Outbuildings: From Work House to Play House

Despite some rainy weather, Andy and I managed to get a little outdoor work accomplished on this three day weekend.  One of the things on our to-do/wish list since we moved in was making one of the outbuildings into a playhouse.  The "small" outbuilding is situated near our vegetable garden and the best area of lawn on the acreage.

Two summers ago, we built a sandbox and outdoor play area next to the outbuilding but never got around to cleaning out the inside of the building and repairing the roof.  With my sister and brother-in-law visiting this weekend, we decided to finally dive into this project.

Putting my city sister to work

The intermittent rain kept us from doing any roof work, but we were able to jump into the interior cleaning portion of the project- aka spider and mouse removal.

Walls piled with years of dust, dirty, bugs and animal poop

Rat's nest in loft

I don't have any pictures of the inside of the building when we first moved in because I refused to even peer inside but this is where we started on Saturday.

Andy had already done an initial clean out of a generation worth of rubble and randomness inside over the last three years.  We found a few "gems" to keep such as this box as well as some old stools and buckets.

The main task of this weekend's clean out was to purge, organize and make the inside safe for the kids.

Our little helper is super confident up and down the ladder to the loft

We took everything out and hammered down or pulled out all nails sticking out of the walls.  Like millions of rusty nails.  We also removed two tables that someone had probably used as planting tables at one point.

Andy tearing out one of the tables

Cleared out, the space is actually pretty large and would make a fantastic guest house if we were so inclined to run plumbing out to it.  Bed in loft, kitchenette and bathroom under with a little sitting area.  A project for another decade I think.  For now, we are using the loft space for seasonal storage and the floor space for a stage and theater area for the kiddos.  After lots of sweeping and vacuuming, the space is "clean" and safe.

Table which will later be a crafting area

Platform for stage area and pod swing.  Loft above holding winter tools and lawn chairs.

Andy used one of the old tables to create a little stage and as soon as we repair the roof, I will be putting up some curtains and maybe some paint to make a really fun theater for the kids to put on their shows (much to Andy's terror as live theater is his biggest fear).

Their first production- "Box Trolls" (F is in the box on the floor)

Another project that we tackled this weekend was organizing all the gardening and outdoor tools.  Previously, we have just stacked up shovels, racks, etc on one of the walls in the 3-way but this was not good enough for LEAN expert Andy.  Screwing a piece of wood into one of the framing pieces of the outbuilding, Andy cut notches and holes fitting each tool.

Taking it even further, he labeled the notch so we know where each tool goes.

Guess this is what you can expect when you keep an engineer around the house.

Containing the Craft Madness

I know at the end of my last post, I promised a wrap-up of F's closet makeover but, in keeping with how projects actually get wrapped up around here, I am bouncing around.  We are sticking around with the upstairs theme though which I started last week with the stenciling project I completed in F's closet and Andy continued with the quilt table build he completed.  Today, I am branching off of the quilt area to the computer table/craft area.  So here it goes...

We have been struggling with the layout and organization of our upstairs hallway space since we moved in. 

Upstairs layout

 One of the first things we did during the summer we moved in was enlarging the doorway going into the planned craft room and bring a full wall from the staircase into a half-wall. 

Original wall dividing stairs from bedroom hallway

Original hall leading to E's room

New half wall and painted floor

We also tore out a useless cave closet which was at the top of the stairs creating an open nook.  

Original wall layout with closet

New unfinished opening

Completed computer nook with larger doorway to quilt area (yes, all the trim still needs to be painted!)

These minor changes gave the space a ton of light and made it less like an old attic with bedrooms.  Over the last year, we set up an office space but other than that haven’t had the time to put more energy and thought into it.  It was the one constantly embarrassing space in the house- in a constant state of clutter and madness.   

This is often what the "quilt area" looked like... pure chaos

While tackling F’s closet, we decided we would tackle the spaces right outside his room and finally have an organized upstairs!  We had decided long ago to use the nook as a mini office (we mostly use the iPad downstairs so we don't need much space) and kiddo craft center and the larger room off the bathroom as my quilting area.

I found this photo a while back and used it as my inspiration for the craft center.  E has really gotten into crafting, so she got 2 IKEA bin systems and tons of crafting supplies for Christmas.  Andy set up the storage systems and I went to town organizing into categories.  

For smaller things like paintbrushes and crayons, I used old wipe containers for storage and taped labels on the outside.  

E has firm rules not to get into stuff without asking first and has been pretty good about following this rule.  Next to the craft center is an old IKEA computer stand.  

This was first purchased (probably 9 years ago) for my quilting table.  (Which is why I desperately needed Andy to build me a real one).  We pulled it out of storage and it fit perfectly in the space.  We are hoping to purchase a laptop in the future so when that happens, we plan to use the table as a crafting space instead of always using the kitchen table.

With crafting comes product- lots of product with no good place to put it.  I decided to use the hall from the craft area to E’s room as an art gallery.  

Hallway before

E got some fantastic art frames from Christmas which each hold up to 35 pictures so you can keep adding to the frames.  The system (called My Art Gallery) was originally set to be used vertically but I wanted the pictures to be at kid eye level so I used poster tape to stick the frames to the walls.  

I found some extra trim in my sewing supplies and nailed it to the wall above the frames.  

Using clothespins, we can hang the kids’ artwork that is more unusually shaped.  

E is super proud of her new art gallery.

Naughty girl supposed to be sleeping...

The adjoining space to the office/craft area is my quilt area.  Andy finished building my quilt table last week and I had the best time organizing everything.  My label maker was smoking after this little endeavor.

