A Grand Old Furniture Upcycling Day

Another day, another working bee!

This time we were hanging out at Caitlin and Tim’s backyard in Holmesville, dodging the hot sunshine and the occasional chicken as people sanded, scraped, hammered, glued, washed, painted, lacquered and all those handy type things.

Wooden chairs (roadside pickups) all newly oiled!

Oh the joyous disarray.

We had a few people working hard on our amazing bookshelves made from old doors. Others were oiling and preparing furniture. Andy, our upholsterer overlord, did an incredible job sewing pineapple-patterned cushions for one of the lounges we found on the side of the road.

"I've been working for 4 hours on this sewing machine! I love pineapple!"

 It is amazing how much furniture we have accumulated from council pick ups or donations by friends and family. Or from Tim's grandparents' shed. Actually, let's be honest. Most of it is from Tim's grandparents' shed, which we believe may in fact be Eden, from whence all things come. We have hardly bought any furniture for The Commons at all! 

Mandy and Paul. And Tim's knee.

Caitlin and Tim, the hosts with the mostest.

It was a relaxed day and we enjoyed more than one tea break along the way. Thank you to Paul, James, Tristan, Tim E, Vicki, Tony, Tim G, Caitlin, Andy, Bel, Mandy, Glen, Aidan and Jasmin who, it can be agreed, are the best furniture upcycling team EVER.

Tea time! Tristan, Andy and...looks like Aidan's asleep again.

Bel and Jasmin, pondering. Or looking at the roof. Either or.

I (Caitlin) was thinking today that the best part about all of the work we put in is that we all own a part of the Commons – we will be able to look around the Commons and say “I painted that wall!” “I sanded that table!” “I catalogued those books!” We all have a stake in the outcome, and it belongs to all of us, and we built it from nothing. And that is VERY. AWESOME.

Worker Bees Assemble!

It's all happening! Photo by Luke Oliver

We had a working bee in early October! We hoped people would come, and were humbled and inspired by the amazing people that showed up to toil away washing and painting walls.

Second coat of cream going on.

The day before the bee, it was the most ridiculously hot day, and we were worried that it would just be too muggy to work comfortably. But hallejulah! Clouds and a cool breeze turned up and we worked a full day, with people coming in and out, lending a hand.

Go Anneleise! Thank goodness no one opened the door at this moment.

 Our expectations were that it would take a day to wash and clean the walls, and it was our hope that we could start painting at some point too. But our amazing early morning team zipped through and washed the walls in an hour! So we were able to get two coats of paint by the end of the day – YES! What a team effort! It definitely helped that we had smooth tunes care of the record player and Tim and Caitlin’s vinyl collection – Chicago, Beach Boys, The Who Ella Fitzgerald and Dixieland jazz all made an appearance!

Goodbye ugly mural...hello olive library wall!

By the end of the weekend, we were able to finally see the space start to take shape. A huge thank you to Andrew, Amelia, Anneleise, Mandy, Tim, David, Rob, Caitlin, Chris, Alex, Ramona & Terry, and for moral support: Luke, Mim, Emma & dog Millie. Next stop, furniture upcycling day!

The First Look...

We are terrible at writing regular blog posts! Obviously. So much has been going on at The Commons and there is so much to update you all on!

As Andy mentioned in the last post, the most momentous happening of late is that we secured a space (woot!) – the lovely folk at Hamilton Wesley Uniting Church on Beaumont Street, Hamilton have provided us with the upper level of Fellowship House. The building is next door to the church, and we have a lot of space to work with, which is exciting! Yeah!

Oh that mural...what to say...

We were a little hesitant at first; were really hoping to find a non-church space, as we know that there can be a lot of stigma/bad experiences for some people in regard to churches. But in the end we realised that, after a year of searching unsuccessfully for a space, sometimes you work with the resources at hand. 

Mural and boardroom behind, looking towards the front door.

And what a resource it is! The folk at Hamilton Wesley have been amazing, and we have been given freedom the likes of which we would never have known in an official ‘commercial’ space. 

The kitchenette - needs some love! And a lot of paint.

This funny little nook will be the library office/admin space.

We are guaranteed the space for somewhere around 12 months, or longer depending on their plans to redevelop the building.

The Boardroom. Note the appropriately stern looks and patriotic decor.

As you can see from the photos, the spaced requires a lot of love, and we have been well busy doing TLC. We’ll show more pics in the next post.

So yes! Exciting, exciting! Watch this space. We’ll be posting all sorts of things on here in the coming weeks.

Peace out x

 

There was movement at the station...

There was movement at the station for the word had passed around-
that the Commons Cafe was on the run
People were exited Big Kev style and a venue had been found
Build it and they will come.
All the folk from near and far with skillz and books and eats
have been painting, thinking, talking with their friends
For Commoners love getting involved down on Beaumont street
And the community is eager for a library that lends

Welcome back one and all. A lot has happened since you last checked this blog.
Caitlin and Tim have been overseas, Miriam has nearly finished her PhD and Andrew has dropped back to a nine day fortnight.

And the Commons is off and running.

First, we - that is you and me. Us. - we have a space. Level 1, 152 Beaumont Street, Hamilton.
Second, we have a grand opening. Friday 16 November 2012, 7pm to 9pm
Third, we have opening hours. Thursdays 2pm - 7pm. Fridays 2 pm - Late. Saturdays 10am - 2pm.
Fourth, well, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. More than what usually fits under one point. Get involved!

There's going to be a more action here as things progress, so don't be a stranger - follow along on the Commons adventure.