and bright. Your moodboard looks great. I’m not going to weigh in on the ‘baseboard’ issue. I’m actually a little confused – you mean skirtings don’t you? You Americans have different words for everything! 🙂

  5. You and Jon have done a ton of work! I love the idea of white wood floors. I’ve been pinning some quilt photography inspiration on Pinterest and noticed that a lot of the shots have white floors.

  6. Wow!!! Great job you two. When I moved into my house, the first room I renovated was my studio, and now 7 years later…it’s time for me to do it again (I need more space). I love what you are doing with the planking, it’s going to look amazing. As for the white floor, it will definitely keep the space bright and cheery especially when mixed with the blue you have selected. Can’t wait to see how it progresses.

  7. Rosie, try doing a double base board for covering the thickness. I did this in my old farm house. First, I installed regular base molding in the 4.25 height, then I added a second run at the 3.25 height. I used MDF for the taller course as it is cheaper and was going to be covered so I did not worry about damage to it. I bucked up and bought the wood molding for the second course as I knew it would be subject to more damage. It’s really not that expensive and adds a nice Victorian look especially to my older space. Just a thought.

  8. And of course, you could use regular molding and then lay quarter round at floor level, but I’ve always thought that looked cheesy myself.

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