Have you heard about the Crazy Harrisons? Fourteen moves (okay, to clarify: 14 residences) in 27 years of marriage wasn't enough for these sickos. They had to lay it on thick with number 14 - renting for a mere eight months and inflicting themselves with another move (a self move, no less) in less than a year was kids' stuff to these loonies - in #14 they went into it knowing they would do construction when they were partially moved in. These people are certifiable. (Believe me, I know.) But I digress ….. before I even started ….. so allow me to walk you through Day One of our construction. Above we have a wall at the top of the stairs. Since this is a house without a first floor closet of any sort (not uncommon in St. Louis, we learned), we plan to punch a hole in this wall and make it a "hall" closet on the second floor. Allie is standing in the master bedroom doorway. Take a look at her butt (sorry, "but" it's the best landmark in the photo) ….. now remember where her butt was and look at the next picture.
The door to this closet was right behind your landmark. It was the old master closet, but it was small and its door and the door to the bedroom hit each other all the time. So we're using most of the space inside this closet for the new "hall" closet, and moving the doorway into the hallway. This is how it looked last night.
This is how it looked this morning after the contractors started. Those 2x4s are the side wall for what used to be the master closet. Previous owners allowed this closet to protrude into the bedroom about a foot. We're reclaiming that extra foot, so now the closet will be a regular depth hall closet and the bedroom will get a bit of extra space.
This is how it looked by afternoon. The old wall used to jog out at the closet. The new wall will cover the fireplace and be straight across.
Did I mention we're also reclaiming the fireplace? I know, it's practically sacrilege. But it's a useless fireplace. And see how the fireplace buts up against the wall on the right? Well, that wall is the master bathroom, which desperately needs a remodel. (Which we're saving for next year.) When we remodel the bathroom, we'll enlarge it and need to take the wall to the right of the fireplace out a few feet into the bedroom. So the fireplace will have to go sooner or later. We chose sooner.
Turns out the fireplace has been remodeled before. This is what was underneath the white mantle.
This is the wall of the bedroom opposite the bathroom. Right about where that blue whatchamacallit is located will be the spot for the new closet door.
Something like this. When the contractors carved this hole, I was directly below them on the first floor. The vibration was intense. This is the former exterior house wall.
Kinda thick.
To make our new closet, we're exercising our rights of eminent domain against an adjacent bedroom. This bedroom is L-shaped. We're taking half of the L. This is our half before construction began.
This is how it looks from roughly the same vantage point after the drywall went up today. (In other words, the closet is behind the drywall.) The remains of the formerly L-shaped bedroom will be a nice little guest room. Maybe you'd like to stay in it sometime?
One thing about those Crazy Harrisons - okay, I should let Mr. Harrison off the hook here because I'm actually referring to Mrs. Harrison. She's a second-guesser. Real bad. Let's put it this way. If her ability to second guess was described in athletic terms, she'd run ultra marathons - for warmups. I don't want to reveal any of her deep dark hidden secrets, but let's just say that this woman has problems. Well, if she had any doubts about this, their 14th move, and all the headache it's caused, today she got a sign. She doesn't really believe in signs, but this one is not to be ignored. After the contractors excavated the original master closet, she noticed that underneath the door frame is a previous owners' old wallpaper ….. and it's the same Laura Ashley pattern that she and Mr. Harrison chose for their comforter when they were first married. And all that I have to say in my defense is ….. if a sign is to be believed ….. this is a good one.
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