A UFO (UnFinishedObject)of a different sort...

Not a sewing UFO - a sewing room UFO.


A bit of history.  My little 100-yr. old country-house-in-the-city has provided me hours...many hours...of creative remodeling & decorating pleasure and angst.  During the kitchen remodel, 4 years ago, one of the most satisfying tasks was re-claiming the real estate that had been hogged by an old brick mystery chimney...completely walled over & just....taking up space in the center of the house.

The little corner of the attic room, pre-remodel

After removing the wall

Oh, was it fun picking those bricks apart!   Brick...by brick....by brick.....

 Whoa!   Don't look down there!  Two more levels of bricks to remove....

Four years later, the former guest room becomes my sewing room!   Ummm....but that corner nook still hasn't been dealt with......   I had searched for tongue & groove  wood to match what was there, but it would have to be custom made.   At great cost.  Nuh uh....not happening.....

Queenie the vintage dress form does her best at hiding the corner.    The shelving & other pieces necessary for a built in bookshelf have been gathered......

 So yesterday, at LAST!  I created the time & energy & space to get that ceiling hole patched & the bookshelf built!   I saw, & hammer, & drill, & paint....and make lots.  and lots.  of noise.   Mostly hammering.    By early afternoon today my poor darling Mum has had enough & starts turning into a crabby old lady.   Sadly, I too turn into a crabby old lady.   & pack everything up & call it quits for this session.

At least the hole in the ceiling has been (unprofessionally & incompletely) patched, & the bare redwood t&g has a couple of coats of primer!

At the moment, my lower back is actively hurting from all those odd angles trying to hammer impossibly fragile nails into impossibly solid old growth wood.   Buying a power finish nailer just moved up to the top of my Necessary Tools List.   The bookshelf project is shelved for awhile, but the next chapter will open soon!


Lessons learned:


1) Having the right tool for the job is worth its weight in gold.   Well, maybe....I'm a little too cheap to buy the $300 finish nailer I want, but I'm stalking Craigslist again!  (I promise I'm not looking at sewing machines though.....)
2) There isn't enough room in one little old house for two crabby little old ladies at the same time.   One of us could use some meditation time ;-)