Reinvented Space

I have one hallway in my house. Many a builder will tell you that hallways are wasted space. Being in a small house means every square foot needs to work for me. I can’t have spaces that are only decorative. I need it to be functional also.

So I have this hallway that was clearly not functioning at its’ best potential. It was more of an eyesore. It was becoming…the catch all spot. It was a wonderful place to house books. But then it started to accumulate CD’s, a rack of DVD’s and VHS movies (yes, we still have some), Rowan’s “school” stuff, a small ice chest, a wooden duck, and a whole dresser because I had to make room for the treadmill.

I hated that spot. Couldn’t stand to look at it. I was happy that it was so dark when the light was turned out. It was the cave of despair.

One morning I walked out of the bedroom, oh about a week ago, and the light bulb over my head went off. This was a grand idea. Seeing as I hadn’t had any coffee yet, but having such a flash of creativeness, it had to work! And since the makeover shows on HGTV only take 30 minutes, this would be what…an hour…tops.

First, I cleaned out the entire hallway. Most of the stuff is stacked in my living room. The dresser has made it to Rowan’s bathroom. She’s small. She doesn’t need much space for walking. I’ll have to go through all the books and movies and decide which ones need to be sold at Half Price Books.

After a lovely trip to Lowe’s I started my plan. I painted the entire hallway. I wanted a desk area. I measured a real desk to get the right height. I screwed 2x4’s into the studs on the wall. I painted those the same as the wall color to get a uniform look. I cut a nice piece of wood for the top and screwed it onto the 2x4’s. I had my lovely magician’s assistant/princess model for me. I’m going to sand, stain, and gloss the desk top. It’s only 16 inches wide but will be surprisingly useful. I can use my sewing machine, keyboard, write on the computer, or do crafting things. That’s what I call “Work it baby.”

Next, I took the old bookcase, which has seen many better days, and disassembled(?) it. The shelves are all real wood and I thought it would be a shame not to reuse them. I found the studs and attached brackets and put up three of the old shelves. I’m still in the process of painting them to match everything else. These shelves will be used for all crafting and creative thinking supplies.

Today, I put up three more shelves. These will be used to hold the remaining books and movies we keep. The shelves go over the doorways on the three remaining walls. I was using some boards from the old bookcase but I thought they were too wide. I ended up finding some 8 inch wide pieces of wood out back which I think looks nicer. I still have to clean, sand, and paint these to match.

I still have enough brackets to put up three more shelves if we need them. I really wanted to get these pictures up. I’ll post the finished look…well, when I’m finished. I’m off to go sand now.