From Closet to Cottage

We've been working on countless projects around the house since my last post, but none are completely finished so we're holding off on sharing them. 

However, I'm thrilled to show you our latest project, which turned out to be perhaps my favorite so far! 

Since the first time we looked at this house I began loosing sleep at night planning the conversion of the closet under the stairs leading to our basement into a playhouse for the kids. A ridiculous habit of mine, I know. But I've come to accept it. In the days after Isaac was born I was unable to sleep for 72 hours in large part due to the excitement of planning his first birthday party. 

We decided to tackle the project for the kids' Christmas gift this year. Andrew gets the week after Christmas off which corresponds nicely with our decision to have the kids wait until Epiphany to open gifts. Our hope is that it will help them better reserve Christmas Day for celebrating the birth of Jesus and better understand that the gifts we give are symbolic of gifts presented by the Magi. 

So while Andrew built and painted a half door and trim for a window, 

I focused on transforming the blank walls of the closet into a storybook cottage. With more than a little trepidation before each painting step...I haven't had an art class since elementary school!

Thanks to some quick YouTube training sessions, I managed to sponge-paint patches of exposed bricks, rag texture around the bricks to simulate plaster, and brush a window on one wall and a thatched roof overhead.

Since the closet had no light or outlets, Andrew installed an LED "under-the-cabinet" style light on the ceiling and fed the cord through the wall to the walk-in closet on the adjacent wall.


It still impresses me that cutting the plug off the wire, feeding it through the wall, and soldering it back together was such a simple task for him. And I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such a handy husband who will forgo extra skiing and watching sports on his week off to help with my pet projects.

A few final installations and some finishing touches like the curtains I retrofitted from the ones that hung in our kitchen in Brooktondale and the cottage transformation is complete!

 

I'm gitty that it turned out even better than I imagined. Rarely the case for this perfectionist. Isaac absolutely loves it. And Ali, well, honestly she doesn't really give a rip right now. But someday soon she'll love it, too. 


Now I'm really looking forward to getting the old wooden kitchen set I used to play with from my parents to make it a properly furnished cottage!