Painting the Space Ship
As the observatory began to take shape, I entered it one evening before the walls were painted to see what ideas might come to mind in terms of how we should paint the interior. When I closed the door, I discovered that since it is an exterior insulated door, that with it closed, there was no sound at all from the house heard inside the observatory. It gave me the impression that I was really in another place, perhaps even another world. As hokey as that sounds, it seemed like the inside should be finished like a space ship, rather than "just" another room in the house. A Google session or two later and we came up with a plan.
Taking a hint from the International Space Station, we took some hints from images like these:
The result was an idea that Tanya, of Cook Varkony Studios, created which was to paint panels on the walls by taping off squares and using the metallic paint we bought for the room.
Tanya Painting the Panels
Getting us up to the second floor was now the challenge. After the walls were painted, it was time to install the spiral stairs. The process so far has been pretty straight-forward. First the center pole is temporarily installed and plumbed. Then the bracket holding the pole on the top is removed and each of the stair treads is lowered into place.
Spiral Stairs
Fortunately Matt Green was able to help me again, as the treads were a bit difficult to install by myself. Although the directions said to install the wooden treads after the steps were installed, I changed it around and installed them first. It turned out to be a much better idea. I also discovered that the steel pier would be dangerously in the way, so instead of being a right-hand up set of stars, they are now left-hand up. I cut off the last baluster and will cut off the overhanging handrail to match as well, so people can sneak up the steps from the side.
