Wall Be Gone!

The time has come to finally embark upon my newest adventure. It's closet time! (Oh yeah and part guest room, but that comes later). I must say I am pretty excited about this room. For those of you who know me, you know I have quite the fascination with all things fashion, and a giant walk-in closet is one of the only things my nearly perfect house does not have. At first it made me sad. Where would it all go? Then one of my friends suggested "Why don't you turn this room into a closet?" Ding Ding Ding. And so it is happening.  Does anyone remember Oprah's closet? Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm going for in here. 

So, let's talk about what went down. Thus far I have been mainly doing more home decor projects. However, it was time to get serious. I was pretty much ready to start the room, but one thing stood in my way. The previous owners put paneling on the wall. Now, I have struggled as to what to do with this stuff since I moved in. I never really liked it personally, but a few people suggested keeping it. For the longest time I actually was. It wasn't bad per say, just not really my thing. I could just paint over it and keep it moving. Oh and there was the main reason....pulling down the paneling and then patching up the wall was no walk in the park. Definitely not a 30 min job. I wasn't sure I cared to take on such a project. Building a table is all fun and games, but pulling down a wall could be serious. On the other hand, as a closet I am going to need to hang things from floor to ceiling, and it was just going to get in the way. Then one day I walked in the room and it hit me...the paneling has got to go. I was just avoiding the inevitable honestly. I might cover it over and mask it for now, but it was just a matter of time before I would want it gone for real. So, the transformation begins. 

Before I begin, let's jog your memory. The room was originally a little girls room (Quite adorable I might add).  This is what the room looked like pre Tanaira madness. 

The walls were blue, and they had added paneling to 2 of them. The paneled walls also happen to be the only 2 full ones in the room. I think if it had been another room I may have just figured out a way to incorporate it. However, in my future closet it just wasn't part of the vision. 

This is the other side of the room. The nook area will be where the "guest" space goes. The bedroom is pretty spacious so there is enough room to incorporate dual function.

If you're still stumped about what room this is, maybe this will jog your memory. It's also known to many as the "shoe room".

So let's remove this wall. This was the first project I took on that involved some lite demolition. Which, I've noticed that when I use the word "demolition" it seems to make people a little nervous. I wonder why. This was something I had never done before, and that could easily become a giant problem if not done right. So, I did what I always do in a carpentry pickle...called my Uncle Francis. Originally, when I told him about the idea he totally shot me down. That kind of job was contractor's work. "You don't know what's behind there", "You could pull off the drywall and damage the wall", blah blah blah. However, after some convincing and photos proving that it was not a professional job he gave me the thumbs up (I think he was still hesitant though). YAY! All systems go...It's demolition time! I used caution and started in one corner. First came down the chair railing which was basically screwed into the wall and sealed at the top with white sealant. It wasn't bad. The worst part was removing the excess sealant from the wall. They really got crazy with the stuff. With the railing gone, I pulled back a corner of the paneling and took a peek. I wasn't sure what kind of shape the wall would be in. Surprisingly, it was okay. So, I kept going. 

 The paneling was held on by glue and nails. The nails were a piece of cake. The glue however, required some finesse. I tried to keep it to minimal damage. An hour later the wall was done and on the floor.

Next day, I did the other wall. Same process, chair railing and then paneling. This wall posed a little more difficulty. On the one hand they used a lot less glue on this wall, but layered the sealant on good and thick. This wall took quite a bit longer than the first, but I FINISHED! (And might I add, without injury and no major gouges to the wall)

The paneling is GONE! Insert cartwheel and Roger Rabbit dance outburst here. I am so glad to finally get rid of that stuff. On another note...yes, with much reluctance and thought I am changing the paint color. I do love the blue and have actually become quite fond of it. If this were another room I may have kept it, but as a closet you don't really want bright colors behind your clothes. It can be quite distracting. Don't worry, I'm thinking I will bring it back in accessories. I picked up a few tester pots of paint while at Home Depot of a couple of colors I was pondering. A tester pot is your friend when you're not sure. (Which still wasn't my friend in this case, but we'll talk about that later. For right now, I digress) 

With the paneling down, it was time to deal with the aftermath of my destructive 2 days and patch the wall up. I have to be honest, for the most part it didn't look that bad. Better than I thought it would. There were definitely spots of utter mayhem though. Lucky for me the previous owners only got glue-crazy in a few areas, so the patch job didn't seem so daunting.  

In addition to the glue, the damage ranged from small screw holes to large tears of drywall. Nothing major though so we're good.

First came the sanding. The glue was a little think in some areas so I took my electric sander to the wall. Once the glue was leveled, I patched up the holes and tears with Spackle. I started out with Multipurpose Spackle, but it was a little thick and taking awhile. It didn't glide on the way I thought it should. I checked with the expert (my uncle) and he let me know that I was using the wrong kind. I needed Light Weight Spackle. That meant another trip to home depot which I was okay with because I needed some other things as well. I got home and spent my Saturday Spackling my life away.

After the first round, I let it dry overnight, and in the morning went back in to sand it down. Some of the bigger spots needed another layer of Spackle, so I did that and let it dry before sanding again.  

With the wall patched up it was time to paint. Now, if I haven't said it enough I HATE painting walls. I was absolutely dreading this part, but it must be done. I got together my drop cloths, painting supplies, and something to pass the time away. 

Yes, that is a cassette walkman in the basket. I had some old tapes from high school and wanted to listen and see what was on them. What better time to go through them. (You never know what kind of gems are on here. I mean let's be honest, they don't make music like they used to).

I used Kilz primer for the first layer. I did the whole room in one night. I went in there after dinner, and when I came down it was time to go to bed. With the walls primed, I already missed the blue color. It was so bare in there, but that's always the case with primer. 

I let the primer dry over night and went up to paint the next evening. Being that this was going to be a closet, I wanted a neutral color but nothing too dark and nothing too white. I wanted the walls to have some warmth to them, but not make the room feel like a cave. In my head I was going for a mocha-gray. Out of my 4 tester options I settled on Sandstone Cove by Behr. It took me awhile to settle on the color. I realized in doing this room no room in my house is a square. So, painting and repainting isn't happening. 2 nights and 2 coats of paint later I had finished the room. 

 And guess what....I DON'T love it! Highly unimpressed face happening right now. Like I said the color was supposed to be a mocha-gray. I tested the paint color on the wall, and checked it in lamp light and day light. It was the color I wanted. The color painted everywhere....NOT so much. It's reminds me of Carpenter's Beige, and it is absolutely killing me. Honestly, if the room were not so big it would have already been repainted. Everyday I walk in there and think this is going to be the day I'm okay with it. Well it's been almost a week, and that day has yet to happen. So, what do I do? For right now the jury is still out. I have asked a few folks for their opinion. The consensus seems to be just leave it. The wall will be covered for the most part so I may not even notice once the room comes together. Sometimes I feel as though I think so artistically that I over think a project. I'm also thinking that I'm so used to seeing it be a vibrant blue color, that the beige is so far in the other direction it looks more bland than it really is. I'm hoping once I add to the room it will look better. I'm still debating though. It would be extra work, but the itch is still there. I have been thinking of ways to ease my anxiety, which include but are not limited to painting an accent wall, loading in bold colorful accessories, and painting a mural in the hallway. At this point it's all up for grabs. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope it all looks magical in the end (Matter of fact we should all cross our fingers....every little bit counts). With that done it's time to start putting this room together. I guess it's on to the next project (and a possible repainting job).