Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Little Changes make a Big Difference

We're making a few changes around the house. Not big changes, but they are making a big difference.

First, we are removing the door to nowhere. Our house was built as a two bedroom. Later an addition was added to make it 3 bedroom plus an office. This was accomplished by splitting one of the bedrooms into the office and a hallway. But they left the doorway to the "bedroom" there, effectively leaving a door in the middle of a hallway. So we finally decided to take the doorway out.

I got things started by tearing out the doorframe and some of the drywall. Jason took out the rest of the framing. It was a team effort to get the lightswitch moved over and the three-way switches rewired. And then the rest has pretty much been up to Jason - taking out the paneling, putting in some replacement drywall where the door was, and mudding in the holes. It's still a work in progress - here's a half-way through picture:


The other difference is that I found a kitchen cabinet to help with the shortage of storage and counter space. I sold my trumpet a few weeks ago and used the proceeds to purchase this estate sale find.

It's in the style of a "Hoosier cabinet" with a bread box and flour bin. The table top slides in and out for additional space. I had never heard of a Hoosier cabinet before, so here's where you can get more info about them.

"Loaded with labor and time-saving conveniences, the Hoosier cabinet was among the earliest design innovations of the modern American kitchen. This culinary workstation allowed owners to maintain an efficient and clutter-free kitchen by centralizing utensils, cookware, tools, and ingredients all the while providing a space in which to prepare the meals of the day." - IU Press

Anyway, I'm really excited. There's a lot of room inside to store things, so I'm trying to plan where I'm going to move things around in the kitchen to be more efficient. Hurray!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your cabinet! It makes your kitchen seem more complete. And its gorgeous. Good explanation of the "Door to Nowhere". -Eleanor

Anonymous said...

I love the cabinet! My sister in law got this same type of cabinet from my mother in law and you're right that it makes a lot of sense. Congrats on the solution to the lack of storage problem :)!

Anonymous said...

Ooops - anonymous May 25 at 7:26 pm was Jenn Chester