KICKING THE HARPE STAR HOME STUDIO UP A NOTCH, AND HAVING A GOOD TIME DOIN' IT!
Well, it only took six months, but we finally made progress on the renovation of our home studio! We finally have windows that can OPEN!
If you remember – before the snow hit here in the winter-wonderland that is Traverse City, Michigan – we here at Harpe Star converted half of our two car garage into the grungiest pseudo-studio space. It had exactly enough room for one backdrop and its stand at a time. Though, in that Covid-complying half-indoor half-outdoor space we managed to have a lot of fun. We got to test our limits as photographers, and even just have our little pod of people come and have a good time in the freshly renovated garage for Kristen’s birthday; back in November.
Of course, when winter hit that all changed. No one wants to hang out in a cold cold garage, so we lost that space for the season.
As our cars started getting snow from the tires into the garage, what was once “fresh and exciting” started to get a little torn up. It’s still nicer than it was before the renovation, sure, but not nearly as nice as it had been when it was newly painted.
So what did we do? Well, we decided to find a way to bring that party inside! There’s this basement room in the house and goes mostly unused. It’s got a decent amount of storage space. You know, sometimes we’ll shoot some silly video footage of the cats down there, but it was cold and weird. And not a place we’d want to spend a lot of time.
BUT NOW!?
Now that space that once felt COLD and DARK has a freshly installed window! And it lit everything up instantaneously.
Gone is the old window, with holes in it letting in the cold-bitter air, and cracked sealant around the edges that made it feel ready to fall out at any moment. In fact, the people who installed the new window smashed the original slab of glass to pieces. Take that!
Now we’ve got TWO windows that can open down there! It’s great having fresh air coursing through the veins of our home. It’s making these spring weather days feel all the more comforting.
We’re even working on cleaning up the super retro-tile that covers the floor down there, and clearing out some of the excess storage stuff that we’ve just let pile up over a year of hanging out at home.
It’s starting to look like a real room. We may even have a photo shoot in the space pretty soon to break in the beauty of it all.
It’s a simple thing, this pane of glass that now separates the inside and outside. But it really makes a great difference.
Look forward to another update on this epic saga as life continues. Who knows when that will be. It’s gonna be a lot of…scrubbing the floor. Hoping the dust and grime comes off.
Thanks for your time. <3
Micah and Kristen
Harpe Star
