More Basement Studio Progress

Here's a 'before' shot of the kiln and shelf area of our basement studio.

And here's what it looks like now!

I brought our little french bistro set into the area. I have a feeling it will now get much more use than where it was before. I still have to remove the blue painter's tape on the floor after I decide on a color for an accent stripe. I ended up painting the floor a chocolate brown color to complement my lighter "area rug" color that I embellished with gold fleur-de-lis.

I thought a little green would add a nice touch to the area since it's the basement. But only one of them is alive.

Can you tell?





Take a look at this sconce I just found at GW.

And look how much atmosphere it brings to the space when it is lit!

Oh, and I was lucky to find a pair of them, and have plans for the other one too. It will be located in the last little space I have left to finish. Is there any doubt how much fun I'm having in here already?!

Floored

During last evening's walk I was excitedly talking about how when we got back home, I would be ready to apply the crowning touch to some paint that was finally dry, down in our basement studio.

The night before, I had taped off this section of the basement floor.

And using this color . . .




I had painted it to resemble an area rug.





And when it dried, I would give my area rug, a painted on pattern, using a stencil and some of this.



So anyway, almost back from our walk, I mentioned to Henri that the floor paint should be plenty dry for me to finally begin painting on my fleur-de-lis pattern.



So when we arrived home, I headed down to the basement to begin painting.

And a little while later when I had finished and gone back upstairs, Henri took a break from watching football and decided to check out my work down in the basement.

It was then, that I realized Henri had no idea what a fleur-de-lis was.

Because when he came back up from the basement he looked at me in true amazement, and said, "You know that symbol that you painted all over the floor down there . . . did you know it's the same symbol the Saints have on their helmets??!!"

More Basement Studio Progress

Here's a before picture of another corner of the basement space we do our raku pottery in. I do not know why that section of wall was painted orange, but the wood inset was necessary to accommodate a mount for the proper voltage of our kiln, so it, and the huge gray cord have to stay.

Making a little headway with my block by block paint pattern, I got a little distracted when I found a forged iron bracket I had forgotten about laying in the corner. Then I remembered a sign I had made up out of wood that washed up along the shore, that paired with the bracket, would give the look of an old trade sign.

My sister had given me this board that originally washed up on her shore, because she knew I would figure out what to do with it. It needed nothing in the way of paint or weathering, as it was perfectly aged by the salt water. All I did was paint up some wooden letters from the craft store, and attach them with a bit of gorilla glue and some finish nails.

I even managed to split this letter when I hammered in the nail, but I love the added effect it gave to the sign.




The board really couldn't have been more perfect for this sign.

I'm having so much fun with this redo, just using things I already have on hand with the exception of a couple light fixtures that I purchased for under $25 total.




I'm anxious to show you how the light fixtures look in the space, but I still have lots to do before then!