Friday, July 18, 2008

Do-it-yourself closet

Despite my growing list of various completed home improvement and home maintenance projects, I don't actually consider myself a true do-it-yourself person.  I admit that if I had more cash laying around (or any for that matter), I would gladly pay someone to do these projects for me.  But alas, this is not the case and I am forced to become more and more handy as father time creeps along at a blistering pace.
 
My latest project is squaring off a corner of the "den" and making it into a new closet.  This is a portion of the room that is sort-of stuck off to the side and a closet logically, and aesthetically should fit.  The previous owners had a hideous indoor wood-burning stove perched in this corner atop a platform of bricks.  The bricks were obnoxiously mortared to the concrete slab and proved to be a battle to remove.  Fortunately, after about 3 hours of sweat, dust, and some blood, my new sledge hammer and I won the battle.  This is where I am today.
 
Busting out bricks was mentally easy as very little logic or skill came into play.  The next step, however, requires skills that I certainly do not yet possess.  In the past I have been able to triumph over various skillset shortcoming by taking advantage of Google and proceeding at a very slow pace (measure four times, cut once).  This time I am a bit concerned that true, acquired skill could be a prerequisite for success. 
 
I will be screwing into concrete, toenailing 2x4's, and hanging drywall to name a few of the forthcoming obstacles.  Not to mention framing and hanging a new door, patching the existing flooring, and potentially some wiring work.
 
Whether or not I win or lose, it should prove to be an interesting project.  I plan to post some pictures as I go along so that anyone choosing to read about this can criticize my work.

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