From the Window, To the Wall

Last weekend I finally worked up the courage to install the medicine cabinet that's been sitting on top of the dryer for about a year. I was so excited to score it for $25 at Second Look Consignment – less excited about cutting a big hole in the drywall to install it. I could have mounted it on the wall, but a mirror jutting out 4 inches from the wall felt like an invasion of the little space we have. I put it off for a long time for fear of what lies beyond the wall (GoT, anyone?). There could be any number of things: pipes, wires, electrical boxes, or wall studs to name a few. I finally faced the uncertainty last week, and it turns out reality is stranger than fiction. 

I discovered a secret window. Apparently when the extension on our house was built, no one bothered to remove the original window…or the blinds... or the Christmas bow from 1949 (actual year unknown). I was sawing away at the drywall and discovered it while Eli watched World War Z on surround sound downstairs – so I was pretty sure I'd just unearthed a portal for the undead. My only defense was the saw in my hand, but it's been a week and I still have a heartbeat, so I think we're in the clear. Any zombie-like resemblance or behavior can be blamed on a lack of sleep and dehydration ; ]

For about a second I considered opening the adjoining wall in the bedroom so we'd have a window and natural light in the bathroom, but then I regained my sanity. Clearly no good could come from a drive-thru window to the loo. If only I'd found something more useful – like a wall of gold bars or a suitcase full o' cash! The last person who lived in this house grew up in the Great Depression, so there's still hope.

According to a This Old House tutorial I read, installing a medicine cabinet should be a pretty straightforward process. In my case it was what I like to call "an opportunity for creativity." The window wasn't going anywhere easily, and its rock-solid frame was butting into the space we needed for the cabinet. Let's say it together, "Bummerrrr."

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. Let's go back to the beginning, so I can show you the whole process from soup to nuts. Rest assured, this story has a happy ending.

I started by measuring the back of the cabinet, which would need to slide into the wall ( 12" x 16" x 4" ), and then I used a measuring tape and laser level to mark the position so it was centered over the faucet. I had Eli hold the cabinet up to the wall so we could determine a height that worked for both of us. It turns out our happy place is about 11 inches between the bottom of the mirror and the countertop.

Once we had our placement drawn on the wall with a pencil, I used a studfinder to mark wall studs in the vicinity. This is the point at which I rejoiced because – YAY – the studs were perfectly centered around the faucet! I should be able to slide the cabinet in between them easy peasy. Ha ha, joke was on me. You know what they say: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. See my reflection in the hole below? Let's call that foreshadowing.

I used a jabsaw to carefully cut a 4" x 4" hole within my mark to do some reconnaissance. This Old House recommends driving a long screw thru the drywall to use as a handle for pulling it out once it's cut, which I thought was pretty clever idea. I did my best not to jab beyond the drywall (since I didn't know what was back there), and then I used a flashlight to look for pipes, wires or electrical boxes. Finding none of those things, I cut over to my actual mark and made my way around the larger rectangle. Clearly visible was the glint of glass, but I was too intrigued to turn back now!

This is where things got hairy. While I was busy laughing about the window (or zombie portal...?), the lil Christmas bow, and how lucky we got with the studs, Eli was keenly noticing the issue with the window frame. Typically, studs are 2" wide and 4" deep, so it makes sense that medicine cabinets are 4" deep to take full advantage of that space in the wall. In our case, the stud on the left was rotated because the window frame was all up in its grill, making the stud only 2 inches deep. Including the drywall, we had about 2.5 inches of usable space for our 4-inch deep medicine cabinet. Ughhhh.

We had a few options. We could have slid the whole mirror to the right of the window frame, but that would make our mirror off-center and we'd have to cut the stud on the right. We also could have stuffed our valuables into the wall, re-attached the original mirror, and pretended like nothing ever happened ("What hole in the wall? ... Oh you mean our safe!") I didn't like either of those options, so I decided to build a new wooden frame around the outside of the hole that would make up the 1.5 inches we lost.

But first, I had to add 2 x 4s at the top and bottom of the space to support the cabinet. I cut them down to size and secured each piece one at a time. I lined it up to be flush with the opening and drove 1.5 inch drywall screws thru the wall and into the wood. Then I pre-drilled a hole going through the new wood and the original stud at a 45-degree angle and followed up with 2.5" decking screws. I secured each block to the left & right wall studs, so those suckers are SECURE. 

