Easy Just Ain't Our Style

We just could not let those His & Hers closests rest. What should have been a great feature of the master bedroom has really been a cause of grief for us. First, we ripped out the built-ins. Now, we've decided to demo the wall in between them and close in the door to make them one big walk-in. Why? Because when it comes to a Do-It-Ourselves project we really like to flex our muscles! Really, we've got skills and you all need to know it!

No, I'm totally kidding. We actually ran some numbers and our existing bedroom furniture just wouldn't fit in the new room without the added wall space. We taped out the furniture on the floor in every possible configuration and it just wouldn't work unless we hurdled dressers to climb into bed. I don't know about you but we are no longer that athletic so we made the decision to go ahead and close up the door and tear down the wall. No biggie! Not when you've got the HVAC and Home Improvement Extraordinare on your team! [That would be Travis for all of you who missed that one!] Seriously, I don't think there is anything that man can't do. I hit the jackpot when I scored that one! [brownie points]

Our weekend plans for simply painting turned into a whole lot more but our new closet will basically be the same as our closet now and we will have room for all of the essential bedroom furniture pieces.

Here's how it all went down...

The wall separating the two closets



Demo time



Man at work



No more wall, look to the left



No more wall, look to the right



Door going...



Going...



Gone!



With all of the chaos going on around me I had a few meltdown moments where I paced the room wondering what in the world I should do. I ripped down the wallpaper in the bathroom to discover that the wall behind it would need to be sanded. I didn't sand; I moved on to an easier, more appealing task because that's what I do. I took to painting the windows which turned out to be about as much fun as standing in an ant bed in sugar pants. Scraping the paint off the glass turned out to be even more fun! And to think I've only got to do this in EVERY other room in the house. Yippee! I'm not a complainer though. Nope, not me! 

Cody-man "helping" the only way he knows how!

Coop, doing what he does best!

Did I mention that the door frame we removed was the same one that the paint was peeling from last weekend??

Take that old house!!

I'd say by 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon when we finally clocked out for the weekend, we took home a point for our team.

Stubborn Old House - 1.

Sue & Trav - 1.

Things are looking up!

And We're Off...

Friday I made my first trip to Lowe's and Home Depot. I walked out with four bags and a 5-gallon bucket of paint and -- BAM!! -- we are down $200 bucks! I had forgotten just how quickly the funds dwindle. But no pain, no gain, right? So equipped with spanking new painting supplies, we jumped on our first room we plan to attack -- The Master Bed and Bath.

What did we accomplish in the first few hours on the job? Well, not a lot.

 After we stared at the His and Hers closets for what seemed like an hour, we decided to tear out the built-ins because they were a pain in-the-you-know-what to open and that was before we painted them. Not to mention they utilitzed space that we would prefer be available for hanging, rather than storing. So, out they went. Our plan is to put two bars on all three walls of each of the closets so that we have plenty of space to hang our clothes.

Next, we wiped down the walls, baseboards, and all the moldings (which were disgusting, by the way...Ew!). Then taped, draped, and prepped for painting. Travis took to the ceilings; I took to the trim. Cody and Cooper watched diligently and miraculously managed to keep their noses, toes, and tails out of the paint!

Here enters Mistake Numero Uno. Yes, we made it within the first few hours on the job.

I got about two and a half door frames painted when I got a bad feeling about what I was doing. I knew it was a possibility since the existing paint had a pretty good sheen to it but I guess I was just ready to make some progress and hoped I would luck up. No such luck ladies and gentleman. I will be spending the next couple of hours sanding my work off to prep for primer. And so the saga begins...

Stubborn Old House - 1. Trav & Sue - 0.

That pretty much sums up Day One on the job.

BEFORE: The Sun Porch

BEFORE: Master Bedroom and Bath

The Master Bedroom is at the end of the Hall to the right, opposite the second Spare Bedroom. It has His and Hers walk-in closets with built in drawers. The Master Bath is attached.



BEFORE: Spare Bedroom 2

The second spare bedroom is a little larger than the other and is located at the end of the all and to the left, opposite the Master Bedroom.



BEFORE: Spare Bedroom 1

The first Spare Bedroom is the smaller of the two extra bedrooms.

BEFORE: Hall Bath



BEFORE: The Hall and Foyer

The Hall is off of the Den and Foyer and leads to the three Bedrooms and the Hall Bath and it has three closets.

Down the hall towards the bedrooms

Down the hall towards the Den and Foyer

Larger hall closet

Small hall closet

Foyer, front door view

Foyer, den view



 



BEFORE: The Den

The Den is off of the Kitchen and leads to the Hall and Foyer. It has dark wood paneling and cabinetry and a massive stone fireplace with gas logs.