Friday, April 9, 2010

The snowball effect

It happens during every project.  You think you will just, oh, refinish all your floors and all will be well.  Then when everything is moved out of the way, other ugliness is painfully obvious.  Like this eyesore of a closet:
It doesn't seem that bad in the pictures I've shared before...
But there was evil lurking underneath the pretty clothes and organization.  Boozy Suzie decided it would be a great idea to rip out the original wood closet and put in this awesomely clunky melamine closet system. In every room upstairs. Then she slapped some spackle on the scars left by the original structures and called it a day.  Boozie Suzie, if we ever meet, I swear....!  You can see in this picture how the original bar for the clothes rod went around the room at a 64-inch height.  It was poorly concealed after it was removed.  I started painting the closet to match our bedroom, but then realized I needed to sand the entire closet down:
I had always hated the ugly white color of our closet, but never realized just how bad the spackle situation was.  They never bothered to sand any of it, they just painted over it and called it a day.  Also, they decided to put these ridiculous melamine pieces with huge plastic hooks on them on the short walls between the closet and the doorways.  I'VE HATED THEM the entire time we've lived here.  They belong in a non-stylish kids room. 
Of course, this was underneath those strategically-placed pieces:
Wheeee!  That was fun to take care of.  There also was some sort of hardware attached to the ceiling above the built-in dresser, and this is how they handled that little problem:
Winner winner, chicken dinner!  They also never repaired the baseboard that had been notched out, so that's on our plate, too:
Aren't the baseboards looking so fresh and clean?  I really can't blame the previous owners, though.  We messed these up a lot during the floor refinish.  But they don't look like that anymore!  So, what was the plan for this closet?  Well, I shall tell you:
Paint ceiling, all trim and built-in dresser
Paint walls to match our bedroom (Behr Aqua Smoke)
New hardware for the dresser
New light fixture to replace the totally boring hallway light
New plush rug
New hooks to replace the silly plastic ones
New configuration for the shelves (which we have more of), also spray-painting the yellowed ones
A new look for the clothes rods, which were covered in that awful plastic sheathing that people put on wood dowels:
And here's a teaser of what's coming up next week!
Have a great weekend!

14 comments:

  1. Ooh, I like the snippet! Can't wait to see what you end up with.

    Your renovations and ideas totally inspire me, hopefully I can fix the ugliness in my house too, eventually!

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  2. I can't wait to see the after! I thought it looked pretty good before but I guess what I really noticed was all the pretty clothes. Seriously, why go through all the trouble of spackling and not sand it?! Sheesh!

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  3. Looking better already. I totally wish I had some storage like that though.

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  4. OMG! I love it!! I wish we had a cool closet like that. Instead we have a super small, can only fit one person's clothes in it, closet in our room. The other bedroom on the mainfloor doesn't even have a rod and the floor is about waist high (basement stairwell below). Can't wait to see the finished product.

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  5. Um, I think you need to rename it "the avalance effect" because you seem to take sooo much on so quickly! Seriously though, I'm impressed!!

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  6. HAHAHA! Every closet in my house was painted a god awful bold color! Upstairs was pea green and purple. Down stairs was the same pea green and peach! Holes everywhere, molding missing. I feel your pain! Glad you were able to save her!

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  7. I think Boozy Suzie patched the holes in my closet as well. I feel your pain.

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  8. I just love your "boozie suzie" references. Hilarious!

    Our home renovations could NOT be going ANY slower. My hubby keeps taking on painting jobs at OtHeR people's houses, so things around here aren't progressing very quickly because I definitely don't feel comfortable doing it on my own. We'll get there eventually :)

    Good luck with the closet!

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  9. I was so jealous when I saw the initial closet before you started reworking it - seeing the last image I know I will be green with envy - glowing with it but I'm so excited to see the finished product. You and your hubby ROCK!

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  10. Boozie Suzie, if I ever me you I'M going to have a few words with you...

    (Love your sense of humor, Sara!)

    Kelly

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  11. Hooray for closet makeovers! Looking forward to your reveal... mine should be up in the next couple of days as well (FINALLY!)

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  12. your the queen of closets....its going to be pretty!

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  13. When you're done making over your closet, can you come make over mine?

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Thanks so much for reading....your comments mean a lot to me!
Sara