In a perfect scenario, we could have slid the cabinet in at this point, driven a few screws through the sides and called it a day. Alas, the window necessitated a few extra steps before any days could be called. Next up: building the outer frame. The edges would be visible when the cabinet was open (or by looking at it from the toilet...but why?), so I went with select pine board with nicely finished sides...none of that knotty bizness. I picked up a 6 foot piece of 1" x 2" select pine board (measures 0.75 in x 1.75 in) and cut it into 4 pieces to make up the frame. We used a triangle and 1" screws to fasten the sides together at right angles. 

Next we had to attach the frame to the wall. We lined it up with the hole and checked to see that it was level before we pre-drilled thru the frame, thru the drywall and into the studs. The drill started making awful screaching sounds, which we learned is the sound of wood rubbing against wood. To make it stop, we had to pull the drill out every so often and clear the bit of wood before going in for more. We used a countersinking drill bit so that our screws wouldn't stick out on the face of the frame. Each time we drilled a hole we came back with a 3" wood screw, and continued like this every 4 inches or so around the perimeter (the photo above is before we had all our screws in). Then I used wood filler to cover up the screws. Below you can see the difference between a basic pre-drilled hole and a countersunk hole.

While the wood filler was drying, I applied a waterproof, paintable, silicon caulk along all the seams. When caulking, I lay down a thin line of the stuff and then drag my finger down the edge to smooth it out. I let everything dry overnight and then applied two coats of paint the next day to match the walls. In a previous post (or two??) I said the color in the bathroom was Drizzle by Sherwin Williams. That's wrong. It's actually Sparkling Spring by Behr (730E-2) – my bad! 

After the paint dried, the frame looked like an extension of the wall. Obviously the mirror wouldn't be flush like I'd hoped, but a 1.75" bump-out is much more palatable than a 4"  bump-out (had we just mounted it on the wall).

We removed the mirror to make it easier to install the cabinet and then used four 1.5" screws & four 3/4" screws to secure it in place. Why the different lengths? I'm glad you asked. The holes closest to the back lead to wall studs and the holes in the front lead to the new wooden frame. I used longer screws in the back for extra security and shorter screws up front so they wouldn't poke through the outside of the frame. Once the screws were in, I gave it a few hard yanks to make sure it wasn't going anywhere, and then reattached the mirror. Tada! ... Almost ...

There was still one minor detail: shelves. I didn’t notice they were missing until very far along in the process – not that I would have cared since I got the cabinet for such a steal. Luckily the nubbins for holding shelves were still there, so I just had to make something to rest on them. I decided on glass, cuz I was feelin' classy & dangerous. 

I picked up a piece of replacement glass & a 3-piece glass-cutting kit from the hardware store. I measured the distance between the shelf-holders on the left & right, and the distance from the back of the cabinet to the front. Then I followed another This Old House tutorial to make the cuts. In short, you mark your cut, tape down a straight edge along your mark, and use your cutting tool to score the glass in one fell swoop. Then you tap the back of the glass behind the line you scored until you hear it *crack* and then slide it over to the edge and *snap* it. If you want to try it out I fully recommend watching the TOH tutorial for further deets and safety precautions (like wearing gloves on both hands the whole time...tsk tsk). 

The glass shelves are now in and lookin' sharp (literally and figuratively). Eli has voiced apprehension about his big paws getting sliced, so we'll see how long they last. I haven't had an issue, but it's a valid concern that I think can be addressed by adding a thick line of clear caulk to the edges – to be continued. It feels great to get the toothbrushes and toothpaste off the counter, and my contact case and floss have happily relocated from the metal bowl over the toilet. The "after" shot below was my debut in Real People, Fake Arms. At least now I know I've got a fall-back career modeling for mannequin arm makers. 

At the outset, I guessed this project would take less than 2 hours. HA! That was a gross underestimation. The window really threw me off, and it wasn't until the end that I realized the shelves were missing, so I had to make a few surprise trips to the hardware store. We had the cabinet duct taped up for about a week (as seen on instagram), but I'd estimate the actual project time was more like 6 hours (drying wood filler and paint included). That said, the whole project cost less than $50 and the bathroom definitely looks & works better – so it was totally worth it! Hopefully I didn't scare you out of installing one of your own. Plus, who knows? Maybe you'll find a fortune in your walls instead of a stinkin' Christmas bow.

