Doors, Windows, and Closets... Oh, My!

For the past two days, Rick and I (but mostly just Rick) have been busy installing the rest of the pre-hung doors.  On Thursday, Rick hung the three closet doors, and yesterday we put in the last two bigger doors which go to the main bathroom and the master bedroom.

We discovered a few more interesting facts about Gladys' construction. First, the door jambs that were used in 1960 were far superior to the jambs of today.  Both the wood and the construction of the jambs were great; unfortunately, we still believe they were covered in lead paint.  Out they went.  Secondly, when we removed the original bathroom door, we learned that our plans to gut that room will be more difficult than we could even imagine.  The walls are inch-thick plaster, and the pink and white tile that surrounds three sides of the room appears to have been put on with even more plaster.  We will need a jackhammer to demo that room when the time comes!  Thankfully, changing that room is not in the timeline or the budget for this year, and that is fine with both of us.

The newly hung coat closet door now matches
the guest room door.  Both, of course, need two
coats of paint and the hardware installed.

The closet doors went in with little hassle.  The main problem with them was just working in confined spaces.  The bathroom door took a little adjusting due to the thick walls, and the bedroom door caused the most problems since the plaster opening to the room was less than square or plumb.  All of the doors took more shims than we expected, but each now is swinging in its appropriate place.

An interior picture of the coat closet shows how
badly the dull tan walls needed to be freshened
with new white paint.

This morning started with Rick painting the upper part of the hall coat/ broom closet.  I told him that if he did the top part that I could not reach with the step stool (a ladder does not fit in the closet), that I would do the rest.  However, I ended up doing less than I had hoped to do.

I have felt pretty good for the last few weeks, having had only one "bad" day where my energy level and stamina were just not there.  Today turned out to be another one of those "bad" days.  My sense of balance is off, my stamina is short, and my energy is low.  I cut in the corners and trim on the lower part of the closet and eventually painted the baseboard that we left in, but I turned over the rolling of the walls to Rick.  I am totally frustrated that this happens to me and the burden of the work again falls on Rick's shoulders.  He keeps going from one job to the next, but I know that his arms ache and that he is exhausted by the end of the day also.

The last blind now makes the window treatments in the guest
room complete.  Yes, we still need a headboard and white
night stands, but they will come in time.

After the first coat of paint was drying in the closet, Rick took down the last old blind in the guest room.  We had gone to Lowe's on Friday to pick up the last new 2" blind, so Rick suggested that we take down the remaining old one and take them all to the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  After he had the blind down, he said, "Oh, what the heck.  I might as well put the new blind in."  Since we have had practice in doing so, installing the new blind only took him about 15 minutes.  We now have matching, new, clean blinds in all of the windows, and each room looks better for it.  The success is in the details, so having the valances and the uniform look helps to make each room look finished.

After the Restore, we stopped in the Woodcraft Store to buy the Festool saw that we will need to make accurate cuts both to the bedroom closet doors and to the utility sink cabinet when it comes in for the laundry room. We bought the saw, but they did not have the right size dust collection system, so that is on order for later next week.  That's OK since we will not be getting to the bedroom closet doors for some time yet.  We also still have to figure out how to restructure the insides of those closets; the Festool saw will come in handy to cut shelves later on, too.

Once we returned home, Rick tackled the coat closet again with a second coat of paint.  This time the walls did not suck the brush dry, so the second coat went on easier than the first.  The closets all needed to be done, so even though we really don't want to take the time to paint them now, having a semi-gloss, clean finish in them all is refreshing.

We are excited about the changes to the interior of Gladys.  Although most of the changes are cosmetic (new doors and fresh paint), the restructuring of our storage space excites me.  I have always been super organized, and I do not feel we have taken the time to be as organized as I like in this home. Now we will build more storage in both the bedroom closets and in the new cabinets when they come in for the laundry room.   We have tried not to accumulate too much in Gladys, keeping her fairly plain and simple, but any homeowner knows that one can never have too much organization or storage.