The Upstairs Closet

Before...

The entire upstairs was very dark. This back gabled ell, which extends north off of the main house, has a low gabled ceiling so we thought it would make a great walk-in closet.

After framing, insulation and electrical.

The closet door. We rounded off the top and I think it looks quite charming.

After...

We looked into doing a closet organizer for clothes but it was really pricey. So I looked around and found a good deal on some large over-sized white dressers.

We got two, his and hers.

UPDATE: Photos added February 17, 2010

We used plastic covered wire racks that you can custom fit to your space. This ended up being the most functional and most affordable option. The only thing that doesn't fit in our closet are my dresses and Hubby's suits. Those are stored in our downstairs guest room closet.

Vanity is a matching piece to the two Empire dressers in our bedroom. The set comes from my Grandmother's house, which were originally purchased by her Grandparents.

My favorite part of our small closet is the wonderful window that offers a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside with Mt. Adams (way over in Washington state) as a backdrop.

Upstairs Office

BEFORE

This is the upstairs half story as it was when we bought the place. It was a seasonal space, perhaps used as a workshop or for storage. In Phase II of our remodel, we put in a large shed dormer (shed dormers are flat so allow more head room than a gabled dormer), transforming this space entirely. What you're looking at is the east side of the house.

Here is that same east end after the new dormer went in. Notice all the extra floor space to the right of the stairs. The framing you see is the beginning formation of the office. The threshold to the office is dictated by the massive support beam that had to be lifted by crane into our roof line and what will support the large dormer addition. Where the threshold of the office stands, provides the resting place for the beam above it. Ditto for the other side of the room where the bathroom was created.

The drywall, door, trim and new Marvin window start to shape the office.

After paint and new hardwood flooring throughout upstairs.

After...

We had to disassemble the old desk (another Great Great Grandparent piece) due to its weight and size. But once reassembled, it fit quite well in the new space.

The office is mostly used by me as Hubby has an office at work. My collection of antique gold frames rests against the wall waiting for the right piece of art.

The gabled portion of the room offers enough head room for storage.

The Entry

BEFORE

This is not a true 'before' because it doesn't show the parkay flooring or the blond colored paneling - with plastic shelves lining the walls. I believe I tore the shelves down within mere seconds of taking ownership of the house. The white walls are new drywall we installed. Also, you can see the old porch railing (wasn't original) before the wrap around porch was put in.

The parquet flooring was removed down to the tar paper, which you can see above. Then we got to thinkin' that perhaps there was another layer beneath the plywood. Hmmmm. We suspected that the room was probably a covered porch that got closed in at some point, so we really didn't know what we'd find.

Ta da! The classic porch gray paint confirmed our suspicions of this once being an outdoor porch. The entry is off from the living room so we painted the walls the same color and also matched the casement window to the large casement windows in the living room (all new Marvin windows). So the rooms although separate, blend well with each other.

Here is hubby (the cutie pie that he is) putting in the last of the base trim. You can see that the floors have been striped and refinished to match living room floors. Also, there's a new door (Simpson) and a new window (Marvin). The window has a great view of the mountains and countryside so it's a nice preview to the larger windows in the living room.

After...

I found this old Victorian hall tree on one of my excursions into the 'big' city. I was originally looking for something a bit more informal but it was such a good price and such a fine example of great Victorian craftsmanship, that we decided to get it. It's also pretty cool that you can look into the hall tree mirror and see the view that's outside the window.

The entry is nice and sunny thanks to a large picture window.