Waterproof Wednesday

 It's been snowy and cold for most of the month and everyone is sick & tired of it. Me included. The thaw has finally started, with a nice slow melt. I've had to chop thru some thick ice to divert the water away from the house & the garage and it made me think of a project I did last fall.

Waterproofing the Michigan House deck. So needing to see a little green, instead of all this white, I'm sharing some project pics.

First a before picture from May.

Then during pictures from October.

Really glad I got the deck waterproofed before this winter, since snowfall totals are a but higher than normal. We have some boards that need to be replaced but all in all, the heavy power washing and waterproofing makes the deck look much newer than it actually is. 

Quilt Painting Progress

 This past weekend was cold and snowy. Frigid cold. More stupid snow. Too cold to even work down in the Studio so I worked on the Quilt Painting in the living room, between reading, eating and napping. Yeah - that kind of a Winter weekend!

Started with the center star.

The triangle corners underway.

Notice the difference between the first coat of green and the final coat with the blue shading blended to the second coat of green. I like it so much better than just a solid color like the original painting.

Decided I hated the center star as too dark, with the colors muddy, so I repainted a white coat and began again with straight ultramarine blue base on 5 of the stars. All 36 corner triangles are done!

This is where the painting is at now. Need to decide how the blue stars will end up being shaded. And then figure out colors for the 4 other stars, and then the other shapes & sashing & borders. I'm going slow, in the hope of avoiding repainting too many shapes based on color choices. 

Sitting Pretty...Kind of!

 Last year, I was having issues with my work chairs. or in the case of working in Michigan, my non-existent proper work chair. So, I purchased two of these gaming chairs. 

While they are a vast improvement over the previous chairs, little did I know that the problems I was experiencing ran deeper. Much deeper - into my hips muscles, primarily the piriformis, and sciatic nerves. Yikes!

My job entails a lot of sitting. Making matters worse is the fact I tend to sit crooked, and stay in one position for too long.  All of which is really under my control. It got to the point that I can't sleep on my side without the lower back, hips and leg nerves going crazy. I've been going to physical therapy twice a week for about a month now, stretching and strengthening my hip muscles, and using medication to deal with the nerve pain and inflammation. 

Last fall, I also discovered quilter recommendations about saddle stools for sitting while sewing. Saddle stools are commonly used by dental techs, nail salons, etc. Of course, I didn't think much about it as I had just bought the two big chairs.  My worsening hip pain made me think twice about the saddle stool. I had researched possible options and saved them in my Amazon wish list. Last week, I pulled the trigger.

And here is the new addition to my Studio/ work from home office. I wanted the sapphire blue one but it wasn't available, so aqua it is! Helping my posture and my body is more important than color. Supposedly, it takes a few days for you to adjust to sitting on the saddle stool for several hours as hip and thigh muscles stretch out. Just what I want! When you sit on it, you are actually sitting on your seat bones, very similar to sitting in a saddle while riding a horse. 

And speaking of riding a horse, I haven't in almost a month. The last time I rode, there was some very scary snow sliding off the indoor arena roof which resulted in Stormy & I parting company. I landed mostly on my butt. Thankfully, I always wear a helmet and Stormy didn't step on me. Unfortunately, my tailbone took some of the impact. It's still sore. It will heal but it takes a ridiculously long time. This injury added to the hip/sciatic nerve issue. Oh Joy! I'm really thankful this happened now while the weather is too cold to ride.

 With any luck, I'll be in better shape all the way around when I get back to riding. I'm making a point of getting out of my chair at least once an hour & moving! I'll let you know how the saddle stool chair works after a few weeks use.

Slow Painting Progress

 The new painting project went from this

through a light sanding, courtesy of W, which I thought I took a picture of but didn't, to this.

It pretty much matches the same state as the coloring cartoons. 

A clean blank slate. Hope to get some real painting progress on this over the coming weekend.

Lighting the Way!

