Seems like these updates are coming semi-annually at this point.
The kind of semi-annual event that happens twice a year, not every other year. These little details make all the difference, you know.
Last time on the Harpe Star Home Studio Update blog thing, I wrote about the giant window that we had just installed, looking out from the studio into the front yard. Some pros came in, smashed out the old window and implemented the new one. It works great! Who would have thought that not having holes in your windows would help keep the heat in!
That was about six months ago? Seven maybe?
Things get colder quicker in Northern Michigan. The temperature sits in the negatives as I write this. The warmer indoor projects start to gain more appeal on days like this.
The long and short of it is I used a hammer that was far too small to smash the studio ceiling to bits.
Have you ever taken out a ceiling before? Because it’s incredibly stressful. I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t hurt myself at least twice in the process. Which, I guess, it could have been worse. Mostly everything is fine? A large piece of drywall hitting you on the head after you smash it with a hammer is only slightly off-putting.
The drop-ceiling that once existed in this space is no longer. Its unseemly little grubby hands went the way of the old window.
Instead, now, there’s this beautiful exposed wood situation. So what if it still needs to be cleaned up a bit. Maybe I like the spider-webs that hangout in the corner.
The room feels so much larger now. Maybe because it is. We’ve added a solid foot to the playing space of it all. That means backdrops can be raised that much higher, lights can find new angles, and I can’t lose anything in the crevices that are no longer there.
Finally. Peace.
Obviously there’s still so much work to do in the basement that we’re ever-so-slowly turning into a Home Studio. And there are still photo shoots happening in the process. Every client, friend, and person that walks through the door gives us so much grace with the process, too. We’re very appreciative that this isn’t a project that we have to rush on. When it makes progress it’s a joyful event, but we understand that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Soon, a friend of ours will be helping with the rewiring of the room. He already came in and added an outlet that the soon-to-be-installed new garage doors will use. The next steps include painting the wood beams (to help clean up the mess that I unearthed), adding a floor layer to cover the cold and dirty cement-esqe squares that currently reside, maybe building some new walls to cover those poorly painted (by me) cement blocks too.
We’re close to having the space we’ve envisioned. But we’re not quite there yet. Soon. And when that happens we’ll be sure to let you know.
Your friend,
Micah
