Ok, first things first...before pics.
Now...to get rid of the smell from that nasty carpet and green and white curtains. Plus the ceiling is holding some smell too and those hooks in the ceiling have to go. The whole room smelled like a greenhouse from all the plants they kept in there. Like miracle grow aromatherapy. So here goes nothin...
After we cleaned everything out of the room including the white and green curtains it was time to pull up the indoor/outdoor green turf grass. We hired professionals for this task as it had been super glued to the concrete floor and was a buger to pull up. Not something Bryan and I wanted to do.
Next, we scraped the popcorn from the ceiling. We tried all kinds of tricks for scraping ceilings and followed all the DIY advice. Let me tell you something...throw it out the window. This advice about spraying it down with 1/2 water 1/2 alcohol mixture does not work. It is supposed to dry it out and make it just fall off...well that isn't the case. It makes it wet, clumpy and then it actually makes it harder to scrape it off the drywall on the ceiling. It was much easier to get a small paint scraper and go to town ont he dry popcorn. It came off much easier and in small sheets that where dry and easy to sweep up. Also, it didn't leave gouges in the ceiling from where we scraped. It was a nice smooth drywall surface ready for painting/texture or whatever.
Next, the old lighting had to go. Plus with all the windows I wanted a fan in there. A lot of windows means a lot of extra sun, which is great for working, but not for keeping cool. We bought a smaller fan since the room isn't huge and Bryan put it up. It is a small light, but I am going to add some standing lamps and desk lamps for extra light so the little fan is perfect!
Next, we had to go back and patch up all the million and one little holes in the ceiling from the hooks that were hung for hanging plants. What a chore to pull all those out and patch back up. Yuck.
Then to the fun part...painting. I like painting. Something so easy and cheap can make a room look completely different. I chose a light grey paint with a hint of blue to it. I wanted something soothing that I could match with bright colors for inspiration. I think it turned out beautiful. I painted all the walls and baseboards, my mom primed the drywall on the ceiling and then the girls at work came over for a swim and happy hour and helped me finish painting the ceiling and touch up. It made it go by really quick having three of us working on it...thanks girls.
Now to add some color. Norma, Bryan's mom, came to visit a few weeks ago and helped me pick out some beautiful drapes. They were large panels so she spent one day while I was at work cutting them all in half and sewing the new side back up. We bought some small rods that would fit between all the windows and walls and hung them up last night! Gorgeous!
Now to move in...everything had been moved into the dining room next to the craft room so it wasn't far. Right now everything is just thrown in the room because I still have to decide how I want it arranged and what I want hung up where. It is more difficult because of all the windows and doors and no closet. Not that I am complaining...no complaints from me...I have a whole room dedicated to my crafts. But...still have to do some space planning and figure out where to fit everything and make it functional and useful. Plus right now I have a lot of extra stuff, because I am storing some of my moms scrapbook stuff too. But...tada...the finished product. When it is organized I will post more pics. Just so proud to have a whole room finished, done, completed, and usable.
By the way...just a little hint of what is to come...our new granite countertops get put in on Monday and Tuesday comes the backsplash. I can't wait. Then the kitchen will be nearly complete as well! Oh what progress we are making. Yipee!