 In the course of hunting the bedroom furniture, I stumbled upon a few things that I didn't know I needed until I found them.

The lighting in my bedroom is hideous. The room does not have an overhead light nor a ceiling fan with a light. For years, I made do with two small mismatched lamps. 

I never loved them. And the light was totally inadequate for the room. While looking for bedroom dressers, I found this pair of metal lamps with glass shades.

They came home with me! Each lamp has two bulbs which equals a ton of light! The metal bases complement the color of the metal bedstead. Sometimes you find the coolest things when you aren't even looking. Thrift store for the win again at $25.00 for the pair!

Stove Makeover

 I told you all that the walls of the Studio weren't the only thing that got a coat of paint.

And YES - anything I own it fair game for modification. I like things changed to suit my style. Stoves included.

When I needed a new space heater for the Studio, I wanted something with style, not just an industrial metal box. So we found this. 

It was available in colors by special order at the time, for an extra charge. We weren't exactly flush with cash at the time so I figured basic black would be fine, as I could always jazz it up myself.

Fast forward to the Studio getting blue on the walls and the time had finally arrived to tackle the Stove Makeover. At first, I thought I'd paint it all solid blue but half way thru, I changed my mind and let it be two-toned. 

It's several shades darker than the walls but the same blue family. I couldn't wait to share it with you all. It will have a new place once I move a few more things around. You'll see more picture of the stove soon.

Furniture Find!

 Seriously?!!! Another Furniture Finds? How much more does she need? What on earth have they been using all this time  - orange boxes & milk crates?

The Shopping Maven struck again. I was minding my own business, chatting with the manager of the Thrift Shop about the best time to bring in some of our large pieces to release into the Universe when I saw something.   I swear I was simply standing there. Okay - looking, but not really shopping. 

The TV stand at the Michigan House is a hold over from the 70's. 

It had really seen better days considering it was glass & particle board. W had already modified it once to safely hold the 43 inch tv, by adding the longer plywood top.

But then I saw this and knew it was just the ticket. 

It would definitely fit the style & space. W was convince there would be no way on earth I would be able to manage it on my own, getting it out of the van & into the house. But where there's a will, there's a way. I admit I had to get creative using what I had but I got it in place.

And I'm glad I did! Price for this piece? $35.00. Definitely a furniture find!

Snowy Sunday, Project Day!

The snow started on Saturday around 5:00 pm and finished right before I sat down to type this post on Sunday evening. A 24 hour snow event. It was a heavy, wet snow requiring a few shoveling sessions throughout the day. We had about 9-10 inches come down.

In between, I worked on painting the last wall of the Studio. YAY!! In order to get this stretch of wall done, I had to move the tall cherry bookcase, the old tool chest, the TV stand, and the litterbox tote. 

Now that the painting is done, I have to figure out where I'm putting the furniture back in place, trying to optimize the space.  The Studio would greatly benefit this room being 3 feet wider and 3 feet longer, at a minimum. Not happening, but a girl can dream, can't she?! The paint is not yet dry here.

Still loving the color. Maybe even a bit more since the painting is done. Oh sure, the baseboards have a few spots needing touch up yet but I'm calling this project done! Once I get the final furniture placement, I will be able to (at last!) lay down the new rug. What's really cool is how the cherry wood and the drapes and the Michigan map all pop against the wall color. Picture of that later.

Next project is refinishing a new wall art piece. I'm glad I held off on this until I had the wall color decided. A few months ago, I found this at the thrift shop in town. It cost all of $12.00. 

As you can see the colors are clearly dated and not my palette.  Signed and dated 1989! 

I took some time today to draw a cartoon of it, and make copies so I can carefully plan out my paint scheme. 

I want it to pop with blues & greens, maybe coral for an accent,  with color gradations and contrast. Color pencil versions will help me hopefully achieve my vision.   My evening TV watching this week will be well spent. I'm thinking I'll be ready to paint it in the next week or two. Maybe some of this snow will have melted by then....HAHAHAHAHA!