When space is at a premium, rooms should only contain what's essential for look and function. That means making every attempt to get rid of furniture and other items that clutter a room. For me, that meant getting rid of a door leading to nowhere.
In my last post, I removed an old door and casing from a closet that was transformed into a fridge nook in the neighboring kitchen. Generally, I would never remove a closet from a bedroom. Luckily, this one had two, and it gave the opportunity to add a lot of space in the kitchen. Now that the old door casing is gone, it's time to make that spot look like just any old wall. That's right: this is a case of "now you see it, now you don't."
Step one is to put in some soundproofing/insulation (blocking out the refrigerator noise on the other side of the wall). Then it's time to put in some 2x4's in order to hang the drywall. I used a miter saw to cut the stud.
In my last post, I removed an old door and casing from a closet that was transformed into a fridge nook in the neighboring kitchen. Generally, I would never remove a closet from a bedroom. Luckily, this one had two, and it gave the opportunity to add a lot of space in the kitchen. Now that the old door casing is gone, it's time to make that spot look like just any old wall. That's right: this is a case of "now you see it, now you don't."
Step one is to put in some soundproofing/insulation (blocking out the refrigerator noise on the other side of the wall). Then it's time to put in some 2x4's in order to hang the drywall. I used a miter saw to cut the stud.
Hanging the drywall was pretty easy because, after all, we're only dealing with rectangles here. One small issue: the width from the stud to the outside of the wall. Like many old houses, our walls are made of horsehair plaster. Today, this is obviously no longer used. In addition, I have not been able to find drywall that matches the width of our walls. The solution? Add 1/4 wood strips over the existing wall studs to bridge the gap. This is a trick I've used on a number of projects.
With the drywall up, it's time for plaster. The process: plaster, sand; plaster, sand; and plaster, sand. The third time is the charm. One thing to note: add more mud (width and thickness) than you think you need.
By now you can see we're shifting from red to yellow. I'm still wondering what it was the drove us to pick this terrible color red, but that a topic for another blog. Repainting is a good time to review the walls for imperfections and fill them with plaster.
By now you can see we're shifting from red to yellow. I'm still wondering what it was the drove us to pick this terrible color red, but that a topic for another blog. Repainting is a good time to review the walls for imperfections and fill them with plaster.
And now the old door is gone! (Admittedly, you can see it a little bit in this image, but that's only because I didn't prime!).
Here's the before on the same spot:
Here's the before on the same spot:
