Shed Series: Random Bits/What Makes a House a Home

So as I mentioned in the last shed post, we are done touring the rooms of the shed. I wanted to end the shed series though with some other images...and have decided to name this post: Random Bits/What Makes a House a Home. Because any house is more than just the rooms inside, it is the people and the memories that make it "home."

MCB - the man, the myth, the shed owner. Do you notice all the red walls behind him? I cannot express how happy I am that they have disappeared. MCB was a busy worker-bee in this picture and throughout everything (mostly) kept that cute smile on his face.

The flooring. Oh boy. There was lots of flooring. Even Anabelle here is amazed by all of the flooring. Thank goodness for MCB's folks - both sets of parents were amazing throughout the entire shed renovation. Thank you Chris, Becky, VW, and Molly!

MCB painting doors on a lovely sunny day.

At one point there was no sink or stove in the shed. Thank goodness for instant coffee (even if it is Starbucks) and a Jet Boil. We would not have survived without these things.

Thankfully the fridge remained plugged in during the renovation. We had cold beers. We drank them. What remained in the fridge throughout the renovation? One sad Bud.

A much needed coffee upgrade arrived once the stove got installed. Yay!

Building furniture, painting, cleaning, and more can be exhausting. Here I am at the end of my rope one night. At least the couch was finished for me to curl up on.

Finally, pretty things have a home. MCB's favorite coffee cups are unpacked.

Our first breakfast in the shed. Things are coming together.

MCB - self portrait. The man has a home he can live in now. A shower and a new robe does a man good - he is happy - thumbs up to the shed.

Our first dinner in the shed. MCB cooked salmon caught in Alaska by his Uncle. It was, as you can imagine, delicious.

Anabelle enjoys the sunshine in her new home. The light in the shed is amazing.

Beside coffee, a few of these may have helped get us through the harder times.

A few of MCB's favorites: coffee, his favorite coffee cup, new counters, and the amazing sunshine in the shed. What a great way to start the day.

The IKEA shelves have proven their worth in many ways. The latest discovery? They do a great job of drying skins after an early season ski touring session.

The infamous grolla. Yum.

MCB partakes. And makes a wish (part of the custom).

The shed gets photographed for a magazine spread. Not sure if they make it available digitally. If so, I will be sure to share the story/layout with everyone here.

Cheers to a happy home!

Yep, the shed is pretty wonderful. Nothing like a cold beer on a cold night to celebrate a job well done. Come by soon to share a beer - promise there is more than a lonely Bud in the fridge now.

See you soon.

Shed Series: Bedroom

So, here we are - at the end of the shed series. The shed is small and there are only so many rooms to cover. And the bedroom, that is the last room to visit. First, get ready to get your mind blown by the awesomeness of the bedroom, cause it is pretty darn amazing. Sadly though, this is our last room...but keep checking back to this here blog for updates. A house is not a static thing and lots will change - and I will be sure to share all that happens around the shed.

With all this said - how about we take a look at the bedroom.

Before. Sigh. This image is - again - the only "before" image we have. As you can see there is one window. Since the bedroom (and entire downstairs for that matter) sits below the ground, this is a window well that only lets in a little light. To note: this image was taken at night, it is not this dark all of the time.

Here you can see the former owner's bed - propped up on cinder blocks to provide storage under the bed. The furniture placement is pretty awkward here. This room is small - like seriously small - so to stuff it with so much furniture made it feel even smaller.

A "during" shot. The carpet was ripped out and this is before the walls were painted. Again, before the epic IKEA adventure, some space planning took place.

Following the epic IKEA adventure, a l-o-t of furniture building took place. The biggest project of them all was the construction of the bed. I believe it took about 3 hours total to put this monster together.

And, here I am after the bed was finally finished. Yippee!

So, now that we have gutted the room, installed new floors, painted, and built all of the furniture...let's get a tour of the completed room. Come on in...

Here is the bed. And that is basically it. Honestly. This room is small - minute actually. So all that fits is the bed...which is fine since all you do in a bedroom is sleep anyway.

Everything in here is from IKEA. The headboard was a genius discovery by MCB. Since there is really not enough room for proper nightstands, this headboard has these adjustable shelves that sit off the ground. The photo above the bed is from MCB's friend (and talented photographer) Nick Wolcott. The lamps are ones I had in storage that I had in my apartment in Savannah. These lamps clamp to the headboard - freeing up much needed space on the shelves for other items.

Here is the only closet in the entire shed. The room is too small for a door, so I bought a curtain and a tension rod from Target as a solution to cover up the closet. This closet holds all of MCB's clothes and the large water heater.

So, here is the bed. It is so cozy and comfortable. But...there is a secret hiding in this bed.

And, voila! The mattress sits on special hinges that allow it to lift up and stay up. The room is too small for any type of storage that slides out from the sides or the ends or anything like that. So, this IKEA box spring is genius as it lifts up for easy access.

Here is MCB's side of the bed. He has a random collection of things on his nightstand shelves. Questions about anything? Ask in the comments section.

And, here is my side of the bed. I have my own little collection of things on my shelves too. And, below the shelves...a basket. This is what I am allotted. I have a basket for my clothes since there is very little storage. Occasionally I transfer clothes between my house and the shed, but really, it has been amazing to discover how very little I need and the various combinations of outfits I can create with only a few items.

So, this is the bedroom.

Hope you have enjoyed touring around the shed. Like I said, make sure to check in often as I will be sure to post shed updates, but also to share other projects happening around my house, friend's houses, Telluride, and more.

Thanks for visiting! Plan a trip to Telluride to visit in person soon or swing by the shed if you are in town for that cocktail I mentioned.

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?

Boo!

A Halloween color story from the shed. Orange and Black. Have a spooktacular day!

Pillows.

Orange Eames. Yes, it is staying.

Matt loves a good bunting (his joke). This is the fridge in the shed. The doors are spray painted with chalkboard paint. Adorable.

Pumpkin. Waiting to be carved.

Two dogs, 400 sq ft. Lots of dog hair.

Yum. Home baked goodies.