Of Disappearing Doors and En"light"ened Entryways

Doing a little catching up with a couple of posts today. We are laying low with fevers and yucky stuff today, and this seems like a mindless and low-energy occupation for now, since the rest of my list for today just got jettisoned.

First, disappearing doors. The door on the right that you see in this "before" picture is the coat closet, which we had crammed with junk other than coats. We decided to appropriate that real estate for the laundry room that sits directly behind the coat closet. The door on the right opens into the bathroom, but was not really needed, since we have another entrance from the back hall. Since the wall on the right was coming down, we didn't want the bathroom door opening into the living room. So...

This is the view now as you come in the front door.

And both the entryway and the living room now have tons more light - a very valuable commodity when you live in the woods. One of the major things we wanted to do was add some light. Because of the beautiful stone exterior, adding windows is not an option (with one exception, as you will see in upcoming weeks).

And since I am sure y'all are dying to know where our coats and shoes go, here are a few shots of  our beautiful back hall! The hook racks are Leksvik from Ikea, and I love them - and I especially love the price. Ignore the dirty socks on the floor. Pretend I picked them  up, like I meant to.

The shoe rack we have had for years, and it got a little shoring up yesterday from my handy stud, including the addition of casters at the bottom so I can roll it out easily to sweep behind it. Of course, that is assuming that I am ever gripped with the desire to actually do such a thing. The little ottoman has had many lives in our home(s), but has happily found its true vocation as sock-stower. This works well, since it is within easy tossing distance of the washer and dryer (behind those doors on the right). I like tossing laundry. It makes me feel happy and carefree.

 More on the laundry room and our cheapskate economical DIY ideas for making that an efficient and cheerful space in a future post. But for now, here is what we got by eliminating the closet.

Before:

After - doesn't look like much yet, but it's about an extra 3.5 feet for laundry hamper, deep storage shelves, and a small rod for hanging clothes.

Here is the back of the walled up bathroom door. We envision a repurposed dresser from our bedroom in here for storage. Love the wainscoting in this bathroom. Thanks, Brian!!

Dust In the House

...all we have is dust in the house...

Walls started coming down today! The wall separating the front hall and the great room was apparently added when air conditioning was installed to the house - probably sometime in the 70's. All of the other walls in the house were plaster, but here it was drywall. The front hall is 8 feet wide, and we decided that was valuable real estate, as we really enjoy hosting large gatherings. So, down came this wall on the left side as you enter the great room, along with a section about a foot wide on the right side:

Here is the view from the great room side before. Yeah, the stud was a little tired after manhandling cabinets all day, so he's probably facebooking...

And here is what it looks like now. Lots and lots of light! and space! We are planning to leave the bookcase on the left by the front door, and the part of the wall that houses the air return, although we hope to disguise it a little. Any suggestions for making that column and vent attractive?

We were very happy that the floor under the removed wall is intact, and will only need some minor repair. It is actually in very good shape.

The other major happening of the day was the removal of an old door frame from the dining room into the kitchen, and a reshaping of the opening to match the pretty arch on the other side.

Can't wait to see how much happens tomorrow. We have worked with our contractor,Warfield Builders, in the past. Shannon and Wayne are fabulous, and their crew is always kind, considerate, and very pleasant to have around. The carpenter who has been working with his son-in-law on the wall demo and framing told us the other day that he played at this house when he was a boy, and in his late teens, he helped install the current kitchen when he was apprenticing with a local contractor. 

Kitchen Demo

Bright and early Saturday morning...before the bloody fingers, banged elbow, and stiff, achy joints...

ummm....yeah....

Refrigerator moved across the kitchen. I think this is better, but I'm still deciding whether I like it. Think it's our only option, though.

Hey Dan, you are supposed to be in bed and keeping your germs to yourself!! But we are all so excited - the doors open all the way! We can actually see what is in the freezer now, and get to it - as well as you can with a side-by-side. But this fridge is going to the basement as a second fridge, and will be replaced by french door stainless bottom freezer...

These cabinets did not survive their removal. Hoping the Re-Store will have 48" worth of base drawers or cabinets that will work. We're planning to paint all of the cabinets so they don't have to be an exact match - just close enough.

Cabinets coming down. Can't believe how much more spacious the kitchen feels!

Three layers down - love this linoleum. We may copy this pattern for the floor - like the idea of using an "original design". Also, found this old hydronic heater under the cabinet. We think there is one more under one of the cabinets that is staying. We are hoping to be able to move this over, since it is sitting where the range will go...

Done - for now. Just need to decide how far out to bring the knee wall. Now for hot showers, band-aids, lots of hand lotion, and bed. There was a time when this would have been a fairly easy day's work, and we would have gone out to dinner afterwards. But we were younger then, much younger than today..