Today is May 1st. On March 12th I officially started working on this closet. This means that I am on this project for seven weeks. The entire bedroom suite of course was going on longer. The general work began at the end of last year.
At the end of last year, my mother and I cleared out all the bedrooms, tore off the two cupboards that flanked the window and made it ready for the contractor to make his part. So the room assumed …
And after we were finished, it looked like this …
Then I handed it over to the contractor to make his part. After I had problems with the contractor (about whom I wrote here) and needed some time to convert, I turned to my workshop for a while. When I was finally ready to draw my attention back to the bedroom suite, I stopped installing the floor in the bedroom suite. So this space and the entire bedroom suite have been under construction since the end of last year.
Seven weeks seem to be a very long time for me, so it would be easy to be disappointed with my progress. But I knew this project was going on, that this would be my biggest build so far. If I look back on other big projects that I have carried out, seven weeks does not seem to be very long in comparison.
My pantry, which I built from scratch, needed me about 3.5 months from the beginning to the end and was about half the size of the closet.
And my studio … Well, this project lasted 17 months from the day I started to grind the ground to paint it until the day it was completely over. It is a much larger space, but it didn’t require so much buildings since I used Ikea cabinets there, and I have just adapted it with trim and color. However, since it was a much larger room, it generally required more projects that had to go into this room to end it.
I think seven weeks are not really that bad. At the beginning of this year this room looked like this …
And at the end of the day on March 12, the day on which I look at the official start date of this walk -in cabinet project, it looked like this …
And over the past seven weeks I have built all cabinet boxes …
Added all shelves …
Cut out all cupboards …
Added all decorative molded parts and basket …
Built the GLA top jewelry drawer and the pull-out necklace bar …
Prepared, cooled, sanded and all cupboards painted …
And hanged the wallpaper, the mirror and the lights.
And on the way there were all kinds of time -consuming things that I had to do, how to grind the ground around the circumference before I was able to attach the baseboards to the cupboards, the ventilation for the dryer, etc.
During a large project, it can be easy to feel disappointed with the speed with which the project progresses. I somehow hit this point with this closet. I think it is important to take a minute to look back on the progress and to recognize how much has been done.
So I always encourage people to take photos on the way. Take many pictures before and during a project. If you carry out a big project like the conversion of a kitchen, take many pictures because I can almost guarantee that you will hit a point during this renovation if you are actually getting around and whether the project will ever come to an end. It can be an encouragement to look back on the actual pictures (instead of relying on your memory), and be able to see the actual progress through a number of photos.
And although I am very ready to finish with this closet, I could be very disappointed that it took so long that I am also incredibly encouraged when I compare how this room looked the beginning of the year and what it looks like now.
I don’t know how long this space will take me, but I decided to concentrate on this room until it is finished. Matt and I talked about the options, and he liked the idea that I left the closet unfinished and started with the bedroom at all. We have come up with two more options (based on your suggestions), where we can use his deck chair – the studio or the bedroom while I can end the closet. He says he can feel comfortable in both places, and both places have a television, so we will both try and see which he likes better.
As long as he is on board with me, I work on the closet until it is completely finished, I will do that. I still have a number of things that have to be done here, but the biggest and most difficult part is behind me. I would like to finish it until the end of May, so we will see how it works. The only thing that is left on my list that can throw a wrench on this plan is the island. I will build that from scratch and it has been a while since I built something with a lot of drawers from scratch. I am confident that I can make it, but it can take longer than I think it wants it.
Apart from that, the rest of the objects are quite small in comparison. But I will stay concentrated and see how quickly I can finish everything. Today is the day of light. I will add all built -in lights, remove the ceiling fan and hang the new chandelier. I have to lose it in the future and make it a revision, but I can use it as it is now to give the room more light.
So here is a successful month of May! Let’s see if I can finish this thing at the end of the month.
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