Making Room

It turns out that adding a baby to the family is good motivation to finish up a few last house projects. Since it's all starting to come together (just in time), I thought I'd show you the progress.

First, we added a dishwasher to the kitchen. One thing leads to another, of course. So that meant revamping some cupboards and replacing the counters and sink at the same time. And, while the counters were off, adding some slides to the sturdy but none-too-smooth old drawers.

All of this created a bunch of extra patching, priming, and painting to get things back to looking - well, not much different!

But the functionality is much improved. And, given how much we're already enjoying the convenience of the dishwasher, we know that life with a newborn will be considerably simpler without dishes constantly piling up in the sink.

The other big project on the list was to move Nick's office out of the extra bedroom upstairs so that we could turn it into a nursery. But where to put it? We had to get creative with our limited space, so we set our sights on this closet tucked under the stairs in the living room.

Destruction commenced. What with all the office stuff, the closet stuff, and the unshelved books, plus all the tools and sawdust, the living room quickly became a disaster zone. (I had to walk through with blinders on to avoid panicking about how the baby could easily surprise us with an early arrival any day.)

Here's the closet empty and ready for its transformation, complete with slightly giddy-looking carpenter. (He wasn't actually that cheerful about taking on this project, which turned out to be quite a lot of work.)

Soon, however, thanks to Nick's carpentry skills and creative design ideas, a new bookcase took shape - this one hinged on the right side and on casters on the left. The whole panel swings out, opening the full length of the closet.

With some major hole-patching and a fresh coat of paint, a new plywood floor, and a curved desk installed, it was almost time for move-in.

Ta da! Here's Nick hard at work in his new nook. Yes, you can call him Harry Potter if you like, now that he dwells beneath the staircase.

But just look at the magic he worked!

I'll get around to painting the bookshelf white at some point (post-pregnancy), but it's fine for now. The nursery is coming together, too, but I'm going to try to finish up a few more sewing projects before I show that off!