There are just a few things left to do in the "master" bathroom now. I still need to pick out a new light fixture & a paint color for the vanity, and I want to swap the door swinging into the room for a sliding barn door. Upgrading the mirror and getting stuff off our small counter sure feels good, though!

I hope you all have a fab holiday weekend!  Is anyone tackling a project they've put off for too long? I'm hoping we can stain our deck and get some pool time before summer abandons us. 

How We Optimize Closet Space in This Little House

It's August and lots of folks are moving, so I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite tips for maximizing storage and keeping closets organized. That's where the real magic happens in small houses. Closet space is a big deal, and when you don’t have an attic, basement, garage, shed, linen or coat closet, you've got to really utilize what you do have.

Despite all our house’s storage shortcomings, our master bedroom picks up a lot of slack with TWO good-sized closets. When I say “good-sized” I mean we can step inside, close the door, and still breath. A first for me! Some may call these “walk-ins”, but RubberMaid’s closet design tool informed me that our dimensions don’t technically qualify for that much-sought-after distinction. Technical, shmechnical, though – I’m walkin’ in, I tell ya!

His & hers closets were never on our list of must-haves, but it’s a pretty awesome perk that we were spoiled with at our last place too. I’m sure there’s a study somewhere out there showing that separate closets make for happier couples. It just makes things easier!

Bringing the final count up to 3 is the closet in the guest room, where all the household misfits go to die. All three closets came with the default wooden shelf & rod that I’m sure you’ve encountered at some point. Trying to store our stuff in that setup was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. If this was the optimal storage setup, there wouldn’t be an entire industry dedicated to organizing your closet, ya heard?!

I ripped the wooden shelves out on day 1 (more on that process at the bottom of the post) and replaced them with ClosetMaid & RubberMaid systems. We passed on the add-ons like pull-out drawers and hampers, but we could always add them down the line if we needed to. Storage bins are doing the trick for now, and we have the flexibility to change it up and move stuff around as our storage needs change. 

Speaking of storage needs, each closet has a different configuration because they store different types of things. The first step to making your closet work better for you is to take account of everything you want to put in it. I start by separating everything into piles so I can get a better sense of what takes up the most space, what’s most abundant, & what modes of storage they each require (e.g. hangers, shelves, bins, hooks). Taking inventory allows me to allocate space efficiently. 

Here are the three set-ups we've got going on. None of them are going to be winning any beauty contests, but they're organized and efficient.

Closet 1: The Fashionista

80% hanging : 20% shelving

I can't believe Eli has so many clothes. SIKE! My closet betrays my clothing obsession. As a toddler I’d change my outfit 10 times a day, as an adult I’ve cut back to 3, but still – I wear a lot of clothes. Sure, I could probably scale my wardrobe down a tad, but why? This closet can handle it and stuff pops back into style when you least expect it (says the girl wearing a fanny pack and jellies).

The #1 best thing you can do if you’ve got a lot of clothes to hang is install a second rod. Since I have more tops ’n bottoms than anything else, I installed two rods on the longer wall and instantly doubled my space for hanging. I positioned the top rack about 10 inches higher than the original wooden one to allow room for storage on the bottom shelf. Very tall people (like the guy I live with) might want to push the shelf even higher to accommodate longer clothing. I can comfortably reach the clothes on the top shelf, but I keep a small folding stool next to the door for accessing the bins above it. If you’re renting and can’t go whole-hog on a closet system you could just get an adjustable shower rod to anchor in and then patch the holes when you move out. 

My #2 tip for organizing hanging clothes – at the risk of seeming anal retentive – is to sort by type (i.e. blouse, jacket, skirts, pants, dresses) and then by color. Color-cloding (a term I just made up for color-coding your clothing, obvi) is seriously a time-n-money-saver. I can quickly see all my options for red shirts, blue jackets or pink pants (I have no fewer than 3 pairs). My less-worn items aren't pushed back to Narnia never to be seen again, so it saves me money when I'm not accidentally buying something I already own. #firstworldproblems

Tip #3 is for those of us who live in an area that has these crazy things called “seasons.” DC is one of them, maybe your town is another. LA, I hate you – skip to #4. I switch my closet twice a year to save space and avoid looking at wool sweaters when it’s 95 degrees out (they're just depressing). The two long storage bins on the top shelf are amazingly spacious (hence the 6" overhang) and they house all my out-of-season clothes (save for coats, which live in a wardrobe downstairs). The other bins hold my winter shoes, swimsuits, handbags, scarves, leotards and wigs. You know…the usual. 

