The Remodel. . . Part 3. . .

The front end of the building was a work in progress for quite awhile.  Partly because we couldn't totally agree on what it should look like and partly because once you tear up the front end, you have to do something about it. 

This is what it looked like before the demolition started.  In this picture, the front door is to your right and there is a wall and a hallway that separates this front area from the rest of the building.

This hallway served no purpose for us whatsoever.  There was also another small room off of this hallway, directly behind the front area, that served as an office for the former tenant. 

One of the first things we had to do was get rid of the walls and make this room one big open space. . .

This video really isn't all that exciting but it's a pretty good representation of this whole project!!

The next step was to connect the remaining wall which separated the front area from the back area with the wall that enclosed our offices.  In this picture, the ladder is sitting in the space that needs filled in. . .

This picture was taken from the other side of the wall and Rob is standing where the ladder was in the previous picture. . .

Once the wall was filled in, the slat wall went up. . .

We all agreed on the paint colors and the carpeting. . .

And the room began to look like something we could actually invite people into!!

It was a huge amount of work and is STILL a work in progress but it was well worth it! 

To be continued. . .

The Remodel. . . Part 2. . .

So. . . . after working in a mostly demolished space for close to a year, construction began again.  I was thrilled that the wall enclosing my office away from the dust and debris was the first order of business.

Once enclosed, my office was mostly good to go.  I was happy with the paint that was already on the walls and we painted the new wall a neutral grey to go with the carpet.  The tarp in the doorway was quickly replaced by an actual door and, for the first time in a long time (maybe EVER) I had my very own space.  With two doors that I could shut (and lock!) if necessary. 

It's really difficult to describe the rest of the building but it was made up of a series of small rooms seperated by long, dark hallways and grafitti covered walls.  We had been using all of the space possible but that meant there were an assortment of things spread throughout the building which left us constantly looking for things.  We also lacked a professional looking area where we could meet with potential customers.  Rob and Kurt also needed a space of their own to build cables and do whatever else needed to be done.  And also, Rob needed to stop putting his stuff on my desk.  Which he had a bad habit of doing.  All the time.  Not that it bothered me. . . Pfttt. . .

I, personally, didn't do much in the way of demolition or construction but I took plenty of pictures.  Keep in mind that the original room once looked like this.  Notice, especially, the ceiling.  It's actually a false ceiling that is angled in some pretty strange ways. . .

I won't try to explain the next set of pictures because I've probably already given way more information than anyone actually wants but I find the whole process very interesting. . .

This is my favorite part: Now Rob has a place to put his stuff!!!  And when he forgets and leaves his stuff on my desk anyway, I have a place to toss his stuff!!

The pictures really can't do justice to the magnitude of this project and this room is still a work in progress but, considering it had to be torn down to the bare bones from top to bottom including the lighting, the transformation is amazing! 

And that was just the beginning!!!

To be continued. . .

The Remodel. . . Part 1. . .

Once upon a time the building we now occupy looked like this (image "stolen" from the web):

Before we moved in, the building had been used as a recording studio for 20-odd years so the building had an interesting layout, to say the least.  It would be difficult to give this project the justice it deserves without adding at least a little bit of the history. . .

We moved into the warehouse next door to this recording studio in 2000-ish.  We worked occasionally with the owner of the studio and we shared a loading dock in between the two buildings.  We were neighbors for close to 10 years when he told us he would be moving out.  We've tried several space arrangements over the years, including this one. (If you click on the link you'll find way more information than you've ever wanted about the history of our building situations!) .  When the studio relocated, we were squashed into the single warehouse again and it made sense to expand into the newly unoccupied building.  The landlord was willing to give us a great deal on rent if we would do some renovations so we decided to take the leap.  For the most part, the building was unusable to us except as storage.  As a studio, it had many small-ish rooms with false ceilings, long hallways and interesting artwork.  Our needs required big open spaces so we had a huge chunk of work ahead of us.  Shortly after we moved in we did this:

And then we built a stage trailer.  And got busy.  And this is how we left it, making the best of the situation only because we had to. . .

One year later. . .

I got a picture text from Rob. . .

And work began again. . .

To be continued. . .