Shop series: Signed the lease~day one

 Today was the day the building inspector was coming to sign 
off on my occupancy permit~that meant if 

everything looked safe and to code he would sign~and then 
I would sign the lease with the building owner, Mike. Mike only had 
to remove a locking mechanism on the back door to meet code and that
 took him just a minute~so I had the permit to occupy 
and now I was going to sign an agreement to lease this space for one year....
dipping my toes in the water of retail...heck, I was jumping right in~!

The next matter was for me to hand him a check and 
he handed me the keys and we got to work ripping up the carpet...
our deal is that he has to rip it up and sand the floors, and I finish them,
but Mr. Maison Decor and I are going to help do the nasty job with Mike.

 Mike told me that parts of the floor had some plywood patching...
but that didn't  bother me.  I will have armoires and cabinets
 and throw rugs on the floor and the overall value of having 
100 year old floors overrides any patches in my opinion. 

 You can see where the fir boards meet the plywood
 which is at the front window area.

Its like looking back in a time machine when you see these 
old buildings and you peel back the layers.

 The for rent sign was down!! 

There's a new game in town: MAISON DECOR!

 See the bead board walls, I love them! I plan to do a 

window display in the smaller front window straight ahead~

imagine a chandy and my gold chair and some tulle or linen fabric...

 The room is kind of divided into two spaces 
with the columns holding up the ceiling where

a wall once stood, as this was two tiny store fronts.
I can hang lots of chandys between these columns.
 When we rip up the carpet I am told there will be 

patchwork between the columns~
not a perfect floor, but perfect for my store.

Hubby arrived to help rip up the carpeting~
this is gonna be a dirty job.

 Before we did that, Mike gave us a tour of the building 
so we would know what to expect and what we had 
access to with our agreement...
this is my side entrance as I am on a corner lot...

 I love copper clad bay windows with the beautiful patina~
Mike is pretty particular about maintaining his 

old building, and I think that is fabulous!

Mike took Dave and I on the cellar tour~while they 
talked about the heating system I 
cruised around looking for old stuff.

 There was a neat old sign showing the original name of the apartment...
if Mike and Frank from American Pickers were here 
they would have wanted this baby.

Dave wants me to hang it up in the store....we'll see. 
Old plank and bead board walls everywhere you look...

Old apartment doors stacked up~Mike said I could have
 them in the shop as I want to do some fun things
 with these old doors...painted of course!

 I have an extra bathroom in the cellar~
its a soapstone sink..truly grungy and great!

And there were at least 4 of these awesome sinks...
people were doing their laundry down here back 100 years ago.
I want to have one for a display with plants or garden things..
if I can convince someone to carry it up to the shop.

 Lots of old hooks like this dot the walls...

 Back up the stairs to my shop, we have carpet to remove! 
Then Mike is buying us lunch at the neat restaurant across the street.  

 Hubs kicked the roll of carpet, then there was 

underpadding to roll up too~and tack strip to pry off.

 The front door is a bit of an issue as there used to be
 two doors so the floor is non-existent save
 for a big hunk of cement...but I have a plan...

 I helped a lot, but I had to take pics as I am a blogger first!!

 And finally it was all up~with patches of 
painted floors in red and grey on one side~
but I can totally visualize the store at this point!

 And floors without any finish left on the other side....

(note: imagine chandys and pretty furniture~not this mess)

 There is just something about the details of an older building like this door knob. 

Simply gorgeous!

 We were finished at 50 Summer Street~see the pretty brass numerals set in the old cement stoop?

Yup, thats my address~pretty name for an address I think.

The shop is at 50 Summer Street, Malden Massachusetts. 

The new home of Maison Decor.

 I am designing signage and awnings right now~so many things to do...but floors first.

Then we had lunch with Mike and we really hit if off~

 These are my store neighbors~I think its going to be great~

 I met Frank the barber when I was leaving today..

he's a couple doors down and quite adorable. I'll try to get a pic...

 Well I got out of bed at 4 am~I couldn't sleep and now am sooo tired.

But a good tired, you know? And this pretty sight was waiting for me 

when I arrived home "from work". 

Pretty pink petals littered the lawn and front steps after a rainfall.

And when I got home I saw that I had sold another mora clock~
this one will be Annie Sloan cream with old white~I can't wait!

Does this photo scare you? It shouldn't~

once these floors are sanded they are going to look so amazing.

Remember, there is a point where things 

look worse before they look better.

Tomorrow the floor sander guy is coming to give me a quote~

I'll be at the shop starting to paint the walls all day, 

and waiting on a shipment of angel wings and mora clocks!!!

 Its soooo great having a shop! 

My first official delivery to someplace that is NOT a residence.

I told Mike (the landlord) I would start painting the walls tomorrow...

Mike asked me who my painter was....I said, "ME!!"

Kind of funny~I just assumed he knew I would do it...but

he doesn't know me yet.

And I didn't even get to tell you about my 9 am appointment 

with the local bank begging asking about a small business loan.

It went exceedingly well (and they nothing about blogland)~

But I'll share that event with you next time!