upstairs remodel 2: demo(lition)

The demo started with carefully removing all the doors in the project.  We're still not 100% sure what we're going to be doing with this area "after," but we tend to be hoarders when it comes to the usefulness of previously used house parts, (at least until that rollaway dumpster shows up), so in the basement the doors will go.

Jeff and the girls worked on this part while I was gone in the morning.  Give those girls a screwdriver and they know what do to!

So the doors go, then there's a big huge pause while we go about much of our early afternoon before getting back into it.  Pull out the little pry-bar and the hammer!  (and the trash cans and the shop-vac)

First we pry off the door frame, carefully removing the transom window.  Then it's on to the horrid material they used to box in the cabinet: some sort of thick cardboard/extremely thin wall board stuff.  They didn't even use 2x4's to build it, Jeff says it looks like they ripped 2x4's. 

Doesn't take long to get that down, thought the shelves take a bit to carefully remove.  The shelves are each a single solid plank of pine, without knots.  That's a big tree!

Then, the last of the framing comes down.  And the space is open!

 

I scrub with an old sock and vinegar & water, and we find the fun mysteries of "what used to be there"...

The landing railing probably was some really neat oak, going by the rest of the trim in the main floor.

This art deco wallpaper trim we've seen in other places in the house.  We think it's the original, what they would have had when they finished the house originally.  I'm not sure about that floral stuff.  Maybe another era, but it doesn't seem to be the same vintage as the art deco stuff.  The weird brown covering the wall is wallpaper, but very degraded.  The blue to the left is about 3 layers of wallpaper, or more, painted over.  That'll be fun to remove!  (ahem.)

So, here's before and after (well, "during" I guess):

So much more open.  So much more vertigo inducing!

Maybe it's the influenza, but every time I'm standing up there to go down, I sort of feel like I'm falling a little.  There is a handrail, but because of the doors, it's short and doesn't go up far enough.  We still really like it though.

Hopefully soon I'll be healthy enough to start in with the wallpaper; I do love a good weekend of wallpaper removal.  We'll keep you up to date.