I realized that I hadn’t posted what we did for lighting in the create room. With the 14′ ceilings and the exposed joists, beams, and HVAC, it was an interesting challenge to come up with something that looked “right” while providing the correct illumination for the tasks that will happen in the room.
In the end, we chose to install 8 separate lights each dropped 4′ from the ceiling to just below the bottom of the roof joists. The fixture is a standard galvanized steel industrial shade with 100 watt clear halogen bulbs. As you can see from the photo, it turned out nicely.
It took some time and effort to get the conduit into the correct positions and connect everything up. I can now recommend without hesitation laser leveling tools. This helped in 2 dimensions, the first was in positioning the drops for the lights on a nice grid. The grid was first laid out on the floor and the laser was then positioned at the right spot on the grid pointed at the ceiling and that’s where the fixture was placed.
The second dimension was in making sure all the drops were at the same level from an eye perspective. Since the building is old and not square, just cutting 4′ drops and trusting it to look right didn’t work. So I mounted the laser on a wall at drop level and then used the projected line to align the shade drops at a consistent height above the floor and to themselves.
Unlike the track lighting which was a nightmare, this project was actually kind of fun. So, lighting is complete (as of more than a week ago – just reporting it now.)
In our household (as I suspect is true in many households) my Spouse is the “love” and I am the “discipline” for our Daughter. Now as with all generalizations, this isn’t entirely accurate, but it does reflect typical roles we play as parents.
Tonight when I got home I asked Daughter to pause the TV and go straighten her room while I finished some things downstairs in the shop before dinner. When I come back upstairs Daughter is in front of the TV again and room is still a wreck which is clearly visible as I transit the stairs. I inquire to Daughter what has happened and she says “she didn’t get to it” which leads to a predictable parent response from me “Turn off the TV and take care of your room NOW.”
At which point Daughter heads to room to clean and bursts into tears. Apparently she had a very bad day at school, was over-loaded with homework, and too many extra-curricular activities on the first day back from spring break. To her credit, she works with me and straightens the room but doesn’t calm down.
So Spouse says “go finish the dinner, calming the Daughter is not your forte” which unfortunately is true. We trade and Daughter is calmed by Spouse, I get dinner on the table and away we go. A good reconfiguration that led to reconciliation and harmony.
Which leads me to the reconfiguration at the store. We got some fixtures last week and thought we had them the way we wanted them. But, after living with them for a few days, it became clear that the original configuration simply didn’t work. Thus this week we reconfigured the store and voila! It works.
Sometimes the wind (circumstances) change and it’s time to take a new tack. Don’t be afraid to take a reconfiguration and try again. Life is a great experiment!
Why no picture? My posts always have pictures (at least I try.) That’s because most of what I’m working on is not photogenic at present. Inventory. Fixtures. Product Designs. Forms. Yes, Forms. And more Forms.
Filed for our Half Moon Bay Business License and Alarm Permit today. That was fun. Still have the sign stuff to go.
Cleaning. The whole family is cleaning fixtures that are on site. Did a little reconfiguration today decoupling a tall glass doored cabinet and an apothecary counter. The resulting design looks and feels MUCH better.
Daughter, who had this day off as the remnant of spring break, complained about spending her day in the store cleaning things. Until she was paid by Spouse (brilliant.) She now wants to do something tomorrow (we’ll see about that after homework.)
Doing some non-store paperwork too as I’m about to embark upon some consulting over the next few months to help the cash-flow situation out. You can never have too much cash flow! It seems that there are 2 gigs I’ll do concurrently (developer related and open source software related) and one possibility for (platform/apps related) still pending. I might grow to like this as a way to have a bit of variety.
If we get things cleaned up and the minor carpentry work done, I’ll share a photo on my next post. Now, back to Inventory. And Forms. Etcetera.
The first batch of fixtures we purchased from a local collector rolled up in a big rental truck yesterday. There are five pieces in the batch including 2 apothecary style counters, a large cabinet with glass doors, a small glass display case, and a hardware cabinet (think like a small library card catalog.) Click the image right to enlarge.
We are delighted to see these pieces in situ -> they have started to fill the shop in a good way. We have some cleaning and minor reconditioning to complete before they are ready for service. Boy, do they look good just being there!
The team that brought the furniture out was efficient, had a good sense of humor, and got the items in place safely (without injuring themselves, the articles, or the store!) As a bonus shop warming gift, the collector threw in two ship’s wheels of different sizes we love and will find a good use for. Things are progressing nicely.
Next up is the work table and benches…stay tuned.
We identified the physical space for our shop in Half Moon Bay, California in January, 2012. We started talking about the project in early February, 2012 when the renovation got underway. Now, April 2, 2012, we have completed the renovation of the physical space (with lots of expert help on the floors, electric, framing, plumbing, and phone/internet.)
Spouse, Daughter, and I were roaming in the space this evening enjoying the fruits of many people’s hard work and dedication inclusive of:
The flooring company, the HVAC company, and the drywall company (landlord engaged, I don’t know their names, but they deserve special mention for the great results.) The electrical contractor – Bowerman Electric (thanks Steve & crew!) Katja Rimmi for color selection. Larry Mohr (and associates) for painting execution. Rob Genovesi who installed the phone and internet from Coastside Net. Bill Mahar from Alain Pinel Reality who helped us navigate the lease and associated documents.
And last, but certainly not least, Paul & Mary Bettencourt. The Bettencourts own the entire building which houses Cottage Industries, an apartment, and our new store. Paul & Mary didn’t behave as landlords, rather as partners in helping us shape the space and ready it for our new venture. We couldn’t have gotten here without their active support and contribution to the finished space. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
We’re now fully in fixture and inventory mode. We expect the first shipment of fixtures to arrive this week. It’s a great adventure and we can’t wait to share the new store with anyone who wishes to visit! (Once we open our doors for business 😉 )
