also know as: the post full of random things i like.
have you all seen the movie 500 days of summer? after seeing the chalkboard wall in that movie, i went back to wanting a chalkboard something in my house. i know that it seems to be kind of trendy or whatever, and i'm not normally one to follow trends. but for a studio space i think it would be great to have a large area to draw and sketch and a place that i can use for inspiration and ideas.
by the way, how fun was the headboard that was just drawn on the chalkboard? cheapest headboard ever!
moving on - here is a sketch of the floorplan that i'm working with. as you can see, the large window faces the south so we get a lot of natural light in this room. good for working, not for watching tv or sitting by the window (it gets really hot in the summer). we're hoping to get blinds to help with that problem though. the wall with the big window is also the exposed brick wall.
i've been trying to sketch possible furniture layouts (see part 1) using the chair/ottoman, desk, table, and tv stand. i'm not coming up with much. i might just need to start moving the furniture around in the room once we are done painting to see what feels best.
i'm really leaning towards painting the desk if i end up using it in this room, the yellow pine just doesn't go with anything else. i could re-stain it, but that seems like a lot more work. if i painted it, i'm thinking maybe a glossy gray that is lighter than the wall color? i'm not a huge fan of painted white furniture normally, i'm not into that whole "shabby chic" look. but would gray (or some other color) help it look more modern and less shabby chic? i know i really need a better picture of the desk, i am sorry about that.
and back to the chalkboard idea - i'm not sure that i'd want to do a whole wall.... both for cost reasons and just the fact that i don't see myself using the whole wall. what do you all think of just doing a wide stripe of chalkboard paint on one wall? possibly the wall across from the brick wall (the one that the closet is on). i think i'll have to decide furniture layout first, and then pick the chalkboard wall. i was thinking maybe a 3' or 4' stripe of chalkboard paint, with possibly some kind of corkboard stripe across the top and/or bottom so that i can also pin up photos, plans, etc... see my horrible photocopy sketch below. 
or maybe not? i keep going back and forth on the chalkboard, i think that my biggest reason why not is just because i keep seeing it everywhere... but that seems like a strange reason not to do something. i really do like the idea of some kind of corkboard though.
while i'm on the random path, i've also thought about attempting to make my own version of this fabulous shelving wall unit by the brick house (if you don't read this blog, you should, she has a great house and i'm jealous of almost all of her furniture and light fixtures)
it's made of plumbing parts and a couple of pieces of wood. it's not attached to the floor so we wouldn't have to worry about damaging the wood floors. something like this could be customized to help with some of the storage that i need, and possibly even hold some of my books, maybe a new flat tv (dreaming), architectural models and studio supplies... i probably wouldn't be able to make this now, but maybe in a few months? what do you think, should i work it into the plan? it would help me eliminate the need for a lot of the other random furniture i'm considering. thanks morgan for letting me share your shelving unit... and possibly copying your idea... :-)so there you have it. and you can see why i need help. i'll leave you with one last image of some of the materials i'm considering:
5 Responses to the plan part 2
Do the chalkboard! It doesn't matter that you've seen it "everywhere", if you want one then do it! I originally didn't buy the wedding dress I really wanted because it was popular on the knot. Three wedding dresses later and 5 weeks before the wedding- I snag my Lia at a sample sale and felt fabulous in it at the wedding. and everyone complimented me on such a unique dress.
So- moral of the story, get what you want. you only think you see it everywhere because you're focusing in on it and are more likely to pick up on the use of it.
and I say painting the desk is a good idea. It will be way easier than stripping it and then staining.
I agree that you should do the chalkboard! You only think it is trendy because you stalk design blogs like us. Regular people don't do that so they will think it is unique and cool :-)
I also love the storage unit idea. It really stands out.
I also say go for the chalkboard... but having put it up before you need to make sure you really prep the walk surface first.
Also the shelf thing is awesome--I am sure you can build your own version. The texture of the wood, pipes and bricks will go great with the chalkboard.
one question... why not do the whole wall rather than just a band of chalkboard? You could doodle above the closet door...
But there are also two things to consider with the chalkboard cleaning it and the chalk dust.
Personally, I would be more tempted to install a whiteboard surface. You can get rolls of white board surface that are applied like wall paper (http://www.walltalkers.com/) then you no dust cleaning is easy and you can tack up post it notes, drawings, etc. to the surface. Plus the dark chalkboard will absorb more heat...
thanks for all of the great comments!
fourth door and life begins @ thirty - first, love the wedding dress story, and you're both right about the chalkboard. i probably do just notice it more because i look at all of these blogs and because i've been thinking about it for awhile. i think i'm going to try to get the room painted this weekend (i'm going to need to paint the walls first anyway) and then arrange some furniture and see how i can fit the chalkboard in.
matthew - i thought about the dry erase board too, but i actually really like the dark color of the chalkboard paint. like you said, i think it will go nicely with the brick, wall color, and that shelving unit. i'm not against doing the whole wall, mostly i was trying to figure out a way to work in some pin up space too (corkboard) because i like the idea of being able to write/sketch next to the images. i'm not too worried about the chalk dust because with all of our pets, we already have to dust/clean a lot. :-)
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