Hello everyone! Welcome again to Comic Cave Makeover, where I am creating my very own comic book room, and you get to help!
I apologize for not posting sooner. As I suspected, life got really crazy last week. We officially closed on the house on February 19, so we are once again home owners! Because of that crucial fact, we jumped immediately into the house renovations.
The first thing we decided to do was paint. We invited a bunch of friends over and had a paint party all day that Saturday. One of my friends is a professional painter, so he was an invaluable leader in the whole project. We started upstairs and began getting our brushes wet. We had a lot of rooms to paint, and my wife picked a different color for every room, so the process was a little slow going.
Let me just say here that painting is not my gift. Some people love to paint, some people are just naturally talented at painting. Not me. I picked up a roller and on the first swipe, I got paint on the ceiling. So I decided to go into my comic cave and paint alone in there while my wife and our friends did the more delicate work.
The favored paint color by all of you was a reddish orange color. I really thought about that, and decided to heed Infinite Speech’s & Billy’s suggestion of not going with such a loud color. I wanted the room to be dynamic, though, so I compromised with myself and went in the direction of “suntan yellow.” I think this color will bring out the color of my chair as well as be a great backdrop for any posters I may want. Also, the room puts off a bright tone (ironic for a comic cave), so it will work for me.
I painted the room almost by myself. My friend Tom painted the trim, which he loved doing. We had a great time listening to music, drinking beer, and sniffing paint fumes.
My next task was to get rid of the carpet on the bottom floor of the house, so we could expose the heart pine underneath to be refinished. I decided not to take out the carpet in the cave yet, since it’s just plywood underneath. That will come once the carpet guy arrives. But I have to tell you the story of my misadventure with the carpet downstairs…
I did a really great job of getting the carpet up downstairs, rolled it up and put it on the back porch. I borrowed my friend Kenny’s truck and trailer to haul it off. I pulled the car around the side of the house into the backyard (side note: it rained the night before). So I got all the carpet (600 lbs. worth!) onto the trailer, and was ready to back it all up. However, I immediately started spinning the tires in the wet mud. At that point, I should have called someone to pull me out, however the idiot in me took over, and told me to drive down further into our backyard, which is slanted, to pull around and get up the other side. This only got me deeper in the mud. I eventually called a tow truck, who couldn’t pull the truck and trailer out and had to send a giant wrecker the next day. He almost couldn’t get it either, but luckily, with some ingenious rigging, yanked the truck and trailer out, with only the trailer jack getting damaged. Later, I hauled the carpet to the county landfill only for them to tell me they were closed. However, because of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition shooting an episode in our county (seriously), they let me in because they were expecting a load from them that evening. So thanks to Extreme Makeover, I got the job done!
Here is an evolution of the staircase to show the difference some paint and no carpet make:
This week, the hardwood floor guys are coming in to sand and refinish the downstairs rooms. We have chosen some neutrally-colored carpet for the comic cave. I would love to have hardwood up there, but right now, we just can’t afford it.
I’m not sure when the carpet man is coming to install the carpet in the cave, but that should be the next dramatic episode in the Comic Cave saga. This weekend, the professional painters are coming to do a second coat and all the detail work. So the next week should be interesting.
I’m now beginning to think about storage in the room. As you saw in an earlier post, I currently have the standard old long boxes. I am thinking about possibly getting file cabinets. But I’ve also heard a lot about drawer boxes. Then again, there’s always bookshelves and binding and all of that. What do you suggest I do with my comics?
Thanks for all your thoughts and participation! Keep those suggestions coming!
Jeff Jackson
jeff@comicattack.net
You may have said something about it before, but why are you replacing the carpet in your comic room? Is there something wrong with what’s in there? If you’re planning to get wood flooring in there later, wouldn’t it be better to save your money instead of re-carpeting it?
Also, I bet that staircase is going to look beautiful once it’s done.
You can’t tell in the pics, but that carpet is really yucky.
“We had a great time listening to music, drinking beer, and sniffing paint fumes.”
lol
And that carpet story’s ridiculous. +1 Extreme Makeover!
In the poll, I voted Drawer Boxes. If you’re dedicating a room to your comics, you’ve gotta do it right and the Drawer Boxes are user friendly for the collector. I’d still have a nice bookshelf or two to house your trades and HC’s…and those statues, busts and action figures too!!
Oh, and hardwood floors all the way!!
Drawer boxes or the cabinets. you’re not as young as you used to be and all that lifting and moving of the long boxes to get to books is going to be a pain in more ways than one
What are you trying to say, ‘Speech? LOL.
Just an observation of my friend’s dad who recently made the switch to drawer boxes and cabinets in his comic room. He said this would have been a lot easier if they were around when he was in his mid 20s to early 30s and told me I should invest as well.
I’m sure you’re as agile and spry as kurt wagner sir lol
Lucky! I want a comic cave. And drawer boxes.
I think I’m going to start to invest in drawer boxes this year. That’s what I voted for. Good look so far FJ!
http://www.geekchichq.com/Co_Store/The_Showroom/Alexandria_Codex/Alexandria_Codex.html Finances permitting of course
*Drooling* How much do you figure one of those costs?
By the way, I have some major updates to the room. Look for a new Comic Cave Makeover later this week.