Adding A Closet In An Open Space

Our house was built in 1965 and has a very traditional layout. From the front door you enter into a "living room" or formal sitting area. This was one of the things that I didn't love about the house. What exactly do you do with a "living room?" In most homes it becomes unused space. I've worked hard to keep this area casual and hope that we'll continue to use it as much as we use the family room. We even refer to it as the "front room." It currently has a TV and a Wii, as well as a craft area and place for large toys like Hot Wheels tracks and marble towers. 

The front room has the main entrance to our house. I hope to change out the front door this spring and we have a replacement door sitting in the basement. I dislike the large glass cut-out in the current door. I hate that people standing on the front porch can see me. I prefer to know who is on the other side of the door via peephole and then decide if I want to open it. Having people looking through the door freaks me out and I've had a well-meaning neighbor scare me more than once. 

One major thing lacking from our entryway is a hall closet! It has been very inconvenient at Christmas and birthday parties to run guest's coats upstairs. So we decided to just add one. How awesome is that?!!  

The space "below" the stairs happened to the perfect depth for a closet. Plus it was set just outside of the walkway so it would always be unused space. As it was, we had toys and junk piled in the corner- too large to have empty but too small to fit furniture. 

Front room on move in day

D was lucky to have help on this addition so the installation went fairly quickly. I didn't take as many photos as I wanted to and totally missed the framing phase.

My Handyman working on the closet drywall.
Notice the kiddos are playing Mario Cart. 

The closet fits perfectly in the unused space and
does not block the doorway or walkway.

Right now the closet is functional and worked perfectly to hold coats at the recent Super Mario Birthday party. The trim is up and has a first coat of paint. The door is primed. We still need to add the permanent hardware, re-install the crown molding and finish the second coat of paint on the walls and trim. Long term goals are to add a long built in bench instead of the short one so it feels more complete.

Another recent project involved the hallway from the powder room area into the family room/kitchen/dining. This is the addition component of the house and the structure was previously the old garage. Most likely a cost saving decision, the owners kept the doorway frame in the original size. It worked just fine, but when you sat at the dining table you always felt as if the room was sectioned off from the rest of the house. It didn't have good flow. The house felt like it was in two portions. And the doorway was tight if you had your hands full, which made for nicked up drywall.

On move in day I took photos of every square inch of this house. I cannot believe I do not have a "before" photo to share. I guess I just wasn't anticipating doing anything with such a short hallway.    

If you look at the carpet area, you can see the amount that we removed. It doesn't seem like much but it makes a world of difference. This project took a while since that wall is load bearing which meant extra lumber support plus the usual drywall and paint work. We were happy to have extra hands on this one- thank you to our awesome family!

The door on the right is the powder room. We'll replace
the flat oak when we replace the floors. 

I think when we tackle the floors you'll never notice the doorway....and that's exactly what we want.