workroom moved up the to-do list!!

 I had planned to do my workroom last but all the other rooms now are waiting until we can move furniture and I'm kind of at a standstill for them. So the workroom is at the head of my list now that the kitchen is done. The room that I'm going to use for my work room is good-sized and really a blank canvas. My room at the farm just sort of evolved over the years. There was never any coordination between any of the pieces or the colors. It just happened. Now that I have this new space I want to give it more thought but it too will probably just evolve.

First of all it has a gray carpet. Whoever lived there before us had a thing about gray. At first I was going to take the carpet up and replace it with some kind of laminate flooring but after thinking about  the cost and was it worth it, I decided  to go ahead with the gray carpet. The walls are the same color as the rest of the house. Before we moved in they painted the same color throughout.  They left part of a can and  it's called "porcelain skin". It not really a pink and it's not really a peach and definitely not beige. It's almost a non color. It's certainly not a color I would have picked but it is growing on me. It seems to go with just about everything and I'm not about to start painting walls that have just been freshly painted.

First of all it has a lovely large window and that is where I'll put my painting table.  I paint by a window now and I love watching the birds and weather when I'm working. My new little garden will be just outside the window and I will put up a couple wren houses.




There is a large closet part of which I'll use for my clothes but there'll still be space for some supplies and books and whatever.

I had ordered kits for those tall storage units in the picture.  (I ordered several storage-unit kits during the black Friday sale with free shipping as well...a real deal) I'm also going to move three other tall narrow pieces that I have already. I use them for larger beads and supplies for jewelry.   I also splurged and bought a wall-mounted ironing board that I can lower when needed.  I have always wanted one of those.

I measured and my desk  and it is going to fit. I got some more pull-out shelves so that I can have my printer and scanner off the top of my desk.  I will probably make a cover for my old desk chair...  The lift mechanism has broken and I sit too low but it rocks and I love it.  Right now I am using my old laptop on a card table...
 


My computer table will face a blank wall. Right now I look into the living room as my desk is behind the couch so I know right away I now  want to have a long narrow low shelf for pictures of grandchildren and then above that I want favorite pieces of needlework.  

I'm dividing up all my crazy quilting supplies to give to friends.  It's giving me a chance to sort through and say goodbye to all my stash.   I will keep all my favorite laces as I can use them on other projects.
Purging as part of the move makes it a little easier to let go of some things even though I know I will never be able to use them again.

As I said this was going to be last on the moving agenda.   but winter has interfered with my plans as we don't know from day to day whether we will be snowed in...and I am flexible so I am moving what I can fit into the SUV.

The barn and Amazon - what a combo

Morris has his bench at the farm where he can see out the window and watch the birds . He keeps trying  to look out the window at the new house so one of my objectives today was to find something I could  put a cushion on  so he could see out the window in the new house.

I had to go out to the barn anyway to look for wood and I found this old trunk   in pretty bad shape. It is quite large and very heavy.  I had to pry the lock to even get in into it.  It was lined with paper that was a little yucky but under the paper the wood was fine. It is made of wood covered with metal that was quite rusty in spots. So with some steel wool, elbow grease, and bleach I should be able to make a perch for Morris with it. I believe it is an old metal military foot locker... probably from WWII.  I have no idea how long it has been in the barn or how it got there. But I really need it about 4 in higher so I went on Amazon and found some wooden legs for it.    It will fill the bill until we actually move in February and it's free.....free is good.

 

  And I liked the look of this piece on Pinterest  that had iron work on it  and filed it away.  I do have a piece of old wrought iron fencing that I could use but if you put the iron in the front you can't have a shelf and if you put the iron in the back you can't see it. Since this has to have storage value I have to have the shelf.  So I thought if I could find some decorative iron metal legs and some decorative metal shelf supports  I think I can come close to that look.  I love the old boards on top but I love my tiled board more.  So I once again went searching on Amazon.

 

The nice thing about Amazon is that they show you what other people bought or things that are similar and I always find things just about the same  but cheaper which appeals to my thrifty nature.  First I had just looked at one shelf support for $30 t and then I found four for the same price and then four for $15. I spent a little more than $30 for four legs and four supports and I think it's going to work.

