Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Update on the upstairs closet - it's coming along; slowly...

We're still building the upstairs closet. Some progress has been made, but we seem to have stalled simply because it's nice enough to work outside. We have a significant amount of wood to put up for next winter and we're taking advantage of cool temperatures to do it in. But we did get the basics of the closet in place and Chris is working on fleshing out the rest of it whenever it rains.

So here are a few details so far - first, we decided to frame it in rather than building it as a stand alone piece of furniture (which is how we did the downstairs closet). This is a huge space - 11 and 1/2 feet long by 8 feet tall and a wardrobe that size is impractical to say the least.
Laying out and marking the 2x4 framing
The space is divided into four segments. Each segment consists of three levels - a top shelf for seasonal storage, a middle section for hanging clothes, and the bottom section will be comprised of 4 drawers.
Framing in place
We went with a fun color - Deep Purple in Arborcoat exterior stain - on red oak.
Applying stain
Chris carefully measured for the facing and cut the pieces down in the garage. Lots of walking up and down stairs to test fit as he made progress.

Careful...
He installed the facing and I painted the interior framing the same color as the walls. It blends well and will be barely noticeable once all the clothes are hung inside.

Purple facing, cream interiors
You can see the drawer stiles that he has in place for one section so far. He wanted to do some test fitting before making the other 12 drawers.
From the other angle
It's going to be a significant amount of storage space!