After living in Phoenix for the past 6 years or so Diane and I decided it was time to return to southern Nevada to be closer to family and take advantage of the rising housing market in Phoenix. Although we loved our house there; the 1/3 acre and huge amount of time and effort it took to maintain it was starting to get to us! There were some other factors as well but we began to look for other areas to move to including Tucson and outlying parts of Phoenix but in the long run decided to buy a new home in North Las Vegas. Moved in the first of December and are loving it!

The biggest difference is that now, instead of having an existing “shop” that needs a ton of work to turn it into my “happy place” I now have a blank slate in the form of a 2 car garage! The process began with a scaled drawing but now that I’m here I can visualize the space and eventual results. Our plan was to remove a wall between a bedroom and the den to create an art studio for Diane. As luck would have it, this wall is a bearing wall. We were extremely blessed to have the superintendent of this development help us with this project. He introduced us to some of the original workers who built our house and they were willing to work with us in their off-time on our remodel. Electrician, framers, and drywall is what we needed and they worked efficiently and for a good price! I removed the drywall first, then the electrician changed and re-routed some wiring that was in the wall. Next up were the framers and drywall. Diane and I did the painting and laid a beautiful vinyl plank floor. We’ve ordered a set of French doors with rain glass to close it off. As we speak, Diane is able to work in her new space — a sheet stapled across the main entrance keeps Khali out and off of Diane’s palette!

My shop is another matter but much progress has been made this past month. The unbelievable blessings have continued with this move! When we did our walk-through the superintendent told us an error was made with the kitchen cabinets. The uppers were supposed to be 42″ but 36″ ones were mistakenly installed. Our first thought was that we’d get some kind of refund but he told us that the 42″ ones have already been ordered and to compensate for our “inconvenience” he would install some of the 36″ cabinets in the laundry room and put the rest where ever wanted in the garage, now there’s an “inconvenience” that’s easy to live with!!

In the garage I’ve added a 220v/20a circuit for the big tools and another dedicated 110v/20a circuit for bench tools. Lighting needs to be improved and until the cabinets are installed I’m working out of boxes. With the work on the studio there hasn’t been a lot of time to work out there anyway. Here’s a few pictures of what’s been going on. The workbench is in position and my planes, measuring tools, and others I like to have on hand are in place. Along the back wall I’ve attached ledger strips that serve two purposes; first off they locate and add support to the bottom of the cabinets and will also be used to hang jigs and other tools.

It’s a work in progress but progress is definitely being made!