my mother's clothes

Have you seen or read this book?  

my mother's clothes by Jeannette Montgomery Barron

She is a SCAD grad so assuming so.

My sweet friend Julie gave it to me and it is beautiful.

[book cover  - my mother's clothes]

Shed Series: Stairs

Let the shed series continue! So, this might not be the most exciting of areas of the shed to explore, but one that I believe deserves its own separate post. Time to go round and round as we spiral down the stairs.

Here is a mid-demolition shot of the top of the stairs, by the front door. This is looking towards the living room (now that you all have toured the entire upstairs). This is a great view of the gross teal trim, the beige front door, and - to the left - the blood red walls that went down the stairs. Also, here is MCB's dog, Anabelle, looking uneasy at the prospect of having to trot up and down the spiral stairs for the next few years to come.

And, here is a shot of the bottom of the spiral stairs. At the top of the image you see the doorway into the bedroom. This image is after all of the carpet had been ripped up (thank goodness). The spiral stairs aren't the prettiest, but they are the most practical for the space - they take up very little room.

And, here is MCB's Pop hard at work. If you don't know Von Wilson, you should probably get to know him. VW is all things - most importantly for this project - he is a very handy guy. In 1.5 days, VW laid every inch of flooring in the shed - including jigging the floor so that it fit perfectly around the base of the spiral stairs. Magic.

And, here is the front door area now. There is one tiny closet in the entire shed (in the bedroom, it also is home to the water heater), so all of the coats are out in the open. MCB purchased another IKEA shelf system for the shed. Living in Telluride means you need a lot of jackets for all types of weather. On the floor you will notice an old crate that gets used to store wet boots. Another crate has since been purchased for on top of the shelf to hold hats, gloves, helmets, nordic boots, you name it.

Blood red wall - gone! Took two coats of primer and two coats of paint to cover it all up - whew.

There is this odd little shelf in the stairwell. Of course, this is the obvious place to store axes (jokes people). The sign there was a gift from a friend - and is illegal for MCB to have as it is a Forest Service trail sign. Shhhh.

Also, no, MCB is not a lumberjack. Actually, MCB does some guest blogging for a great company - Best Made Company - who sends him gear to "test drive" so he can write reviews - hence the axe collection. All of those axes get used too - some wood chopping happened just this past Thanksgiving up in Steamboat with VW.

Looking down the stairs. Thrilling I know. The poster was a gift to MCB from some friends. MCB loves The National (as in lots). I do not (as in lots).

Here we are at the bottom of the stairs.

And, this is me, standing on the bottom step. Wow - I took a lot of stair photos. The door on the left leads you to the bedroom. Off to the right is the entrance to the bathroom. Behind the door is another painting by Michelle Curry Wright. She had loaned it to MCB years ago and just the other day came and swiped it to use in an upcoming show.

And, here we are under the stairs. Storage is a huge issue in the shed. MCB bought a couple of action packers to store bike gear (helmet, shoes, pedals, tools), ski gear (boots, helmets, gloves, goggles), and packs (for biking, skiing, hiking). Living in the mountains means you have so much stuff for all different activities. Outside are additional action packers with camping gear and other such stuff.

So, those are the stairs.
And, these now take us downstairs, where we will tour the bedroom and bathroom...stay tuned!

Erin Font

I love my sister's handwriting.  

I think there should be an Erin font. 

Check out the lovely signs she made for our Thanksgiving dishes.  

Spotted...

...this super cute YART sale sign.  Love it.  

Shed Series: Kitchen

Ok - time to keep the shed series moving right along. I recently asked MCB if I could make a "now we're cooking" joke to introduce the kitchen. He told me that if I had to ask, it probably was a bad joke. He is probably right. So, I have no introduction now except to say - welcome to the shed kitchen.
Let's look around...

Here is a before image - from the kitchen sink. This is, again, from our first tour of the shed back in April. Note the teal window trim, the gauzy curtains, and the dead flowers in the steel thermos. As you can imagine, every bit of this was changed.

Here is another shot from our first visit. Sorry I am in this shot, I had no idea a photo was being taken and it is really the only overview shot of the kitchen from "before" that we have. If you can sort of notice - there is a high bar table with stools on the left side of the image, the previous renters had covered the upper cabinets with makeshift doors with sticks on the front, and pots and pans were hanging from the rafters. I think the best way to describe the space is cluttered.

Here is another before image - of the floor. The linoleum came up and the unfinished cabinets received a much needed face-lift.

An in-progress shot. Matt's Mom, Molly, was a painting fool. Not only did she paint the entire kitchen, she also made meals for all of the hungry workers every day while they were in town. Both Molly and Von (you will see him later) helped out tremendously. MCB is very lucky to have two sets of incredible parents help with this project.

Painting cabinets can be a pain, but well worth the effort.
This image also shows the old counter and sink.

