Earlier this week I showed you the nook progress and plans. Now I'm back with the plans for the built-in storage spaces we're incorporating.
Before we demo'd anything, the space underneath the stairs was a large closet. It had a door across from the nook and went under the stairs to a little space only about 2' tall.
In the first part of the closet it was great, Mike used it for his fermenting beer, (which needs to be maintained at constant temperatures and away from light), and we had all of our winter coats and boots there. The space that got smaller as the steps came down was used for seasonal storage, (our tree was shoved way in the back), and a hodge podge of other things we were storing. Honestly I couldn't tell you what was in there. The amount of space was great, but the usage wasn't. If we wanted something in the back we would have to take everything out to get to it. That's why one of the important projects during this basement renovation was to tackle this storage space.
We came up with a plan to separate the space into two spaces. One would be a coat closet, (that would have room for fermenting beer, because that's what all coat closets should double as - at least in our house), and the other would be general storage that would have access in the main room through little doors.
To start this project Mike needed to demo everything to see how everything needed to be framed. During the demoing of the closet he noticed that the stairs were built a little weird. As in they didn't use stringers. They built little framed out boxes for each step. So, of course, instead of dealing with that headache, Mike just tore them all up. Then put a ladder in the middle. As if that would make everything better for the time being.
I told you it was an obstacle course just to do my laundry. I'm surprised I even made it down to take these pictures. I'm not afraid of heights, (I helped roof our garage for goodness sakes), but put me on a ladder and I literally start shaking.
The steps that came out were like the steps you can see from the wonky steps, (that's what we call the diagonal ones at the bottom).
After the stairs were out, Mike started framing. He began by tearing out the old door frame and moving it so that it was centered. About 6"-8" to the right. It was also made bigger, since the door was not a standard size anyways, we figured we had the space, so we might as well go big.
He then framed out the wall between the two spaces.
To show you how each space is going to look I shaded each space a different color.
Since we're going to have multiple doors on this wall, I've decided to add paneling to camouflage them a little. Here's a few examples of paneling under stairs that I've pinned:
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The second photo doesn't have storage, but it's more of the style of paneling I'm looking at. Since the stair wall is so disjointed, it may make more since to panel the entire wall, including the wall behind the stairs. We'll see how Mike likes the idea and how it looks once walls are put on.
We have to finalize our plans for the flooring so that the stairs can match, or we're also talking about painting them to compliment the flooring in some way. Once we've done that Mike can finish the stairs and move on the plumbing replacement.
Next up we'll look at the bathroom demo progress and I'll get a mood board together for the plans for the family room.
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