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Closet Makeover Part 1

AKA: Why There are Paint Splatters in my Hair and Caulk in my Cuticles
closet makeoverI’ve been meaning to do something with this closet for a long time.
I mean, let’s face it.  The 100-year-old plaster had seen better days.
The other day, I sorted little boy clothes and came up with 6 garbage bags full of 18 mos – 3T clothes to pass down to a cousin. And with the closet partially cleaned out, I decided it was time to tackle the project.
Luckily, a friend decided to surprise me by bringing over dessert, and I roped her in to helping.  We set up a workshop in the kitchen where we cut scraps of paneling to size with my jigsaw .
The paneling was leftover from our entryway makeover. I have no doubt that this project would have been 40 times easier (because it would have require about 40 fewer cuts) if we’d started with full sheets of paneling, but then it wouldn’t have been FREE!

These pictures give you a good idea of what we started with. I know all of you with new construction (or even less than 100 year old construction) are totally jealous of us old house owners right now.

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The closet measured roughly 34 deep by 57 wide, which is actually a pretty good size for a 1908 farmhouse. In a matter of a couple hours, we covered the walls with paneling, using a finish nailer to nail straight through the plaster and into the lathe behind it.IMG_2259
Then, we used 1x2’s to trim out the corners, again nailing them in with the finish nailer (and my handy dandy portable air compressor .)
One of the challenges was that none of the corners were square, or the walls even straight.  The northeast corner was 34 1/2 inches from the mid-board to the top, and the northwest corner was 35 1/2! We did a lot of measuring and a lot of re-cutting to get everything to fit.
not square corners
It looked pretty rough at one point and my husband was skeptical (which is his general reaction to my projects.) But after trim, caulk , and paint, you barely notice the seams.
caulk and trim
It’s always nice to have help with these types of projects, too.
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Next up – DIY shelves!
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I have more painting to do as I install the shelves, and then I will finish caulking the seams, but it’s already a LOT better, don’t you think?
Crumbling plaster
(Now, if I could just get the paint splatters out of my hair and the caulk out of my fingernail cuticles…the price we pay for DIY!)

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