Tip #4: Save your back and get your shoes off the ground. Is anyone surprised that attempts to keep your shoes organized on the floor of your closets lasts about a day? Who wants to kneel down to meticulously place your shoes while taking 5 dresses to the face? I set this RubberMaid shoe shelf above my third clothing rod to keep the kicks I wear most within easy reach. There’s a second one below my dresses for the heels I’ve all but banned and a basket for wrangling unwieldy flip flops.

Tip #5 is the same one you've heard from me time and again: Use the walls! Remember when I showed you my bathroom and mentioned that I had to replace the towel racks immediately? Well, waste not, want not. Those puppies found new life as jewelry organizers on my closet wall. My necklaces no longer get tangled and I can grab some bling while I’m choosing an outfit. Efficiency! Trying to camouflage all those colors and styles in the bedroom never worked well for me anyway. Command hooks hold my fedora and whatever handbag I’m crushing on at the moment, (the cross-body strap on this one is folded and tucked into the purse so it hangs shorter). My yoga mat is straight chillin' on a simple screw above the door, and I still see walls, so there’s room to expand! ; ] 

Closet 2: The Gear Guy

50% hanging : 50% shelving

Eli has far less apparel than I do & way more “gear” of the camping and camera varieties. Different stuff calls for a different closet configuration! He carved out half for hanging and half for shelving. His closet looks more orderly than mine because he has fewer clothes, but even still, his clothes look neater because they're on matching hangers – that’s tip #6, folks! I like wooden hangers because they're clothes-friendly, but they do take up more real estate. Given the size of my wardrobe, I may need to invest in slim hangers for my own closet.

Eli's camping gear is contained in his pack above his shirts and all his luggage is nested like Russian dolls. His accessories are organized with specialty hangers and hooks on the back wall for really easy access, a carabiner holds his murse, and his out-of-season clothing is in the bins on the top right.

The remaining shelves are devoted to shoes and camera gear. Storage boxes help to keep wires, lenses, and mics manageable. The black bags go in and out pretty much every day, since he needs that stuff for work. Keeping them on the middle shelf minimizes the hassle of lugging them in and out.

Closet 3: Misfit-Landia (aka "The Guest Closet")

5% hanging : 95% shelving

Last and absolutely least: the guest room closet. To my future guests, don’t get your hopes up. This closet is fully ocupado for the time being. It holds all the guest bedding, towels, pillows, and air mattresses, the vacuums, the toolbox, leftover materials from past projects, as well as the sewing machine, spare curtain rods, Eli’s old guitar and sleeping pads. Whew. I imagine the nickname “misfit-landia” is starting to make sense to you... But don’t fear – someday (after we build a shed and storage daybed) this closet will look more like the photo on the left: clear, welcoming and ready for your weekender bag. It's all patched and painted for when that day comes. 

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How We Prepped for the Closet Systems

There was a bit of a learning curve to bust out the old shelf without putting dents and holes in the drywall, but third times a charm. If you’re stuck in an unhappy relationship with your wooden closet, this is the best way we’ve found to remove it and prep for a more modern system. This post is already jam-packed with pictures of closets, so I've consolidated the step-by-step photos in this gallery. Instructions are below!

Step 1: Unscrew and remove the wooden rod. Then take a box cutter and cut around the outline of the shelf and shelf support – every where wood meets drywall. 

Step 2: Use a hammer and some strong upward momentum to hit the bottom of the shelf. You want to direct the force along the edges close to the wall (without hitting the wall, of course). It will likely take multiple swings, but eventually you’ll dislodge the nails securing the shelf. Once you do, carefully remove the shelf and any nails still laying around. 

