The World According to Angie

Building my Photography Studio

I have the best husband in the world.

Our 30-year old ranch-style home has an extra room at the back of the house. Tucked away at the end of the hallway that leads back to the bedrooms, this room is a bit of an oddity. It's bigger than our master bedroom - a whopping 18' x 14' in size - but has its own private entrance through the garage. It has a closet, technically qualifying it as an extra bedroom, but it's on the small side.

I guess the builder might have intended it as a mother-in-law suite. The original owner had it set up as a game room where he played pool and poker with his TI engineer buddies. Us? Well, we've used it as everything from a guest room to an office to extra storage.

But not any longer. And this is where the "best husband in the world" thing comes in.

We're remodeling the room and turning it into my photography studio.

Yes, that sound you heard was me, screaming and doing the Meposian Dance of Joy.

I've designed the room as a multi-function space. By mounting countertop along the walls at a desk-level height, we'll both be able to use it as an office. Jim's workspace, along the far wall, will be covered by the photography backdrops when they're in use. No need to worry about co-mingled clutter ... just slide the backdrop across and voila! Instantly presentable studio.

Speaking of backdrops, my dad is designing a 3-rod system that will allow me to keep black and white drapes up all the time, and swap out the third as I need to. He's coming up for the long weekend to work with us and knock out the remodel, which includes lighting installation, electrical changes, carpentry work, and more.

But Jim and I had homework to do before Dad arrived: we needed to get the flooring knocked out. I'm proud to say we're done, and it looks great.

This is the "before" shot. We painted the walls about two years ago, and I like the golden color. (Plus, Jim was really reluctant to repaint.) Though black or grey walls are best for a photography studio, the worst that will happen is I'll get a nice golden glow on my photos - which is cool - and if I don't want it, I can do a white balance correction. Easy.

Carpet came up. I would be thrilled to get rid of all the carpet throughout the entire house (I've got huge allergies to dust) but I'll start with this room.

Jack-Jack had to inspect. This is the small closet in the room. I plan to leave the doors off, put a piece of countertop in there, and use it as a print station.

We decided vinyl floor tiles were the right solution for the studio. All the benefits of a solid flooring plus when you drop things (like, say, expensive camera lenses) they tend to bounce rather than break.

This is a commercial-grade tile from Armstrong. I love the pattern - it looks like stained & polished slate or concrete with all those colors and textures - it makes me happy.

And we finished last night. No grout, no sealant, no waxing. Just adhere and use a tile roller to make sure they're good and stuck.

One floor down ... the rest of the studio to go! Updates will come throughout the weekend. I can't wait to share my finished photography studio (and our shared office space) with you!

It's a small thing, but it makes me happy

Autumn is coming to Dallas in a very "Texas" way ... with cool weather one moment and 90-degree temps the next. Since the weather won't exactly put me in a fall frame of mind, I have to work a little harder to enjoy my favorite season.

Today has been a decidedly "pumpkin" day. I had a Venti Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte for breakfast. (I swear, it's autumn-in-a-cup.)  Later, when I headed into Kroger to pick up groceries for the weekend, I spotted their display of pumpkins... and couldn't resist.

My dear, darling husband isn't much for seasonal decorating. He's been known to refer to holiday decorations by the oh-so-sensitive moniker of "Christmas crap". But he's lovingly supportive of my minimalist efforts to inject some small seasonal flavor into our home (in no small part, I think, because I keep it small).

Our dining table is now my go-to spot to do a smidge of decorating. My teeny-weenie pumpkin, a couple of apple-scented candles, and a bundle of flowers in varying shades of orange and red ... every time I walk through the house, I pass the table and see my little centerpiece and ... well, it makes me happy.

Ours isn't a fancy house, but it's a "homey-home" and a continual work in progress. And it's full of love. What more could I possibly want?

New Series: Our Old House

When Jim and I got married, I moved into the house he'd bought nine months prior. It's in Plano, a suburban city in the northern portion of the Dallas metroplex. Built in the mid-1970's, it's a single story ranch-style home with three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, two living areas and a 2-car attached garage.

I like to say the house has "good bones". Which is another way of saying it has "potential" ... or, to be a bit more blunt, "I can't wait to remodel it."

The bathrooms are original (complete with shell-shaped sinks), as is the kitchen (though the appliances seem to have been replaced in the early 90's). The living room features wood paneling; day by day, I can't decide whether I love it or hate it. And whoever made remodeling decisions over the years must have been smoking some serious stuff; the flooring ranges from saltillo tile to carpet to vinyl to ceramic to stained concrete, the master bath is painted a deep red over an ugly dark grey-blue, and the jack-and-jill bath features mix-and-match navajo-print wallpaper in mauve and powder blue.

So we're taking it one project at a time, and turning this house - which is in a great location, just 10 minutes from the office, in a quiet neighborhood on a lot that features giant 30-year-old oak trees  - into the perfect home for us... one room at a time.  And not going into debt to do it (we're paying cash for each project as we go).

I plan on eventually creating a scrapbook to chronicle the remodeling process, and I thought my blog would be the perfect place to capture these stories as they happen.

Welcome to the tales of Our Old House!