Rain + Rain + Rain = A Start on the Bedroom

14+ inches of rain in July and 7.8 inches so far this month have certainly put a damper on a lot of things; our summer list of outdoor projects has very few things crossed off. Plus, with so little sun things have been slow to ripen, such as the blueberries, tomatoes, and figs. Nor are things able to dry out, so it's hard to work much in the garden.

On the bright side, it's meant our summer highs have averaged about 10° cooler than normal. It's also meant we've gotten a lot done on inside projects such as the hall bathroom (which is no longer in the hall), and Dan's study. With more rain every time Dan has a day off, there was nothing for it but to start on what will eventually become our bedroom.

Closet door in the spare bedroom.

Above, is a photo of what we've been calling the spare room (photos of the entire room including the goofy closet, here). Initially, we used the room for storage while we worked on other rooms with the idea that it would eventually become a guest bedroom. Then we got another idea.

In my Dan's study post, I told you about our proposed master bedroom suite and showed you changes in the floor plan. Now that his study and the bathroom are done, the bedroom is the last room to finish the project. With all the rain, we figured we might as well give it a start.

Most of the walls (and ceilings) in our old house are oak tongue &
groove. The boards have to be individually removed to tear down a wall. 

We don't want to make this a complicated project (yeah, right), but we do want to revamp the closet. There's something like 188 cubic feet behind that wall, largely untapped because the old closet doors are an inadequate 24 by 72 inches. The first step was to tear down that wall.

Our ceilings are 8' 9"

There were actually two closets behind the wall, the one for the spare room on the right, and one for the bedroom we use now, my closet actually, on the left. The wall is not load bearing, so the studs can be removed to rebuild the space to make his and hers closets. Our ceilings are tall, 8' 9", so above the closets we plan to build storage cupboards for seasonal items, such as extra blankets and linens.

The next step will be to take down those studs, but before we begin to rebuild we need to gut the wall with the windows on it.

The windows are original to the house.

The drafty, loose fitting windows need to be replaced and insulation must be added in the wall.

We'll just take it a step at a time depending on the weather and Dan's work schedule. And as much as we'd both love to be outdoors, we'll also both admit we can't wait to have our new bedroom done. At least we have a place to sleep in the meantime.

Next post: New Bedroom Windows

Rain + Rain + Rain = A Start on the Bedroom © August 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/