Dan's Study

Dan's study is done.  This shot was taken from our
newly remodeled hall (now master suite) bathroom.

Thanks to rainy weather (which gets tiresome but we try to be thankful in all things), Dan's study is pretty much done, except for finding homes for  a few more books and some odds and ends. This was a "found space" project which is part of a larger plan for a master suite.

The space was "found" at the end of the hallway. Originally, the floor plan looked like this....

Click here to see the floor plan for the entire house

When we first bought the place the hallway looked like this...

Spacious 5 foot wide hallway with a linen closet.

We did some evaluating awhile back to see if we could make a master bedroom suite. We ended up with an alternate floor plan which used the back of the hallway to make a study for Dan.

The proposed plan for a master suite. 

We've made some progress on that project and now the hallway looks like this...

Details about building this bookcase can be found here.

Behind that bookcase is Dan's new room.

The wall behind the desk on the right
is the back of the bookcase in the hall. 

He build the desk and cubby shelves quite a few years ago
but had to cut down the desktop to fit the space. He elevated
the cubbies for more room & I glued corkboard in between.

On the opposite wall where the linen closet used to be
there was just enough room for his drafting table.

The soffit above his drafting table.  (Please don't
notice that the ceiling still needs to be painted)

The soffit solved several problems, the biggest being that the linen closet's builder cut out gaps in the crown molding to accommodate closet walls. Our choices were to either replace all the crown molding, or build the soffit. The soffit not only defines the space, but made it easier to install the mini-pendant lamp.

You can see all of Dan's woodburnings at his blog.

The last thing to be built was more bookshelves. Besides being utilitarian, they help define the space, making it more like a room. In the first photograph, that's the back of these bookshelves on the right, looking like a pony wall.

The built-in bookshelves are dual purpose, and also
strategically situated over a structural bump in the floor

Cost for the entire project was very nominal. Besides materials for the bookcase in the hallway, he purchased a few 2x4s for the soffit, the light, materials for the bookshelves, and a small rug to protect the new hardwood floor from the wheels on his chair. The room is small, just a tad under 5 foot by 8 foot, so he uses the one chair at both desk and drafting table. That rug, by the way, is *RILEY APPROVED* ....

Dan's study is now Riley's favorite napping spot. 

For the master suite, we have the bathroom done and now Dan's study, with the bedroom yet to get started on. This time of year, we'd rather be working outside on preliminary steps for the new barn, weather permitting. We'll probably do the bulk of the work on the bedroom this winter, unless it doesn't stop raining.

Dan's Study © August 2013 by Leigh 

at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Master Suite Progress: New Door & New Wall

On sunny days we work outside. On rainy or wet days, outdoor projects are put on hold and we work indoors. Here are some photos of that work, progress on the master suite (plans here).

New Doorway

Original. We used the shelves for our videos & DVDs.
Door on the right was a backdoor to the back porch.

Shelves were torn out during the bathroom demolition.

New doorway where the shelves used to
be, going from what will become the
master bedroom into the hallway & Dan's study.

New Wall

The hallway as we last saw it.

Beginnings of the wall of shelves.

Putting the back on, hall view.

The view from what will become Dan's study. Our ceilings
are 8' 9", but Dan made the shelves a standard 8 foot tall.
The gap at the top was left to allow for air circulation.

This little alcove is where his desk will go.

And done! Now all I have to do is paint them.
These will be primarily for our videos and DVDs.

Master Suite Progress: New Door & New Wall © June 2013 

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

Rain + Waiting On Plumbing Parts = Floor

Rain. Over 6.5 inches in April have made the ground too saturated to work on our current outdoor projects, such as the buck pasture or current fencing project.

Waiting On Plumbing Parts. Dan had to mail order parts to finish the bathtub plumbing, and they hadn't arrived yet.

Floor. The hallway floor was the next indoor project on the list.

To give you some idea of the changes, here is a photo of the hallway when we first moved into the place.

The hallway when we first moved in with
linen closet at the end.  It's wide, about 5 ft.

We tore the linen closet out when we started on the bathroom. The other day, Dan pulled up the pink carpeting.

Linoleum was under the carpet. 

We discussed a variety of flooring options, and finally decided to use the materials leftover from the hardwood flooring project in the dining room. We had just enough vapor barrier, and almost enough oak floor planks.

We rented the flooring nail gun.

We were about 19 square feet short of finishing the area. Lowes sells bundles of hardwood flooring at 19 sq feet per bundle! But, because the new boards were narrower, we had to alternate some rows.

Some rows are 3.5", others are 2.5" Gaps near the wall allow for expansion.

I doubt this will be noticed once the floor is stained. And if it is, who cares.

Dan applying stain to the floor. Excess is wiped off with a rag.

We used the same color as we did for the bathroom window frame, but it seems to have turned out darker on the floor. Darker than I was hoping. One of the creative unknowns, I suppose. Here's what it looked like with the job finished.

The sheet (pulled out of the way, upper left) helps
to minimze dust all over the house from sanding. 

The polyurethane finish is next, and then Dan can get on to turning this space into its intended purpose. More on that soon.

Rain + Waiting On Plumbing Parts = Floor © May 2013 

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

The Hallway

Remember this photo of the living room?

Well, that middle door leads to the hallway.

It's wide for a hall, 5 feet. About midway down on the left, you can see the door which goes into the spare room. The one across it on the right goes into the dining room. And yes, the pink carpet resides here too. We were able to get a good look under it, and the floor is covered with dark gray linoleum. Again, not sure what to do with it, but somehow pink carpet is less offensive in the hallway than in the living or dining rooms.

There's a quaint little feature on the left....

.... a telephone cubby.

At the end of the hall is a nice deep linen closet. It's interior color is that same worn out green which dominated the whole house at one time.

The hall takes a turn to the left here.....

.... and this back door goes out onto the back porch. Unfortunately, we weren't given a key to it. However, this didn't deter DH, who simple lifted the door off it's hinges to remove it. After that, he was able to open the lock mechanism to take a look.

This door also has two chains on it, so until we can do something about the lock, we can still secure it.

At the end of the hallway is a bathroom. I'll show you that next.

[UPDATE: To see what we did with the hallway, click here.]

Copyright by Leigh 31 May 2009
at http://www.5acresandadream.com/