I started with storage that I already had from previous areas and worked from there.  All sewing supplies and adult craft supplies (like glitter, paints etc) are housed in IKEA paper storage boxes.  

I had Andy build in skinny shelves which are perfect for my cutting boards and rulers.  

The wall behind the sewing table houses a small bookcase, Rubbermaid drawer set and file cabinet.  

All office supplies like pens, computer paper and our permanent records are stored here.  To add a little pizzazz to the room, I hung four vintage pictures- three are old 30s-50s pin-up pictures which I collected about 15 years ago and the fourth pictures houses 4 postcards of fashions from the Victoria Albert Museum.

Our new spaces are fantastic and Andy and I marvel how clean and organized the space is every time we go upstairs.  A far cry from what we saw for the past year and a half.  We still have to find some lighting for the three ceiling fixtures in the space but as long as I can walk and not trip over piles of craft/office supplies, I am thrilled!

Closeted Organizationalists

No matter how well organized you are, any space that can be closed off to the world becomes, overtime a safe haven for junk and disorder. Other than the classic junk drawer in your house the bedroom closet has to be the number two offender. You have to store sweaters, shoes, coats, shirts, pants, and lots of other items that migrate in there over the years. Our bedroom closet was no different. Megs and I were both fed up with the rampant disorder the current layout created. Our “long” hanging items would bump into our first attempt to organize: a shoe rack, knocking them off whenever we simply tried to retrieve any single item, or looked at it cross-eyed. The other issue we were having were the bi-fold doors that took up so much space when open and could never really be closed because of the displaced shoe chaos on the floor.

The only before picture we could find- if you peek through the bed slates you can get an idea of what the closet looked like... NIGHTMARE!

Finally, one morning we had enough and Megs proclaimed… that’s the next project while pointing angrily like Patton observing the German lines. I was on board and happily went off to work. That night when I came home we had a great dinner but I could see Megs mind racing with the possibilities of a dream closet fully decked out by the Container Store. The tabs open on the iPad proved me right. Websites a plenty on closet design layouts and articles discussing maximum space efficiencies of small closets; she is a mad woman when she digs into a project. The next day I was greeted at the door with one of Megs all time used phrases… “Do you have time to discuss…” fill in the blanks, but for tonight’s discussion was to review her blueprint of the closet proposal.

Copyright Megan Peterson, closet design genius

Once the kids were down and she had my FULL attention, I was walked through a gold jacket style presentation, as if she were trying to sell me a Beverly Hills mansion circa 2010. “Yup, looks good” was my response and off I went with the sketch to figure out my cut sheet for materials. 2 – ½” sheets of birch plywood, 2 – 4x8 pine trim boards for the face frames, 1 – 4’ section of hangar rod, and a few hardware odds and ends and we would be all set. I look forward to new projects not just because I have a short attention span but because I get to drive our farm truck to the lumber yard and feel like a real country boy.

Saturday morning bright and early, I set up the saw horses outside the shop and got to rough cutting. Never underestimate the usefulness of a good circular saw, blade and a straight edge combo. One can cut damn near anything accurately with that set up, and it is much safer than trying to run a full sheet of plywood through a table saw not properly designed for it. 

Rough cut shelves

Once I had all my plywood rough cut I returned to the shop to cut everything to final size and mill the face frame. I decided for strength to cut dados into the two vertical walls of the center organizer to accept all the shelves, and as an added bonus it helps in glue up assembly when you have to deal with 7… no wait 8 shelves, read on.  While in the process of laying out all the dados needed I started doing some mental math and quickly realized Megs can’t add. Her sketch gave me an overall height dimension of 76” and then individual dimensions broken down for each shelf. Those two numbers which should add up did not, and enough so it made me laugh out loud. Ill give you a minute to go back to the actual sketch above and see the insanity for yourself. To be fair she is a music teacher and they only have to count to 4 pretty repeatedly, with a 6 and 8 thrown in there at random.

With the correct spacing now drawn, I was able to set up the table saw and cut all the dados in the vertical side walls. I also ripped a rabbet down the back side of the side walls to accept the back panel. 

Notice the table "extension" to the left so the panel would sag and bind

Vertical side walls, ready for assembly

The back panel of most cabinets, shelves, etc. are made from ¼” ply but I had some extra ½” I had on hand, so strength wise, this thing is now hurricane proof. Building furniture like a brick shit house is an attribute I am always proud of until I have to move or install it, and bust a proverbial nut. Glue, brads, and clamps in place, Shawshank Redemption  on pause, I headed in for the night.

The next day I cut and trimmed the face frame and set about moving the beast into the house in install. Meg’s and I reviewed her sketch, measured moved the unit back and forth in the closet until we (she) was happy. A couple of shims to level and the whole thing got screwed into the wall with some 2-½” cabinet screws. 

Meg’s original sketch had me building look alike shelve boxes off the main unit but they would have created more trouble for access than useful storage. I instead cut some mounting feet for the hangar bars and built shelves around them. This maximized the remaining space. I was also able to use the original shelves and support them with some pine trim runners I glued and screwed to the wall. Viola!

Megs was going to paint the whole think white, as per our usual built-ins, but we both like the natural wood look and plan to keep it. I think this winter would be a good time to fill all the holes and brush on some flat polyurethane just to give it a bit of protection. We are both extremely happy with how it turned out and it is now much easier to stay organized. Megs also introduced me to space saving hangers, which at first I scoffed at, but now secretly love. Stay tuned for more bedroom organization to come soon.

Ap