Putting the entry back together

After we made all that mess, we fit a few extra studs into the openings and hung some random sheet rock pieces.  It was a little like a puzzle.  The big challenge was... guess what!? The concrete walls don't have equal thickness everywhere.  We have a new rule - don't ever lay a straight-edge along these walls.  They look flat and that's what matters.  

 Brian grabbed an hour here and there to mud this space up and smooth it nearly perfect.

 It feels so much more open!  

Our froggy-boot, shirtless friend got in on the painting fun.  You gotta have a uniform for these activities.

Our flooring expert friend is going to make a topper for the slant that matches the stairs.  He also has to fill in a few pieces that weren't there with the closet wall - easy stuff for an expert like him.
I'm planning on creating a welcoming area - much more so than a closet door.  A little bench and a row of coat hooks are definitely in the plan.  Maybe a mirror, maybe a shelf.  All we kept in the closet was a handful of outdoor toys that Noah rarely played with.  He can find another home for them.  I'll look for a bench that will contain something so we could tuck a couple things in it that might have been in the closet.  If we do a shelf in there, maybe a cute basket to hold some balls too. Since we couldn't ever open the front door and the closet door with any more than one person in the tight space anyway, guests coats rarely made it into the closet anyway.  Hooks will serve much more useful without a side of claustrophobia. :)

Any bets how many months this will take us?  

Making more mess

Taking things apart goes much faster than putting things back together.  The next day, Brian and Noah took a few more pieces apart.  They traded in the hammers for a saws-all, made fast work of the remaining wall parts.  

We made a huge pile of garbage!  It was challenging to work in those close quarters.  I didn't feel like I could get much for pictures of the process.

We have some fun ceiling lines to work with here, and in the end, it will be smooth and continuous to wrap from the stairs to the entry.

That was one fun weekend making a big mess and opening up that space.  I want to do it again!  Have to wait until this one is put back together before breaking into the next.

Entry-way action

They asked me at work not too long ago what I do to deal with stress...

Meet my very tight entry way (minus a door and shelf because I wasn't quick enough to grab the camera).  

 One day this spring I was feeling a little stressed, dealing with a work situation.  I needed a good hard labor project to burn off some of that stress.  From the first time we walked into this house, the front entry felt a bit claustrophobic. It's hallway sized with the front door swinging across the entire width.  The closet door could not be opened when the front door was.  It's hard to imagine any number of people coming in there, which is how we met the house the first time because it was an open house.

 My helper and I sent Brian for a bike ride, threw down a little protective paper and started tearing the place apart. :)

 This is not as easy as it might seem because our walls are made of concrete - can you see the layers here?

 Noah and I did some serious wall banging, got really dusty, and blew off some stress!

We took pounds and pounds of wall material out of there and added lots of light to the stairwell.

Anybody else think a sledgehammer workout is a good stress buster?

Sorry about missing last weekend's post.  Just when I start getting nice and regular on here, I go and take off for a party weekend at a waterpark with friends.  That's another good stress-buster!  See you next weekend!