Molly was reading the newspaper one day and noticed an ad from a condo complex that was undergoing renovations. They were advertising a sale for all of their old appliances as they were upgrading each unit. Stoves = $35. Refrigerators = $35. The sizes were perfect for the shed...super duper small. Previously in the shed there was just a mini-fridge that sat below the counters. MCB and I went online to look at larger options and small fridges seemed to run about $400. Not that that is terrible, but you cannot possibly beat $35. The $35 stove was in much better shape than the existing shed stove, so that got swapped too.

Molly decided that the white fridge was fine, but terribly boring. She taped the edges of the doors and gave them a quick spray with chalkboard paint. The black is a nice contrast to the light colors of the shed and the chalkboard is a great place to write lists, notes, and a great way to keep a toddler entertained during breakfast (yes, this has happened).

Here is the kitchen now - clean, bright, and clutter free (as much as possible). All of the cabinets are painted the same color as the trim. New IKEA butcher block counters and a new sink/faucet. Off to the left you can see the fold down kitchen table. When folded, it creates this lovely little shelf for books and keys and such. The rug is a Dash & Albert rug - one of the indoor/outdoor styles, meaning not only can you hose it off to get it clean, but it wears well.

A closer image of the sink area. All of the dishes are from IKEA. MCB likes the Basil Mrs. Meyers cleaner - smells yummy. He has also started collecting jadeite - MCB has two teacups and saucers.

To corral cords, MCB found this old cheese box. I found these flashcards in Savannah (remember?) and gave him one. Also, in a pinch before his big magazine shoot, I put a card in an extra IKEA frame (it says: boy on a bike)...it fits in nicely.

And, here is the table - down.

Here it is up. Remember the stools from the living room? Here is how they get used.

And, here is where MCB likes to work - at the table, with his teacup, and his Eames chair. The sun comes through the kitchen window and provides such lovely light. It is a great little work desk. That's the thing about small spaces - making areas serve multiple uses is key.

Here are the $35 appliances in action. As I mentioned, before, there was only a mini-fridge that would sit below a counter on the right side of the stove. This new fridge is a huge improvement. MCB purchased a few shelving systems at IKEA that have come in handy. In the kitchen, this shelf provides nice additional storage. MCB found the clock at a junk shop in Montrose. The Canada Dry box on top of the fridge (another junk shop score) is where all of the booze gets stored.

And here is a detail shot from above the stove - the "coffee station." On the little shelf there houses a cream pitcher, the shuguh bowl (from my house), and coffee spoons. The espresso pot painting was a gift to MCB from a local artist, Michelle Curry Wright. I have one of her paintings as well - she is great. To the left of the painting is a photo of MCB as a kid drinking coffee. Molly put together this photo with a cute little saying in a frame. It is adorable.

So, that is the kitchen. I wish I had more before images for you as the transformation has been so dramatic. It is cute, it is cozy, it is actually really comfortable to cook in this kitchen.

And, basically, between the kitchen and the living room - we have concluded the upstairs.
There is plenty more to share though...don't worry.

Thankful

I know I owe you all more shed photos. Don't worry, they are ready to post - all of the images are uploaded and everything - so I promise more to come soon.

In the meantime, I just had to share a little project that took place over Thanksgiving this year. MCB and I had the pleasure of visiting his family in Steamboat Springs for the holiday. And no visit would be complete without a follow-up post about something crafty happening - I mean, remember these people?

So, while the turkey was cooking (In a paper bag no less - have you ever heard of such a thing? It was delicious!), we got started on table decorations. Molly purchased all of the fixings...and here is how everything turned out.

We had some small pumpkins that we cleaned out and filled with water.

A bunch of [inexpensive] beautiful flowers were trimmed and piled together.

And then stuffed in the pumpkin - voila! So easy, festive, and cute.

We made three.

And here is the table.

Lots to be thankful this year...hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving holidays as well.

Shed Series: Living Room

Ok. So now that you have seen the outside, let's take a tour of the inside. Come on in...

Welcome to the first room we will visit - the Living Room. You all have seen this image before - when discussing to paint or not to paint rafters. This is the before image from the first day MCB was able to tour the space. It is not the best image, like I said I didn't get a chance to get many "before" shots. Note the teal trim color - and what you can't see is that the window trim inside the molding is a deep purple color. Oh yeah, and that red wall in the spiral stairwell...the combination was, well, interesting to say the least.

This is why I don't have more "before" images. The day after MCB bought the shed, his Dad (who happened to be in town) started ripping everything up. Which was so very wonderful. The disgusting carpet (so gross) and the linoleum got pulled up immediately. Chris was a workhorse - demo and painting until the wee hours of the morning. Becky, MCB's step-mom, did an amazing job of keeping everything clean throughout this phase of the project.