I'm still cleaning the tiled board and I found some old boards for the ends and the shelf.  I may even be able to work in a shutter or two.  When it is all done it will definitely be a OOAK entry piece...

 

Many irons in the fire!!!!

I'm not all that keen on the open concept that is so popular now. In every home makeover show they knock down the wall between the kitchen and the main living area... In earlier days only the wealthy had separate dining rooms and everyone else just ate in their kitchen. Then when people became more affluent they had separate dining rooms like the wealthy.

 

 Now everyone wants to eat in the kitchen again. Personally I like having my eating area separated from my kitchen when I have company. Maybe it's only me but when I am doing serious cooking I make a big mess and I'm glad to sit someplace where my guests can't see the kitchen.  In the new house when you walk in the front door you have a clear sight line to the kitchen counter. I'm going to try to break this line of sight with a divider of some kind using all my stained glass I gathered together.

 

That old tiled shelf from the barn I hauled over the other day is going to work just fine near the entry area when I figure out how I'm going to add a shelf.  At least it is the right length and depth.   And the shutters that I was going to use in the big open hole in the bonus room wall  are also going to work nicely just as well.  They are just 1/2" from being a perfect fit... lucky me. I salvaged the shutters from a display unit we used when we did a booth at shows. I love to be able to repurpose something I already have.   So things are going along quite well on all projects. I really wanted a door on that bonus room but the opening is 36" wide and such a big door would be awkward.  I originally wanted to bring the bathroom door from farm but it is only 30" wide and using it requires some extensive framing.  So I have settled on using a bi-fold closet door and will paint on it....maybe a farm landscape with sheep!!!  It will be delivered next week.  Hopefully by then the kitchen island will be done.

 

 I finished  painting the drawer fronts of the island today and I'm happy with all the little bees. Since painting is difficult now I have to settle for a more rustic (folk art) look to my work. The end of painting on the kitchen island is in sight and I will soon be able to assemble all the parts.  It has turned into a much larger project than I envisioned....which  seems to be the norm as I get older. 

 

And today when I put up a white mirror in the bathroom the counter did not seem as gray. It actually looks more steely blue. After it was up I realize I put it at a comfortable height for me....5'1" so a really tall person is going to have to stoop to see themselves because I am not changing it.  "short person revenge".  I still haven't got the border up in the bathroom as I'm a little nervous about being there by myself on a ladder. I'm waiting for someone to come and hold the ends of the wet border for me and hand me what I need so I don't have to climb up and down so many times...... 

I have really done nothing in the one room that will be my workroom as I am waiting for the internet to be installed in there.  I did assemble two storage cabinets except for the doors as they are easier to move without the doors.  I have started to bring some stuff over but it is still in baskets in the closet.  CenturyLink has made two appointments to install the internet and did not show up for either.  So any real progress in that room is on hold for now.

Not my home without a sampler

Anyone following this blog over the years has seen my collection of samplers show up in photo after photo.  Most were stitched in the 60s and 70s and have moved from house to house over the years.  I have given most away and this fall sent one to GD Leigha and gave two more to DIL this last visit.






They were hung here and there as I did not have a wall large enough for all of them   in the farm house but I do have a lovely large wall in the new house.












So last week I took them all down and cleaned them and made any necessary repairs to the backing,  Then I loaded all my favorites  in laundry baskets and spent the day rehanging them.

I always start organized when I do this and lay them all out on the floor like I would like them on the wall.  But as always, after the 3rd or 4th one goes up the plan goes awry but somehow it works out in the end.

Years ago I learned the best thing to hang them on with the least amount of damage to the wall are sewing machine needles.  They are strong and if you need to move them the hole is almost invisible.  And it does takes several tries on some of them.

















 It to almost three hours and they still need a bit of straightening and tweaking but they are up. Most of the time was spent getting up and down the ladder.   But this is the last time I'll move them and they're an important part of what makes a house "my" home.  I did also get another wedding ring quilt up on the living room window this time. Today I am off to get some additional base cabinets and start looking at possibilities for new countertops.  This will be my biggest splurge.