Session 4: Finishes

Finishes come after the construction is done. Basically your framing is up, the walls are up, the electrical's already been put in and you're looking at these blank walls that need to be painted, the flooring is concrete or an underlayment or it's the press board. It may be whatever but the floor is is waiting for some magic and the windows are bare. So now it's time for finishes. The first thing is to put paint on the wall or wallpaper or whatever you're going to do. When it comes to your room, color is everything. Color sets the tone, color makes the difference. It's your backdrop that everything else is going to pop against. And when it comes to color, everything and anything goes, there's no rules, the sky's the limit, it's your space. God made all of the colors work well together. When you look at a bouquet, when you look at the sky, the grass, the sky is blue, the grass is green, the flowers are all different colors and it all works, it's beautiful so think of color the same way. A light color will make a space feel larger. So if you have a very small room I highly recommend going lighter. Now you don't have to go white. This is going back to the Creative Spaces book. And I wanted to show you a few examples. This is Valerie White's studio and she painted it in a tone of white. And you can see how lovely the artwork pops off the wall. And so the wall paint isn't distracting from anything else in her room but there's a lot of color in it that makes it cheerful. Another person who used white in here very successfully is Nancy Smith. And she and Lynda Milligan used to own The Great American Quilt Factory in Denver, Colorado beautiful quilt store. Her studio is white, and I'm guessing it's in a basement given the type of drop ceiling that she has here, but you can see how it makes that space nice and light and airy and welcoming. And a lot of times in basements you don't have outside light coming in. Parts of the basement may not even have a window well window so the white works very, very well and really pops the area. On the other hand, it's up to you what you go with. Darker colors make space seem smaller. This is Nancy Zieman's space, she's very famous in the sewing and quilting world and was a spokesman for Baby Lock for years, and before she passed, this was her studio. And you can see she went with the darker tones, it creates a very cozy space, very warm space. So it's very interesting how the colors can change and a lot has to do with the wood that you have in there or the finishes on the existing windows. On the other end of the spectrum are Kristy and Shayla Wolf who also live in the Denver area and they consider orange a neutral. And orange can be a neutral color and they used it throughout their space because it made them happy, it made the space pop and combined with white, you can see that they have a very cheerful space. Don't be afraid to use colors that make you happy. I want you happy when you walk into your space. So this gives you a few tips on color, the sky is the limit and you can use different shades of it like in here, they use more of a yellow orange for one wall and a more orange orange on the other wall behind their design wall there. Shade and tint and hue can make a big difference in the intensity of the color. You can also go with let's say a white or a neutral color on most of your walls and then just pop one wall as an accent wall. So give it a lot of thought and go pick out those swatches from the paint store and have fun. Another tip is to do it behind open shelving like this and it gives a depth to the shelf, and gives interest to the items that you're displaying. And that's something for looking down the road when we get to the accent accessorizing portion of the video, this is a nice way to call attention to things that are important to you. When it comes to your ceiling though, I highly recommend painting your ceiling as white, a white as you can. Go with a very bright white, because it will reflect the light better and give you better lighting, it really helps give the bang for the buck with lighting so I really liked to see a white ceiling. If you have storage closets where you have to go in to get things, I also recommend painting those in the brightest white possible, and even in a gloss paint because it will reflect the light and it's easier to see things when you go into a closet. When it comes to flooring, that's another personal preference, wood, vinyl and tile are all smooth finishes that means they'll be easy to clean, it'll be easy to see those pins, usually depending on what color floor you put in, it's very easy to move your chair back and forth. Those are some of the advantages and, but the disadvantages, they're noisy. They can be hard on your body if you're standing, especially if you're a long arm quilter you may be standing for eight hours a day working on quilts. If you're going to use a vinyl tile or wood floor and you are going to be at a long arm I recommend that you get some of those thick workplace mats and put them down they will make all the difference in the world for you. Carpeting is another choice, it's usually a little less expensive, it's very quiet, it's very forgiving on the body. I recommend going with a very low pile, don't go with a plush. Now you may be stuck because you're using a bedroom or it's part of the existing house and you just can't replace the carpet. But if you can, go with a low pile, you will be able to see the pins a little bit better they tend to stick up, it also wears very well. If you are installing new carpeting make sure you buy a good dense pad, talk to your carpeting expert and find out what is the densest pad that they offer. It will cost you more, do not skimp on the pad. You actually can skimp on carpet and have a better feeling carpet with a better pad, than buying a highly expensive carpet and a cheap pad. The dense pad, a good pad will give you longer wear and it's really good on your body. You'll have that padding that you need for standing on your feet all day. Just a couple of considerations there. The other consideration when it comes to finishes are your windows. I love the natural light that windows give us and I wish I had more where I work, that would be my first preference. But there's a downside to windows. While the natural light is great, it can cause a glare so you need to be careful where you place your computer or your screens on your sewing machine, you may have difficulty seeing at certain times of the day. The natural light coming in can also cause fading. So you may need to put a sheeting film on the windows, there are companies that can come in and put an anti UV glare sheeting on your windows that it comes in different levels of darkness and that may be an option for you. The big windows at night, you're gonna get a lot of reflection if you can't cover them up. It's also a way to add color, polish and personality to a space. You can always add a valance, you can add curtains. I like to add blinds though in addition to whatever the window treatment is or instead of a window treatment. Blinds are versatile so I can adjust how much light is coming in and out of the studio at any given time. Again, sky's the limit. Add what works for your space, for your needs and what makes you happy.