Friday, January 16, 2015

What We Did On Break



The day after Christmas, we drove up to
Illinois (14 hours) to spend some time with our
middle daughter's family and help them
renovate their heavily used coat closet.
This isn't actually the real "before" as Jaysa and 
Mike had already removed the folding doors and
moved all the winter coats to another closet.

The picture below shows how far we got before
we had to come back home. We call this phase one
as we plan to finish the bottom half next trip up.
We took this old bench up for them to use
temporarily until we can build in a full bench
with room below for more baskets.

Here's some pictures of the work in progress:
 Painting in a small space is always a challenge.

It got even more crowded when Superman
(almost 5) decided to lend us his superpowers
by helping us paint. He soon lost interest after
just 10 minutes of helping put on the second coat.
 Lucky for us, his little sister (18 months) was way
too busy running down the hallway the other way.

 Thankfully, she wasn't that interested
in the work going on at the opposite end!
 Wild Bill (AKA Grampy) installed a
wide board on the top for adult coats and a 
smaller one on bottom for the kid's.
  Above the adult's board, Grampy installed a
shelf wide enough to hold baskets. There was a
gap between them, so we decided to add
some trim to cover the gap.

We weren't able to bring all the tools and
saws we needed to do a perfect job, but
we found we could depend on Lowes and
Home Depot to do basic cuts for us.
 Luckily, Grampy brought his power drill as
Jaysa's wasn't strong enough to install the hooks.
He gave Jaysa a quick lesson on controlling
the speed, and she installed the hooks where
she wanted them.

When Grampy saw this next picture he
thought Jaysa looked really determined to
get those screws in and under his breath
he said "straight in Jaysa, straight in."

  Are you wondering why we didn't paint
everything before putting up the hooks?
 Well...snow and ice was forecasted and we
needed to leave early. In fact, it started
snowing as the hooks were being installed.
 Little Livvie stopped running long enough
to model her hook...
 Here's a shot of the trim all painted.
Lowe's didn't have enough hooks for the sides
of the closet so Jaysa is waiting on them.
On our next trip, we plan to help Jaysa add
more trim at the bottom and top of the boards,
along with building in a permanent bench.


Our daughter seems to have a problem
picking paint colors just like her mama!

Here's a shot of the outside of the closet,
which is in the laundry room:


I've heard Rome wasn't built in a day.
So many colors, so little time...

Here's another look at phase one.

When we got home, Santa Claus ordered
Jaysa her own drill just like Grampy's so
she'll be able to finish the hooks and cover
the top of the old bench, as well as help build
the new bench when the time comes.


The wall color inside the closet is
Benjamin Moore's Hale Navy and the white
is Behr's Swiss Coffee in their paint and primer
mix. The baskets are from IKEA, which we
borrowed from the kid's playroom to use until
Jay finds something she likes better.


Thanks for dropping in!


Find me here:
http://jannolson.blogspot.com/2015/01/share-your-cup-thursday-132.html

15 comments:

  1. What a great project! I bet it is coming in real handy, too. I think this is a great idea when you don't need to have that closet as an actual closet with a door. I even love it with the bench you brought!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do love Wild Bills drilling lesson, that is my difficulty, the drill usually pops around and makes unnecessary holes, and Handy Andy isn't really that helpful. Love the colour of the inside of the closet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Irene, Wild Bill says you need a drill with a torque adjustment and a variable speed control. That will keep you from over-drilling and stripping out the treads. His lesson to Jaysa was to pull the trigger slowly and start with a low speed. Once the screw starts going in, pull the trigger farther back to increase the speed as needed. The torque adjustment keeps it from over-drilling. Hope this helps.

      Delete
  3. What a fabulous way to claim the space with beauty and practicality. Congratulations on finishing it. Love the color.

    Blessings,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  4. You made it into such a pretty closet. I love the name Jaysa. Never heard that before.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a cute post love your closet

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the photos especially the little one running down the hall lol! You all did a great job. So glad Santa got her a better drill. Cute granbabies you have.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Making closets more functional is always a great idea and you had such cute helpers too!

    On my blog I am going to make glass walls of a house I am making but now due to your comment I am thinking of making some more soldered collage pictures for a real glass wall to hang. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This turned out fabulous! Love the color and it is as cute as it is functional! The kids are too cute and such good helpers. Thanks for sharing with SYC. J.F.Y.I. Funky Junk Interiors is having a organizing link theme. I think you need to link this up there as well.
    hugs,
    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a gorgeous closet now and I love the color. What good grandparent you two are! Love to see it all done

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the transformation, and a peek at the cute little ones.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rivercrest Cottage,
    I wouldn't have been able to paint, dear friend!!!
    Like your granddaughter. . .I'd have been running the halls. . .trying to catch her for hugs!!!
    What an amazing closet transformation for a family with young children!!! So~o~o much more practical that trying to put coats on hangers!!! While your daughter may have difficulty in choosing paint colors, she has chosen gorgeous hooks!!!
    Thanks for sharing!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a great looking closet....I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Sharon, just hopping back to let you know that I will be featuring you at SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks great!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY.
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete