As if we didn’t already have enough going on, in the middle of one of the worst snow storms to hit Halifax this winter, we invited I Love Renovations over for a week long project – our Master Closet!
Yes – literally one month after we shared our Framed Fabric Shoe Organizer, we were ripping out those walls.
For real. Seriously, sometimes it feels like we move really fast with projects. But this one came together so perfectly.
As we were tackling the overall design concept for the space, it dawned on us that it was ‘now or never’ if we were going to really get the most out of it – and so we chose now.
What did we want? Better use of space, a more open feel and the ability to make the master bedroom function like more of a suite.
The team from I Love Renovations was fantastic. They enclosed the redundant and dust-magnet-y, hallway bookcase and incorporated it into the master closet. It involved electrical and mostly drywall and they ended up entirely replacing the floors in the closet. (You’d never know, they matched them perfectly!) But, by moving that wall, we got three more feet of closet space in the master bedroom and a much more open feel.
In the room, they moved the closet door to the centre of the wall, which does two things. It gives us a standard size 4-foot opening so we can add normal sized doors if and when we choose, AND it gives us some more wall space on the far end of the room, which makes furniture placement SO. MUCH. EASIER.
Before, we only had 8 1/2″ from the wall to the door opening and it made it nearly impossible to use a decent bedside table. (Which is why for the last YEAR, I’ve been using a rickety rolling cart that I roll up when I need it and roll away when I don’t. It’s time I lived like an adult, people). Remember how everything in this room was off-centre? Ya. My eyes bleed less now. 🙂
This was really step one in what will be a multi-step process. We’re still assessing the new space and considering how it will best function. There are so many possibilities!
Here’s what it looks like now. We moved our storage towers back in and slid my little dresser into the new alcove.
The thought is that the ‘alcove’ will become a little dressing area and we’ll have to think of something fun to do on the walls in there! Stencil maybe? 😉
Ultimately, we’ll add a real light fixture, a rug of sorts, some artwork and mirrors and a few other organizational elements. We also want to add shelving that runs along the entire top of the closet space for baskets and bins and what not. But it’s exciting right?!
Now, here’s the doozy. You might be (probably not, but might be) wondering why we suddenly tackled this relatively large job without warning you first. We tell you guys everything (okay, most things), we really do.
You thought we were going to do the big basement reno, right? Ya. Us too. We learned our grand plan was going to be 2X the cost and the work than what we originally thought. And there were just too many unknowns that could potentially cause the price tag to skyrocket. It made us reprioritize to focus on spending that money on things the house ‘needs’ versus things it would be ‘nice to have’.
Also, we do need to make sure that we’re adding resale value to the home – a blog studio would be AMAZING, but for resale? Closets, storage and bathrooms are king. So that’s where we’ll focus our efforts this year instead.
So, no sun drenched studio this year. Instead, a giant master closet and at least a couple of other seriously fun gut jobs. I think that’s a fair trade off. 🙂
AND – to add even more intrigue, as this renovation was taking place – Dan was persistent in trying to convince me that we should SWITCH ALL THE BEDROOMS AROUND. Like musical chairs, but with beds. Did you notice that it’s ALL my clothes in the new closet? Yep. All mine, baby.
Dan wants our Master bedroom to be the current guest room (which has a spectacular view of the water), the current Master bedroom to become my office and dressing space and the other spare room to be the guest room. Whoa.
It seems like a really great idea. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we try that out for a few months. Plus, having the large master as a blogging office and inspirational space would sort of make up for not having the downstairs renovation done.
Woo hoo! A HUGE thank you to the guys at I Love Renovations. They were awesome to work with!
Next week is also gonna be huge! It’ll be paint filled with a showcase of my new vanity and desk makeover AND our dining room reveal!
Hope you’ll come back to check it all out.
Chat soon,
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