Step 3: Pry the wooden support off the wall. This is where we ran into issues with putting dents & holes in the drywall. But never again! For the guest closet we used a crowbar, a scrap of wood and a hammer. Tucking the crowbar into the crease between the wood and the drywall, we placed the wood behind the crowbar and used that as our leverage for prying. The wood evenly distributed the pressure – saving the drywall from a rocky future. 

Step 4: Once the supports are gone, you’ll usually find a lip outlining where they once were. That would be caulk, and you can use an exacto knife to lightly cut around it and peel it off.

Step 5: It’s likely some of the drywall’s paper backing ripped off and there are probably some uneven spots. I just spackled and sanded these areas to get a smooth finish.

Step 6: After cleaning up the dust and wiping down the walls & baseboards, I applied two coats of the paint leftover from our master bath (Drizzle Sherwin Williams 6479). It’s a nice neutral that reflects light but doesn’t tint everything in the closet a weird shade. In case you were wondering, I painted the ceiling too (not that you can see it...)

Step 7: Install the closet system per the manufacturer's instructions. I allotted minimal space to hanging clothes, since most guests aren’t bring much with them, and the rest to shelving to hold all our misfits.

How to Convert a Platform Bed for a Box Spring

Remember when I showed you how I built a knock-off West Elm headboard? I promised that I'd show you how we got a new, classy bed frame fo' freezy but then I left you high and dry for 2 months! Alas, life imitates art. I finished building my headboard months before I actually got to enjoy it on the wall (leaning against the wall beside the bed doesn't count). I'd look at it sitting on the floor every morning and think, "Someday you'll get promoted, kid"... its fate was in limbo til I could find the right bed frame.

The frame needed to be modern, on legs, without a headboard or footboard, and it needed to accommodate a boxspring without making the bed 4 feet tall. In case you didn’t guess from the italic-bold-combo, that last one was the kicker. I quickly learned in my search that platform beds (so named because they provide a wooden platform for the mattress to lie on) are now officially “the rage.” Apparently that box-spring that cost me extra was now being deemed by the bed-sellers of the world as redundant. Ugh.  

I love my box spring. They've come a long way from the days of hard metal coils – it's far better at evenly supporting my mattress than any platform, and I sleep easier knowing I'm not invalidating a warranty on a pretty expensive mattress. This trend toward platform beds is problematic for box-spring devotees like myself because we’re forced to either throw out the ‘spring, stay married to the bed skirt, buy a new "low-profile" boxspring or sleep like “Princess & the Pea” 10 feet in the air (obviously hyperbole – my ceilings are only 8 ft). I give you Exhibit A, in which I try on a cheap metal platform bed for size:

Bahaha. Nope. Not pictured is my ceiling fan hanging a mere 3 feet above the bed – I can see the headlines now: "Girl Wakes to Biggest Nightmare, Beheaded by Ceiling Fan." That meant this simple option I liked from West Elm was out of the question – 8" too tall and, even still, the $399 price tag was hard to swallow.

That is, until Eli sent me a Craigslist curb alert for this exact frame. YAHTZEE. That, my friends, is what we call freakish luck, but i-dont-hate-it. I wasn’t gonna spend $400 on a frame that didn’t fit my needs, but I'd happily take it for $Free.99 to try our hand at reconfiguring it. Worst case scenario, we'd totally ruin it and be back to where we started. I was fairly convinced that's exactly what would happen, and I didn't really want photographic evidence if it did, so I was a bad blogger and left the camera in its case. Tsk, tsk. You could say I was pleasantly surprised when it worked, and I'm kicking myself for not taking photos. We've been sleeping on it for 6 months now and are well-rested enough to tell the tale. I think there's a lesson here about doubt and faith and bootstraps – lemme know if you find it. 

All this is to say that I have illustrated the process like an Ikea manual so you too can make amends with your boxspring and stick it to the man. Platform beds be damned! (Unless that's what you want...nothing wrong with 'em if you don't want a box spring or don't mind a taller bed) I recommend trolling Craigslist for a wooden platform frame or start fresh with raw lumber – Ana White has some guides for building a bed from scratch.

