What can I say… I get bored sometimes working on the same project and I jump to other things, even though I know I shouldn’t. I sometimes think I have the attention span of a 3 year old. After finishing the hallway panels, it’s time for me to move into the master bedroom (which I’m dragging my feet on. HUGE PROJECT!). Last Friday evening Richie was messing around in the “studio” area of the house (which I rarely talk about because we haven’t done anything to it). There’s paneling throughout the 600+ square feet of the studio which needs to come down.

[ Pictures of the Studio/Office area.  before and now. ]

[ All this dark paneling will be removed but the cool little built in “secretary’s desk” will stay. I’ll get a new top and refinish all the wood.  It’ll look so great.  All the built in storage will get a face life too. ]

Richie started pulling some of the paneling down just to “see what was behind it”… and most of it has sheetrock. HALLELUJAH! Now, the question is… can we save it and use it and will it look okay.  I was told by a friend of mine who works for an architect that sometimes they used sheetrock under paneling to keep it from warping and bowing. I guess that makes sense. Whatever the reason, I’m just happy that we might not need to hang all that sheetrock. Finally, a freggin’ break!

So because of my 3-year old attention span I didn’t move into the bedroom just yet but wanted to see if I could work with the existing sheetrock in the office part of the studio.
(ya know.. just for fun.. cuz that’s what all normal people do for fun!) So I hammered in the paneling nails, scraped and wiped down the walls, and began to apply a skim coat of sheetrock mud over the entire wall. Richie prefers a smooth finish (I could care less, texture is fine with me.. but we’ll make him happy, cuz he always tries to make me happy.) The trick for me is to add just enough water to get the mud to a nice creamy (almost like icing) consistency.

Wow, I think it looks pretty damn good. This will work. Now all I have to do is sand it and apply a primer. It’s amazing how much lighter and brighter it made the room look, just doing that small portion of the studio.   I’m so excited to get back in there!

Richie ooo’s and ahhh’s every time he walks through there. We’ve lived with that dark paneling for so long we both feel like we’ve been handed a million dollars or something. (laughing) I think I jump from one thing to the next just to get excited about what is possible. Now I can’t wait to finish the bedroom and get to the studio. (the next day I started sheetrock in the master bedroom. Now I’m determined to get it done and move on.)

Here’s one without all the glaring lights.