Reviving Revival Boutique

the top photos are of the shop now, literally just today, and the bottom are of the semi-beginning renovations to the store in mid september. this is actually after all kinds of work, time, and thought had gone into the entire process. first, there were months of debating whether or not any of this was a possibility. then there was a huge ordeal meeting with the city, having a zoning board hearing, getting all the proper licensing, etc. the building was once a tattoo shop over five years ago, and word on the street is the former tenant, stash(yes, that was his name),had smoked stogies. that really gave the fake, foam tiles a lovely hue of poop brown. one evening i decided to take a peek and see what was under one of the tiles. at the first sight of natural wood i went a little crazy. an hour or so later i had the entire foam ceiling in pieces on the floor. after the ceiling was done, it was time to start removing all the unnecessary junk. a huge, broken arcade game got the boot(i think it was one of those with the giant claw to grab stuffed animals and other strange treasures), as well as a sink, two large built in wall "stations" (basically, two long, obtrusive pieces of plywood nailed to the wall), and a lot of other creepy junk found in the back(child's nightgown and blow up mattress, anyone?).

at the top are a few shots of the, uh, interesting choice of paint that had been used in the tattoo shop. a 'hot' pink and black 'crackle', what a lovely choice. the back walls are actually the original color of the paneling, a light bluish gray, and the pipes were a purple. the last photos are of the three paint hues that were finally, after much debate, decided upon(with the help of my long time friend, katy of kp art). the front of the store is a bright white that was tinted with a black pigment to give it a hint of gray. the back, smaller half of the store is a nice, bright, dark (ha) called 'high speed steel', and an original mix of paint samples was combined to create a special version of chartreuse for the pipes lining the back walls. the boutique is open now(!), but there is still so much to do. every day i feel like i figure out a bit more, and things seem to slowly become more natural for me. so far, it has been a very enjoyable learning experience. sorry for the ramble, yall.