New Studio Progress & DIY Project ~ Weathering Wood

As many of you may know

life at Lisa Golightly has taken quite a turn

one of which involved moving from Northern California to Austin Texas.

A brand new location which meant a brand new studio.

Between painting and new design projects, I have been slowly but surely

transforming this tandem garage "workspace" 

into the gorgeous studio that lives in my head.

With a beginning like this, the only way you can go is UP right ?

As with any design, you think about everything you need from a space,

then consider the negatives and make the most of the positives.

In my case, limited ( and ugly ) lighting and very little floor space ( 10ft x 12ft )

BUT very high ceilings ( 14ft ! )

My plan is to turn the back wall into floor to ceiling storage using the collection of

wooden wine boxes that I schlepped all the way from CA. 

Only thing, they look way too new for my taste. 

They need some character ! ( I'll show you how at the end )

Before addressing that, however, I want to show the progress made so far.

My 1st order of business was to build a wall

and find some large french doors to bring in light,

I found this pair of 8 ft tall vintage doors at my local Habitat For Humanity store

... for only 20.00 ( score ! )

Next up, the framing and sheet rock ...

Yay ! 4 walls up and AC on the way !

My daughter gave me these gorgeous crystal doorknobs from Anthropologie

with the money she saved up for Christmas.

( no matter where I live, these will always go with me ! )

I painted all the ceiling and walls white, hung my chandelier ( that also goes wherever I go )

Now for the weathered wood project ...

all you need is some steel wool, apple cider vinegar, a container with a lid,

a well ventilated protected area and gloves.

Put the steel wool in the container and pour the vinegar over it til it's covered

( I used an old large yogurt container to do this )

Put on the lid and let the steel wool soak in the vinegar for at least an hour.

Put on the gloves and rub the soaked steel wool along the grain soaking the wood.

This gets messy so make sure you have newspaper or tarp down in your work area.

When the vinegar dries ...  the wood takes on a wonderful dusty weathered look.

The top box is what the bottom box used to look like ... See the difference ?

  You can apply the vinegar as many times as you wish until you get the desired affect. 

The one above was only done once. 
Let everything air out for a day or so

before bringing inside otherwise your house will smell like salad dressing

(  trust me on this ).

Well ... one down and about 342 more boxes and new pine shelves to go.

It's going to be a busy weekend.  Can't wait to show you the final result of my storage wall

and next project coming up !

Hope you all have a lovely weekend !!!