New studio for 2012

Facing south, July 2007

Above is the attic as I knew it while growing up here. Yep, that's coal dust all over every rafter and floorboard! Getting the Christmas decorations from the attic back then meant bundling up in warm clothes and washing the coal dust off when you left. We thought it was really cool when we got natural gas heat piped all the way back here to this old farmhouse.

During renovation, May 2008, with the original insulation.

October 2008, almost finished.

July 2009: All finished (you can see the collar ties near the ceiling) and in the middle of unpacking.

Well, it's not actually a new studio but a newly remodeled studio. The workman who originally finished the attic in 2008 left out a very important step, and the ceiling developed a black mold in the peak of the roof. Not the unhealthy dangerous kind, but a potentially damaging mold if we left it alone. So we had the ceiling ripped out, new foam insulation blown in, new dry wall put up, and then we painted it. The ceiling has been lowered to the collar ties, which will allow for air movement above the ties and serve as extra insurance against any mold ever forming again.

Nov. 2011: Everything clean & bright. Wheels, fiber & the rest of the weaving equipment now live there happily!

But the studio is now brighter with the lowered ceiling which allows the lighting to bounce downwards into my workspace instead of being absorbed by the high ceiling. I added a few more track lights to areas that needed it. When we moved here in 2009, all the boxes for the studio were dumped up there willy-nilly. It took me weeks to put things back together, decide how I wanted the room configured and unpack the boxes. Once I'd worked there for 2 years I began to realize that the layout could be improved so I could work more efficiently. In the process of moving back into the studio after the mold removal and remodeling, I had the opportunity to rearrange the work space, re-think my storage options, consolidate most of the stash, and give away those things I will never use again (my guild members were appreciative!). It's so much more efficient and livable now, I love it up there!