It's beginning to look a lot like . . .

not Christmas, but STUDS. Yep, my basement was invaded on Friday by men who were real workers. There were actually four guys and another joined them after lunch, but I didn't get a picture of the one who was pretty much stuffed in the closet, or the one who brought the joint compound also known as "mud." Within less than 30 minutes, the insulation was in and the excess dry wall was being scraped away. The guys were cold, so they brought their own heater. Maybe the new insulation will help.

They scurried around measuring, removing nails, removing old sheet rock, and doing other things real workers do.

I couldn't have been more pleased. Then the batteries in my camera died and I had to put them in the charger. Gosh, I may never have that many men in one room of my house again, and I don't even have photos!!!

Today I came back to the room to check out the progress. My batteries are fully charged, so I snapped a bunch of photos, many of which I didn't share because I personally think they are boring. However, I promised a few of my friends updates, so here they are. The sheet rock is in. This is the view from the entry door. For some reason, I took dozens of photos, but no more of the west wall.

This is the north wall and the new soffit.

Here is a photo of the two doors.

This is a photo of the closet and north east corner of the room. Wait!! Where is that ugly beam that was there before?

Well, it's still there. After all, the beam it's holding is load bearing, so it has to be there. That doesn't mean it has to be distracting. Another bonus I get from this renovation is I asked that the beam be disguised from the entry door and shelving put on the back side. Although there is not quite 10 inches between the closet wall and the post, it's more usable space than I had before. When everything is finished, I will have shelves in this space.

Tomorrow the guys will be back to finish the walls, scrape and prepare the floor for painting, and do more "mudding." They will mud at least twice after this. Since the walls and room won't change much between now and the time they come back to paint, you won't see any more updates until the room is painted. And yes, my stuff is still in boxes and boxes and boxes, but the room is finally beginning to look a lot like my studio again.