Closet Makeover

This is not the door to Narnia.

Rather, it is the small door to Madeline's larger-than-expected closet.  And for the past two weekends, Eric has spent more time in this thing than R Kelly.

Madeline's closet is the largest one in our house, but it was a little run down and is very awkwardly shaped, so it hasn't been used for anything other than a dumping ground for left-over baby items since we moved in.  Yes, I know we moved in over two years ago...let's not dwell on the past, shall we?

Due to my ineffective pregnancy brain, I forgot to take a picture when the closet was full of junk.
But, we pulled this pile of stuff out of it.

And this pile too.

 Oh, yes, and most of this pile.  (Except for the child.  She does not sleep in the closet.  Unless she's bad.  I kid!)

Needless to say, this walk-in closet was not very walk-in-able.

When we found out that we were having another girl,  Eric declared that he was going to redo the closet.  I told him that this was a brilliant idea.  Two weeks ago, we finally got around to doing just that.

However, the problem with having a pregnant wife is that while she's not very handy when it comes to helping during home improvement projects, she remains full of good ideas and harebrained schemes.  I think Eric envisioned slapping a fresh coat of paint on the space, putting in some organizers, and calling it done.  I agreed, but I also wanted beadboard and new flooring.

My biggest concern was the enormous cracks in our plaster walls.  One, I was worried the roof may be caving in.  Two, I was certain large spiders would crawl out of those cracks and drag us back in to feed their babies.  

Eric assured me that the roof was not caving in, and I believed him.  But just in case I didn't really believe him, I called in my step dad, Bob the Builder, to give us a professional opinion.

Bob confirmed that Eric was right, and he also convinced Eric that beadboard was a great idea.  In the end, we were both winners.

Therefore, Eric and Bob spent an entire Saturday afternoon affixing sheets of beadboard to the closet walls.

Meanwhile, Mimi, Madeline, and I played downstairs.

See how those nasty cracks are magically gone?!  Or at least covered up so that giant spiders don't come get us?

 Eric spent the following afternoon finishing the trim, patching up holes with wood putty, sanding and priming.

Priming took a very long time.

He had to wait until the following weekend to finish up.  Painting also took a very long time.

But when it was done, it looked pretty and shiny and new, and my toes curled in excitement when I saw it.

 The cracks are gone!

Eric spent the rest of the weekend finishing everything off.  He installed the organizers.  We opted to go for something that is easily adjustable to suit our ever-changing needs as the girls get older.

Finally, we chose new wood laminate flooring to replace the worn green carpet.  As it turns out, under that ugly green rug was even uglier laminate flooring from the 1950s.  It's probably filled with asbestos, so the new floor went right over that old one.  Surprisingly, the flooring was probably the quickest part of this whole project.

Ta-DA!

So much better than this:

And it looks even better with all the girls' clothes in it!

 I pulled the baby clothes we saved out of storage, and have started adding to the collection when I see good sales.  Eeep!  Adorable baby clothes once more!

I'm not finished putting everything back in the closet, but I'm getting close.  I love that we've got a place in the back for spare sheets, blankets, and anything else that we don't use on a daily basis.

Madeline likes to play in it.  She calls it her "hideout," or sometimes pretends it's a kitchen.  We're also getting her in the habit of putting away her clothes since she can reach the lower bar and shoe rack.  She actually asked for more laundry to put away the other afternoon.  Sure, Maddie Bear, have a BLAST!  We'll see how long that lasts.  

So, thank you, sweet husband for making my dreams of a functional, not-scary closet come true!  You spent a lot of hours in that closet, but it was so worth it!  

 Now, I'd really like to talk to you about crown moulding for the rest of the room...