iseecerulean

After much procrastination regarding fabric curtains, an epiphany...

I used very small seed beads as spacers between the paper vanes, strung on fine floral wire, because tiny seeds beads have tiny holes.  I used the same paper as the vanes to cover a pelmet I made from wood.  The pelmet was glued to both the wall and the top of the window trim.

Ha!  Fuck you, fabric!

Once the vertical blinds were installed I glued in the artwork and television...

You may be surprised to notice...I certainly was!...that I forgot to finish the living room ceiling.  Grrr...   I have to make a quick decision about that, because if I am going to finish it I need to do it this morning, while I can still flip the house on its sides.

.....

Acting on advice I read on Marion Russek's blog, I bought a bluetooth selfie stick to take pictures of the build with.   I found it much easier than fitting my hands in.  I bought one with a light on it (three levels of illumination), which is bonus goodness.

Speaking of lights, a tip from me is that clip on, flexible neck, book lights are wonderful while you work.

Back to my studio....I want to get the loft roof glued on today...

Two tasks need to be complete prior to gluing the roof on, while the house lays on its side:  the installation of curtains and wall hung artwork.

I measured the wall area above the sofa then marked out that area on a piece of waxed paper so I can test arrangements on my worktable, instead of awkwardly inside the build.  I spread out all the artworks from my stash as well as some newly printed pieces.

Decision is difficult.

Perhaps less is more?

You may have noticed in the first picture curtains drying in a pleater thingy.  I attempted to pleat used fabric softener sheets with starch so I wouldn't have to hem fabric.  As I suspected it would not, it did not work, the sheets are too stiff.  Hopefully I can find a piece of fabric in my stash with a selvage end I can use as the bottom, because I can get away with using hem tape for the sides and top.  My goal is to avoid hated sewing.

With the roof in dry fit I can examine and plan the loft.

It's dark, there is no access, and the entire area is not visible.  I explored having one of the roof panels removable, or hinged, but discarded that concept as it doesn't address all the issues.  I'm going to put in a skylight instead, using a leftover window.

I also identified edges that need to be stained before the final roof assembly.

With the skylight decided, I played around with possible layouts.

I mocked up a built-in dresser at one end, but this scenario pushes all the colorful bits together, and leaves little toy storage.

Instead, I'm going to move the dresser under the window so I can put shelves on the end for toys.  This distributes color and chaos evenly throughout the space.

I'm planning a small built in desk for the other end, with a floor cushion for a chair.

While I was contemplating the layout I busied my hands with toys.

Nancy sent me these some time ago, which were relatively easy to disassemble...

I consolidated some small toys into baskets...

...and colored toothpick bits to create markers, which were combined with leftover pencils from the library into a laser cut crate insert with eight sections.

I've got additional decor decisions to make, I envisioned more for the space than will fit.  Stay tuned.

I put the roof into dry fit...

...wherein I discovered a problem...

...#$&!%*.

The best way to adjust for it would be to take a corner out of the post, but it would be easier to shorten the post and trim around the top instead.  I ran a few ideas for cleanly removing a corner by husband, concluded that I'd just shorten the post instead, when he finally said the magic words..."would you like me to do it for you?".

After I marked the section to be removed he drilled three holes in those corners, which met in the middle, then he cut along my marks and cleaned the sides. 

Perfection!

The roof pieces were still tacky after buffing, so I couldn't dry fit yesterday, though I did glue in the center support beam.

Since my new dremel drill press was on my worktable I made a wall mounted radiator.

I set the depth of the machine to drill all the way through one piece of wood, but only halfway through the second (the two pieces were taped together), so that I had a clean side to face the room.  The ugly side is not in a direct sight line.

I added a supply pipe and shut off valve to the bottom.  They got knocked off center during the install, I'll fix that later.

Friday I was down with a migraine, Saturday morning I was recovering from not eating anything Friday, Saturday afternoon I cleaned my studio, then, finally, yesterday, I GOT STUFF DONE.  Whoo-hoo!

I finished the inside trim first.  Because I am not painting the baseboards the miter joins need to be perfect, so I put a new blade in my hand saw and cut them first thing in the morning, when I'm at my best.  I was pretty pleased with myself.

Full of self confidence, I pulled out a new second-hand toy my husband's ex-boss gave to me, which turns a dremel into a drill press.  I found the instruction manual online, created an ad hoc jig, then drilled perfectly aligned holes in strip wood to construct a ladder.

After coloring with an alcohol based marker I glued the rungs into one side, let it dry, then tried to put the other side on.  While struggling to get eleven rungs lined up at the same time to eleven tiny holes, my self confidence waning, it dawned on me that I should have stung the rungs into both sides, then glued.  Sigh.  

I fussed with it a bit more, stubbornly not wanting to give up, but eventually did, and built a second one.

 Let's see, what else.....

The bamboo floor has always looked a bit off to me, uneven, with gaps, so I tested a layer of white antiquing wax on an area that will be under a rug.

It didn't change the color of the bamboo dramatically, and filled in the gaps without making the floor dark or dirty looking, so I applied it to the entire floor, then buffed it with a cloth rag.  I used a brown wax on the white loft floor, to dirty it up a bit so it's more realistic.

I'm not thrilled with the lighter color but the floor looks like it's walkable now, so I'll accept the trade-off.  I may try buffing again, with some fine steel wool.  

I also stained all the ceiling pieces...several coats over the course of the day...I'm using a white oil-based stain, to avoid warping.

This where the build stands this morning....

Next on the agenda is to buff the stained ceilings, glue in the center roof support, dry fit the roof, and decide on a sensible course of action for constructing the loft built-ins.