Double-Duty Design Wall

My dad likes to have a project when he visits. Last week, he installed six panels of foil-faced foam board over the wood on one of the long interior walls in my studio.

At one time, this building was a garage with oil-stained open stud walls and a dirt floor. When my husband bought the property, he poured a concrete floor and used the building to retail whitewater paddling equipment. Eventually, we laid down stringers on the concrete and added wood flooring, which is warmer than the concrete was. We added batt insulation in the ceiling and walls. And most years, we wrap at least half of the building in plastic sheeting for the winter. Even so, heating this drafty old building is less efficient and more expensive than we would like.


Dad installed the foam boards on the wall most exposed to wind and cold. My plan is to cover the foam with white sheets and flannel and turn it into a room-sized design wall that also helps cut our heating costs.

But first, I have to figure out where to put everything I had to move away from that wall.

That includes finding a place to store off-cuts from the foil-face foam sheets, which I'll use for sunprinting larger pieces of fabric.

Today, I'm parking the car next to the door. Anything I don't really need will go in the car to take to the thrift shop. I may not get everything that stays into a permanent home today, but I need to get things where I can find them and so I have space to work.

So my plan for today is classic rock and ruthlessness.