As I said in my very first post, I recently became the owner of a yarn shop. The previous owners moved into the space about 3 years ago, and while updating a few things and adding carpet, didn't do much redecorating. If you've ever moved into an older house (but new to you), there is always something that will, in time, get on your nerves. (In our 100 year old previous house, it was the pink paint in the bathroom that annoyed me after I became pregnant with my first child, my current house it was the 1970's beige metallic with burnt orange birds-of-paradise wallpaper in the main hall and dining room....)
I bought the shop and unfortunately didn't have the ability to close to revamp. I knew this was going to be a more difficult way to change anything, and when minor rearranging and moving things didn't quite satisfy, I decided I had to start some renovations, all the while staying open for business.
Granted, repainting the restroom a nice cheery shade of yellow to go with the gift of a new rug (thanks Donna!) was a great start. After awhile though, you start to see so many things that need to be changed. I also realized oldest son was close to going back to college, and youngest son would be starting senior year of high school, thus taking away my strong and cheap labor supply (well, maybe not cheap, you have to see my youngest eat....). Middle son must have seen this all coming and wisely hid, uh, stayed in his college town for the summer.
The good thing is that by not starting right away, I learned the flow of the shop and was better able to evaluate what might work. I found a retail fixtures place, grabbed truck and oldest son and went off to buy slatwall. This is an amazing invention, with hooks that slide rather than stay stationary like pegboard. Six sheets and two boxes of 100 hooks later (I can't possibly have more skeins than that?), we set off back to the local home improvement center to get paint, screws and some hanging supplies.
Back at the shop, we had to move yarn to a safe place. That was the easy part. Then came the heavy cabinets that had been useful in the original shop, but now just took up wall space and made it difficult to reach yarn sometimes. Fortunately, oldest and I have learned the easiest way to move these behemoths, so finished this task.
We started using the spackle. Not too difficult, except for the wall with the window. Did I mention it's an interior wall? I think it may have been the quiet room for parents for the former Karate studio. It's now one wall of my office. After concluding that we couldn't remove it and put a huge drywall patch in, we removed part of the outer trim so the slatwall would be flat against the wall and we wouldn't have to mess with 2 x 4's to attach it. I had to fill in the gap between the window and the studs. Luckily, I had a 100yr old house with horsehair plaster walls, so patching for me has become an art form. Painting went well. Now for the fun.
If you've ever watched the DIY channel, you may be familiar with the show "Renovation Realities". This is the part where I thought we would become an episode. Youngest son arrived, and he and oldest started using the laser level and stud finder so we could attach the slatwall. (It's now about 11:00p.m.) Everything appears to be ready to go, height and width marked with tape, studs marked top and bottom, okay! Youngest and I hold panel will oldest mans the drill and starts screwing the panel. Going well, until he tries to insert a screw at the top of the panel where it was marked, and the screw won't bite! After this happening up and down in several places, we conclude that the wall was put up using half studs, so it became a guessing game. Youngest and I were able to finally let go, and panel stayed attached.
I decided to start hanging some skeins while they measured the next wall. The challenge became, where are the electrical wires that attach to this outlet in the wall? Wait, we have to hit the stud next to the door, not the window, it can't hold it..... I'm not a total perfectionist and told them to just make it work, and kept hanging skeins. About 2:00a.m., we finally affixed the panel and started to clean up.
I have to say, I'm very proud of my sons' work. The wall looks wonderful and the yarn really pops now.
Only three more walls to go.........
