So I crossed a big big chore off of my massive list.
May I present to you, dear readers, the ultimate custom record shelf.
The thought of my records being improperly shoved in crates actually kept me from falling asleep at night. There were so many nights spent going “I am actually going to do this tomorrow” and then I kind of did.
I envisioned a Tetris piece but knew it would be too difficult. I spent a few weeks scouring construction sites, determined to be as cost-effective as possible. I have many old dusty boards sitting in my garage (although some of them may have been used to feed our bonfire).
Then I enlisted the help of a really awesome person. He helped me plan it, and told me what wood to buy and how much, and then built it for me because I literally had no idea what I was doing. So that was awesome. And now I have it! And he said it only took him an hour. The materials for that (plywood, wood glue, screws) cost roughly $45 at Home Depot. Labour? I would probably guess like $9000, but he was nice enough to do it for free. Yeah, he’s pretty awesome.
I have some pictures of the painting process – it was much longer than an hour. Like, twelve hours. Because I get distracted easily and took many swimming breaks. Then I eventually just got completely frustrated and left it as is. It looks pretty nice though.
The very helpful staff at Barrydowne Paints knew I had little idea as to what was going on – I very stupidly thought that I could use my acrylic paints to cover this thing. I was wrong. Actually I was wrong about everything. The paints cost more than the actual materials to build it, but I wasn’t too mad about it, because the blue I found was absolutely perfect. It was the first blue that I picked up out of all of the paint chips at the store, and the name suited it amazingly. That beautiful colour is called Aruba Blue and I want to paint all of the roads in Sudbury with it or something.
Right before painting. Used my only drop sheet to work on, it was still tacky from a stupid rock I painted a month or so earlier. So that left some blue footprints on the garage floor. When Barry dropped it off he walked up them like stairs because it’s so strong structurally.
The first day’s painter picks. Lots of Bobs present.
All primed up with no place to go.
I was so excited after this first coat of paint. Notice some of my collection in the background, I started to get excited and knew that some of the records wanted to come out and look at their new home.
I was originally planning on splattering the insides with a bunch of blue. Then I stared at it some more, went swimming, and decided to paint the insides.
By far the worst part of it all. It took so long, but it made it so much better. The bugs were pretty bad at this point so I called it a night.
Here it is from a different angle. So shiny.
The next day I started working on a design. The paint wasn’t drying fast enough due to the humidity so I brought out the big guns – my Dad’s heat lamp. Really helped to speed things along.
Was so anxious to take that tape off. I’m so impatient.
…Fuck.
I wanted it to be much cleaner but I’m a dummy who forgot it was made of wood, not canvas. But I decided that I wanted it to be done and I didn’t care about it and convinced myself it looks cool. So I’m happy with it now.
The final result. I am so stoked. It looks absolutely beautiful in person.
I still haven’t alphabetized them all yet but that will be soon. I haven’t been home much because it’s summer.
vinyleyes 