The dogs monitored our progress. For a while, the mini-fridge and the stove from the kitchen got moved to the middle of the living room so that the counters and sink could be installed. As you can see, prior to our trip to IKEA, I did a little space planning. I measured out all of the furniture using the dimensions provided online to make sure the furniture MCB was planning on buying would fit in the space. Outlined are the sofa and TV locker.

We were painting fools. The hard part was working long days at our jobs and then coming to the shed at night to work well into the morning. Exhausting. MCB picked out all of his own paint and I think he did a pretty great job. All of the trim (goodbye teal and purple!) is now "atrium white" and the walls (goodbye blood red!) are now "ashwood" - all Benjamin Moore. Clean, fresh, lovely.

There was a LOT of IKEA furniture building. MCB literally had no furniture - nothing. So, we bought everything. And then we had to build it.

After all of the demo, painting, installation of new floors, furniture building, and so on - we finally had a chance to hang art. MCB has a great collection of art and I think for him, putting it on the walls made it feel like things were getting accomplished.

Now things are done, in place, and (for the most part) finished. So, here is the final result. The art is on the wall. There are various prints here - from Ben Knight and Nick Wolcott. MCB also recently purchased a print by Dan Budnik, a well-known civil rights photographer. Also on the wall is print from a WSJ photographer of a man in Afghanistan. MCB's close friend is a reporter for the NYT and has been reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan this past year. This print was a surprise housewarming gift and is such a lovely addition to MCB's collection.

Across from the couch is the Eames chair which is no longer on spec and is now a permanent fixture. Also, the TV. What gets watched? Honestly all we watch is football and Chopped. Next to the TV is a lamp I had in high school - there is no place in my condo for it, so glad it has a home at the shed.

Here is the sofa - IKEA's Karlstad. The dark gray slipcover hides a variety of sins. And, this sofa is comfy. Like so comfy, a certain blogger may fall asleep on it every night.

Next to the locker is another Karlstad item, a little chair. We also bought a stack of stools that we use at the kitchen table (more on that later), but they also get used for additional seating. The lockers were attached to the back of the shed and housed paint and other random items. These got cleaned up and brought inside. They now provide much needed storage for shoes, ski gear, bike gear, hats, and other miscellaneous items.

Above the chair are these prints. One is a photo of a power plant outside of Craig, CO that we recently drove past - the photo is moody and cool. Remember this scary junk shop? MCB picked up some of these rusty stars there and nailed them into the wall. Also hanging is a sweet photo of MCB and his grandfather heading out on a fishing trip when MCB was a little boy.

Just another shot of the locker, chair, stools.

And, remember the rafters? They stayed unpainted (thankfully).

That is the Living Room. It is very cozy and very comfortable for entertaining.
Come by for a cocktail sometime, won't you?

Shed Series: And so it begins...

Yes, and so it begins. I have finally been able to pull together all of the shed photos - from before, during, and after. While there aren't as many "before" images as I would like, hopefully the ones I do have will give you all the sense of what the shed once looked like and what it has since become.

I plan on going room by room (don't worry, it is small so it won't take too long) with my posts.

So, let's get started - welcome to 586.5 West Pacific in Telluride, Colorado.

Here is the shed from the first day we had an opportunity to visit. The sign on the front side is to indicate that this shed will be reviewed by our local HARC (Historic Architectural Review Commission) Board. The lot the shed sits on will, one day, get developed. Since Telluride is a historic district, this means that there is a volunteer board that reviews all development plans within the town to ensure their compliance with prescribed guidelines in order to maintain Telluride's historic character.

This shed is a "protected" building within the town's historic guidelines. Probably built near the turn of the last century, this means that this shed cannot be altered. The shed adds to the historic character of the town in that Telluride has a mix of high Victorian homes, railroad warehouse buildings, small miner cabins, and many sheds. These sheds must maintain their rough exteriors, cannot be added onto, and may not be moved from their original locations.

The shed went before the HARC board as the front house on the lot will be renovated and the middle (now open) portion of the lot will be developed - as an addition to the front house. The shed will remain exactly where it is and how it looks.

Here is the happy little house. All 491 sq ft.

The shed is covered in a plethora of materials like rough hewn boards and various types of metal siding - in both vertical and horizontal configurations.

This is the view from the shed - lots of big condos in the area.

MCB wasn't digging the taupe colored front door.

So, it is now green.

Here is the front door on a recent snowy day. We are now on the hunt for some cool "numbers" to put on the front door. Maybe a stencil? Maybe some nail on metal type numbers? Who knows.

Also, I want to note this now - with two dogs between us, you will find dogs creeping into many of the images. Cannot be helped. Woof.

There is a little patio type area out front of the shed. Right now it houses bikes - MCB's townie and the tandem (aka. USS Montana).

So, welcome to the shed. It is cute, it is cozy, and I cannot wait to show you around.