The Window, the Seat, and the Wardrobes

Well, in the last post I lamented the fact that when company comes, or when I am in the mood to edit the decor in the rest of the house, all the stuff that's leftover gets stuffed into our master bedroom closet.
Our closet was not only a mess, but half of the items didn't belong in a clothes closet in the first place. Things like pictures, lamps, bamboo blinds, boxes, and etsy/eBay selling stuff.
So, I cleared out the closet, enlisted the help of our Korean son, Daniel, and my hubby when he unwittingly came home for lunch during the mêlée (confused tangle).

I at least knew that I wanted the window seat out (and investigated under)

and the shelving that was sitting on it, too.

What was encapsulated under this U-shaped coffin thingy has been a source of speculation

since we toured the house the first time.

Hurry up and get that lid off!!

I was jumping up and down excitedly!

And thar she blows...

Well, not QUITE what we expected.

Leftover insulation?

The front comes off.

This thing was held together so well, I think if the house were sucked up by a tornado,

this bench would have been found intact in the next state.

So glad I neatened the closet by moving everything in here!

When all the framing and insulation was removed and the floor was vacuumed,

this is what we found-- evidence that this closet USED to be the laundry room!

And instead of simply moving the venting to the laundry room outside wall,

a hole was made behind the dryer (the wall to the right in the picture below)

and extra tubing was vented out the original hole to the outside

(under the window). 

We were thinking that this is probably a fire hazard?

Lots of long tube for lint to get caught in?

This closet gained 14 square feet!!

Anyway, the same night that this area was unearthed, I bought two antique wardrobes from the same Craigslist seller.
We are ready to right size even more and contain our daily current seasonal clothes in these.
They were $25 each! (These are the Craigslist pictures.)
This is a Men's Lane Cedar Wardrobe from 1934. It will be my husband's.

One of my FaceBook gals told me something I never knew:

that the serial number is actually the date of manufacture.

Reverse the numbers and you get 022834

February 28, 1934.

Interesting, right?

I found this exact Lane's piece one on eBay HERE. (Ours has exterior mirrors while the one on eBay doesn't.)
This art deco wardrobe is going to be mine. It needs handles and a new platform base. But its details are quite lovely!

They need some cleaning, repair, and paint that's for sure, but my plan is to remove the rest of the shelving from the closet and have HIS and HERS wardrobes on either side wall.
This bench (iPhone picture, sorry!) will go under the window,  and maybe we'll have a plant on a plant stand in the corner.

Guess I know what I'll be doing the first part of the summer!

I love making over furniture and spaces by taking things that seem ready for the trash 

and making them useful and lovely again.

Why?

Because this is what Jesus' love has done for me.

Our Master Bedroom Closet :: It Needs Some Help

This is not a pretty post. It is a real life post. Be forewarned *wink. Today, I am attacking this disaster area that is called our master bedroom closet.  It's the last closet left to organize and I've been dreading it. It is not only a storage closet for decor and linens that I've yet to use,  it is storage for our clothes/shoes/off-season wear, AND the storage area for my selling-on-eBay/etsy/Amazon/Craigslist stuff. We've been here almost 10 months and I can't take it anymore! Neither can my poor hubby.

This closet was designed for the family before us, or the family before that, but there's honestly a lot of wasted space in here that can be used more wisely. We knew we'd eventually have to redesign this space when we bought the house and I was hoping to draw on y'all's insight, thoughts, and wisdom to transform it, cheaply.

And here it is. It's a nice size for an old Craftsman home: 7' by 7'. It was added on the back of the house in the 1950's, along with the master bath to the left of it,  and the laundry room to the right of it. 

We love the window and wood wainscoting, but the space could be better utilized. Take the window seat wall, for instance  (yes! There's a country blue carpeted window seat under the window! Yay.), the space under the window is wasted and I'm dying to see what's under the carpeted seat!!

Maybe a low dresser would work better under the window? 

My hubby would love to sit in here and put on his shoes, and I don't blame him. I'd like room for a hamper and a new light. Any light other than the icecream cone one we have now.

I'd actually love to rip out this shelving and put in some with doors so the stuff is concealed but it's not in the budget yet (besides we just installed a French drain and we're pooped from that project).

Notice the shelves above the shoes in the picture above?

They are drooping.

They are drooping because they are no longer attached to the ceiling.

I have another closet in which to store the linens.
(You'll see it in a few moments.)

Maybe a different rug that actually fit in here would be nice, too!

Here's the closet I'd like to turn into a linen closet. It's the original 3' wide by 2' deep closet near our bed. The rod holds long hanging clothes: dresses, pants, suits, and our winter jackets (which I'd eventually love to get out of here and into an armoire or wardrobe by our back door entrance).

(It was hard to get a good picture of this side of the room, sorry!)

I'm gonna empty the walk-in and re-assess. And measure and think. And simplify. Again.


I cherish any and all ideas! You guys come up with the most creative and pretty solutions! Help a girl (and an old closet) out?!?!

Nesting is Finding Bits and Pieces that Say "HOME"

We're starting to get settled in here, bit by bit, and piece by piece.

As I donate things that no longer work in this home, I am finding other things that do.

Oddly enough, none of the things in these pictures were in our last house,

though many other rooms have furnishings that are being used in this home.

I found these pillows at Marshall's. The round ones remind me of some green velvet ones 

that used to be on my Gram's couch. My sister and I may or may not have rolled them back and forth to each other on the floor when she wasn't paying attention.

I spied these lamps at a Thrift store for $5 a piece last month.

I have been waiting for a pair like this for 6 months, and had to go to North Carolina

on a weekend getaway with my hubby to find them!

The painting techniques specialist in our home, Miss S, 

transformed them from their '80s oak ugliness to an aged wood vintage finish.

The balls in the three-tired holder are from Pier 1.

The clock was a Christmas present from my hubby.

The iron cross, a $1 yard sale find.

Our view out the window behind the sofa.

Here's how it looks from the outside.

(Some changes to the front of the house are coming including the removal of the vinyl siding and new landscaping.)

In our "foyer" now hangs some hooks I also found at Pier 1.

There's no room for even a small armoire to hang coats or purses of those visiting,

so this was the solution for now.

So, this was just a short little post to show you what I've been up to: 

flying here and there finding bits and pieces that say "home".

What have you been finding lately as you nest, that says "home" to you?