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?