Step 1: With the frame disassembled, carefully remove the wood strip (colored light gray here) from the inside of the main frame using a screwdriver and a crowbar. The goal is to preserve the wood strip (and the frame) so you can re-attach it lower down – that means don't Hulk out and break it to bits! This took some doing on Eli's part because the strip was secured using both screws & wood glue (yay – quality carpentry). Much of the veneer chipped off in the process, but we weren't too concerned since no one well ever see it (except I'm showing the whole world at the end of the post...no shame). On a platform bed, this strip is usually an inch or two from the top of the frame and is used to hold the platform for a mattress. We'll be moving it as far down as we can to make room for a boxspring.

Step 2: Sand the chipped edge of the strip to smooth it out and then use wood glue and the screws you previously removed to re-attach it flush with the bottom edge of the frame. Lining it up with the bottom edge ensured the strip would be level and even on all sides when we reassembled the frame. Depending on the depth of your edges, you can potentially gain a lot of room for the boxspring this way. Our 'spring is 8.75" deep, the outer edge of our frame is 5" deep, and after relocating the strips we had 4 inches within the frame for the 'spring to sit in. That means 4.75" of the boxspring are still peeking out above the frame, but we take what we can get. If your edges are really shallow, these first three steps probably aren't worth the effort and you should skip to step 4. 

Step 3: The bed's legs had notched tops that the edges rest on. This notch also provided two pre-drilled holes for securing the leg to the edges. We measured and cut down the notches so the tops would be flush with the wood strips we had just lowered. This provides one flat, level surface for the box spring to rest on. In cutting down the top, we lost the top hole for securing the legs & edges, which would have compromised the stability of the entire frame had we not also shortened the legs. 

Step 4: At this point, we've bought ourselves 2.5 extra inches, but you may remember I said we needed more like 8. Gulp. To get us the rest of the way, we cut about 6 inches off the bottom of each leg using our circular saw. This was a little nerve-wracking because we didn't want to end up with 4 legs at slightly different heights (and a lopsided bed) – granted, my nerves were a little more wracked than Eli's ; ] We carefully measured and marked our cut on all four sides of the leg, made the cuts, and then used the palm sander to even out any small discrepancies, giving us 4 equally tall legs. Phew! Cutting the legs down by about half compensated for the stability lost when we shortened the top notches. Less length = less torque, so our bed feels as sturdy and clocks in at 11 inches – an ideal height for our boxspring/mattress duo.

Step 5: Reassemble! We used the pre-drilled holes from the manufacturer to put everything back together. The edges are screwed together with pocket hole screws (we used the drill to widen the pocket holes so our screwdriver could reach further in). Then we set the outer frame up on the legs and used the wooden braces that came with the bed to secure everything. There are 3 drilled-thru holes in each brace – one for each adjoining edge and a third for the leg. These braces are really what's holding everything together – without them the frame would be a wobbly mess and we'd be knockin' on heaven's door every time we got into bed.

We nixed the center beam that provides a 5th leg in the middle of the bed. You need this leg if you have a king size bed, but after checking online I found that the center support wasn't really necessary for a queen or a full. If we ever decide to add it back, we'd just need to cut the height of the 5th leg and secure the beam to the wood strips with metal brackets. We haven't done that because 6 months in the box spring still seems sturdy without it. Use your discretion :]

The whole project took a few hours and cost less than $5 (we picked up some new screws). It's just what we were looking for! Now I don't have to worry about breaking a hip climbing into bed or getting my head chopped off by the ceiling fan, and my headboard finally got its rightful spot on the wall. I can rest easy now!

Enough sketches. How about some real live photos? Eli helped me remove the mattress and boxspring yesterday so you can see the gritty details (when I say gritty, I mean griiiiiitttaaaaaayyyyy)! 

The inside is scary – like a tiger sharpened its claws here – but the outer appearance is perfectly serene. I'm really happy with the finished product and now there are just a couple finishing touches left. I want to find or make a boxspring cover (since half of it is still exposed), get a duvet cover that will be easier to throw in the wash, and upgrade the pillow situation ... ours are getting worn out and I love the look of Euro shams. 

The new wood frame is an upgrade in many ways from the metal frame + bedskirt situation we had going on before, but the main reason I switched was to make the room look and feel airier. Being able to see under the bed – or any large piece of furniture, for that matter – adds visual breathing room. I try to keep this in mind any time I'm choosing furniture for our little house. 

So there you have it. Am I the only person still using a box spring?! Has anyone had luck with their platform bed or thinking about reconfiguring their current setup?