The Closet Came Out of the Laundry, huh?

It hasn't taken center stage but a VERY important part of our renovation is our new closet!

 



We converted the old laundry room into a closet.

The old laundry room was in the left rear corner of the house. It had glass blocks wrapping the corner, just like the bathroom side. But, along the way the blocks on the back had been covered with plywood so shelving could be attached.

 

The glass blocks looked a whole lot better from the inside ...

 

 

than the outside! 

 

 

Plumbing for the laundry room had been run across the width of the house, cutting through floor joists. This made the floor a lit-tle spring-y! Yikes!

 

 

The new closet adds about 48 additional square feet of storage. It is on the exact footprint of the old laundry room. The glass blocks were removed, we closed in both sides of the house where the glass blocks used to be and added four new windows across the the back of the house. We chose Infinity windows by Marvin.

 

 

One of the windows, the one on the far right, is inside the new closet. 

 

This new closet gives us great storage with three hanging rods, a shoe shelf (bottom right) and a 36" wide shelving unit that runs from the floor almost to the ceiling. We used the same tile floor for the closet.

 

 

 

The sloped ceiling provides the perfect place for heels

Otherwise unused or messy storage space - perfect for additional shoes storage

When I worked on the space planning for this closet I did not realize

 we could fit in this shelving unit. It was a gift from Tye, the trim guy!

  Need to do some additional organization on the shelves...

 

I am soooo eager to show you the exterior of our house with the new siding and freshly painted trim but it's not quite finished .... don't give up! I promise it's coming!

 

 

Confessions from a Construction Zone

A few days ago, Joe, one of the North Shore Construction team, asked if I was tired of living in a construction zone? Hmmm. Not really. But what am I feeling?

One day I counted 10 men working at our house ... that was a tough day, worse because it rained, but that was temporary.  No, having all the workmen here from 8:00am to 5:00pm or so, every single day (sometimes even on Saturday), no that doesn't really bother me.

 

When our dog, Louie, started limping over the weekend we got really worried.  But, we took him to the vet on Monday and she fixed him up.  Turns out it was a bee sting. We think it happened in our new back yard. That was scary and he was pretty pitiful with that "cone of shame" he had to wear.  And though his bee sting was at least partially due to all the construction debris back there, I had faith that he would be OK so no, that was OK too.

 

 

The frequent bad news about the condition of the house is unnerving.  Like when Nate and Joe discovered a large area of old termite damage that had been repaired but not very well ... that was an "Oh, my gosh!" moment for sure.  But we have a very capable crew here, on the premises 8 to 5 everyday and they fixed it in no time! Contractor Chris said their motto is, "Find it, fix it, move on." And they did just that. Take that, termites! And never, never come back!

 

 

I will admit it is bothersome and somewhat claustrophobic to still have packing boxes everywhere after four weeks, and to be confined to five rooms. But there is nothing we can do about it except wait ... And, THAT'S IT!

 

 

For me, it's not the waiting so much as it is the inability to DO anything. We can't unpack more - nowhere to put it.  We can't paint anything - all those boxes and furniture that we can't put in place are in the way AND the constant traffic in the house causes more and more damage anyway. We dare not clean - before you finish it needs it again.

 

 

Can't decorate - everything is temporary - the living room will get different paint and therefore everything in there will change. The den is just uninhabitable. We will need some new things for the master suite but it is also uninhabitable. Our youngest will be coming home from his first year of college in less than three weeks - his room is storage right now - can't do much there. UGH!

 

 

 

I am sure everyone is different and everyone who has undergone a remodeling project has had frustrations.  But for me, the hardest part is having so much to do and yet not being able to do anything.

 

I once had a pastor who warned us never pray for patience. Because if you need to become more patient, the only way to learn how is to be put to the test.

 

"God, honest, I didn't ask for patience?"