Finally. FINALLY.

We are on track for a lease signing tomorrow - finally.  Finally.  FINALLY.  Sure, it only took approximately 109 days, $1200 in architect costs, 1,291 emails, three on-site visits, 12 awkward "I don't know what you are talking about" conversations with sub-contractors, and one "Sorry We Are Neurotic" pie to Mel Zelenak, but FINALLY. This time tomorrow, we will finally have a key to a 1,000 square foot rectangle that is completely empty and completely unimproved.  If you remember all the way back to the start of this blog, we have a vision for this space that we call "Industrial Chic" (we thought we had coined this term, turns out a quick visit to Pinterest will bring lots of results for that search term...it is loosely defined as blending "the urban edge of utilitarian design with the warmth of aged woods and worn textures."

This is the sketch of the future of our unimproved rectangle:

That front L-shaped countertop is something we hope to have done in concrete.  We would like to use some sort of modified farm gate for the space between the counter and the left wall...something rustic and worn and charming.  We've had more than one person through that space who suggested saloon doors in this spot and it took all my inner control to not weep over my lost vision.  Let's all just say no to saloon doors in our Industrial Chic space and the world will be a better place.

We envision two large work tables and some great lighting...perhaps like this (originally from a restaurant in Denmark, via Pinterest):

We also like this for over our front concrete countertops:

And a series of these for storage units?  Um, yes, please:

Or this...

Notice a trend here?  My Pinterest board is basically covered with variations on this theme and it makes me happy.  It makes me happier to know that perhaps tomorrow we can actually stand in the space without loads of Silent Stan's storage and really think about what might work and what might not work.