TWD Construction Phase 5: An Update and Exterior Painting

Written by: Kristy

Oh.  Hello there.  Remember me?  Sorry, for the lack of construction/renovation updates lately – things have been happening so fast I can barely keep up.  But trust me.  This is a gooooood thing!

So, a quick update before I go onto the fun exterior painting pics (which took place almost a month ago now!).  Here are some of the happenings at the shop!

Painting of the Shop

As I alluded to in the last post, we have been painting a lot here at The White Dress.  And we are finally seeing in color – no more gray drywall and dust everywhere!  Here are some teaser in progress shots for you.

{I am sitting on top of one of the dress racks painting a hard to reach area.}

{Sis-in-law and friend help paint some TWD trim!}

{Painting one of our doors with gel paint.  From black to white in one coat!  Can you spot the corner of the door that is black?}

Painting of the Lobbies

I think we might officially be hanging up our painter’s caps.  (Just kidding – we totally didn’t wear caps!)  However, we finally finished the final painting project – the makeover of the front and rear lobbies!  And wowie, they look pretty much awesome.  If we do say so ourselves.

They went from dull and dirty white walls and a sky painted ceiling (the popcorn ceiling was painted light blue with pink clouds) to beautiful buttercream walls and a clean and simple white ceiling.

{The ceiling before.  See the sky?}

{Making the sky go away.}

And since I was the one who painted the ceiling, and since it was so much work, I have never loved a ceiling more.  So you should definitely take note when you visit us and tell me that you think they look lovely too.  Mmm, k?  Thanks!

And to add a little bit more ambiance to the lobbies, we built (and painted and planted) planter boxes.  The finished product is quite lovely – there is nothing like a little bit of nature to spruce up a space.  (Pun intended.)

{Mom and sis-in-law cutting down tiles used for filler in the planter boxes.}

Ceiling and Lighting

The ceiling grid went up last week so we finally have an idea on what the height of the ceiling will be.  (The past few months we have had a nice view of the steel rafters….)  So though the ceiling tiles aren’t in yet, we are definitely getting a feel for our new ceiling height.  And after the ceiling comes the lighting!  I am pretty sure I have never been so excited for lighting.  We have some cute stuff picked out, don’t you worry!

{Up goes the ceiling.}

Flooring

The flooring has finally arrived! After much debate over flooring three weeks ago, we finally decided on the perfect wood and carpet for the shop.  And, while it is currently sitting in a corner getting acclimated to our building, it will soon be undergoing a HUGE transformation.  Let us all keep our fingers crossed that installation can begin later this week!

Front Desk Installation

One of the more major changes that has happened so far was the installation of our new sparkly desk countertop!  It kind of reminds me of engagement rings.  So basically, it is juuuust perfect.

{The new countertop.}

{And a close up.  Can you see the sparkles?  Oh, and that is my aunt painting in the background!}

Exterior Transformation

And now, the purpose of the post – the exterior transformation!  Since I have already blabbed about the latest updates, I will keep this part short on words, and long on photos.  (Just the way you like it, I am sure.)

{Before we started.}

{Taking down the old building decor and awnings.}

{Starting to paint the main building color – medium gray.}

{The painting continues.  This time we added a lighter gray above and used pink on the accent millwork.  Yay pink!}

{Scraping the old glue that was stuck on the building.}

{After painting the center part where our sign will soon be!}

{The new decorative accents are in progress!}

{A gloomy day, but not at TWD – all the accents are up!}

{Painting above the windows.  Look closely – I promise there is progress from the previous photo.}

{Adding the accent windows.}

And since we aren’t quite done with the front yet, I will have to continue this at a later date, so stay tuned!  And in case you are curious, the only remaining changes to our store front will be our sign and lighting!

Phew, that was a long one – hope you made it through!  More to come soon.