On the subject of closets

There's a closet upstairs, off the hallway from the master bedroom. It's hard to describe, but it's a double entry closet that was built out of the original closet when they put the addition on, and opened up the two rooms behind it into one. So this closet acts as a closet and a wall.
There was a sketchy pole up there, permanently mounted into the frame. Rather than cut it out and replace it, it was "reinforced" with a combination of copper rods, electrical and masking tape, and black satin ribbon.

Also, it was gooey from tape residue.

So me and my trusty handsaw removed the "rod" and me and my trusty screw gun replaced it with a new one.

Aaaaahhhhh. So much better.

Sometimes it's the little things. 5 minutes later and it's done.

Another day, another closet

When I woke up on January 5th, I didn't intend to deal with the living room closet. But in that way that things happen, I wound up dealing with it. Mostly because I want to use it, and I don't want to stuff things into a dirty space. Also, I'd stripped off it's hardware to clean, and figured, in for a penny, in for a pound. The thing is, the closet is 28" deep, 14" wide on the inside, and about 10" at the door, as you pass from the hallway into the living room. Not a lot of space to maneuver in, and really bad to try to photograph. I had to use the headlamp, because once wedged in, I became a door.

Tiny closet is tiny.

Yes, I wedged myself in there.
Yes, those upper wood boards, (presumably for long gone shelves)
are not level to each other.

I had just enough Kilz and "Lilac Muse" left over from the pantry closet to do it. I also picked up a quart of gloss black to do the teeny, tiny floor, since it was super beat up unremarkable wood. (Not narrow board like much of the rest of the house, and the pantry closet.) I think I'll do the floors in the eve storage upstairs to match.
I installed a little battery operated motion sensor light inside this space. I don't see using it for a lot, since it's weirdly deep, but it will be good for storing winter coats in the off season. And tomorrow, after the second coat of floor paint, it'll be done.

A little quick hardware research

Tucking these here so I don't loose them.
From "Hardware manufactured by P. & F. Corbin", a price list published in 1905, found on Google.

70240 "Ceylon"

702120 "Ceylon"

As a confirmed tea drinker, the name of this style delights me. It appears that I can find replacements pretty readily from salvage sites, so that's good.

A closet I can feel good about.

On the final walk through the day before the closing, Donna (my realtor) and I were on our way out the door when I remembered to check the funny little closet in the hallway that divides the dining room from the stairwell to the second floor and the living room.
What to my wondering eyes did appears but shelves and shelves of china patterns. I already have numerous sets from my own family - I didn't need more. But for the sake of the closing, I agreed that it be included in the sale.
Upon moving in, I need that space to store my own things. I hauled all the china out and discovered that the closet is lined in textured pressed tin. Also, it was filthy. Decades of contact paper was coating the shelves, giving it a permanently tacky feeling.

One of many patterns, but this one came with decorative pleated edging!

Old shelves. 14" wide, 2 parts each - a narrow board nailed horizontally to the back of a wider board.
Contact pattern #2. (They've been relocated to the shed for stripping/reuse later.)

Closet pre-cleaning.

I decided it was going to be the first major overhaul. I vacuumed it thoroughly, scrubbed it with TSP substitute, primed it with Kilz, re-secured the shelf cleats, and painted the whole interior with semi-gloss "Lilac Muse". It's a slightly purple off-white. I then cut new boards for the shelves, and painted those as well.

Before Shelves - I went with a "no VOC" paint because of the tight space.

First course of shelf boards in!

I got the shelves in and painted, and I've stuffed stuff in it for now to get things out of the dining room, but I want to put under-shelf lighting in. Things go missing in the back. I'm still researching how exactly I want to pull that off. I have my ideal state, but then I have my affordable options.
Once the closet is finished with lighting I'll post a final picture.

Handsome Hardware

Anyone who's worked with me knows I'm a details girl. I love me some good stippling (the process of making art out of teensy tiny dots.) When I first moved in (after some epic cleaning) I started removing and cleaning hardware. I started in the bathroom, and spiraled my way out into the house.
I knew there were interesting things under the layers of paint that just needed a little love.

Cabinet catch in typical before condition.
There are many of this style around the house.

Medicine cabinet catch

Medicine cabinet butterfly hinge.

Lock escutcheon before (pantry closet)

Exposing the screw heads with Citrasolve.

Lock escutcheon after (pantry closet)
Solid brass.

Door knob plate before (basement door)

Door knob plate after (basement door)
Pretty significant finish damage. Plated, was mostly gone under the paint.

Door knob plate replaced (basement door)

 I've been using the Citrasolve sparingly, mostly relying on good old fashioned hot water, dish soap, long soaks, and elbow grease. It has revealed delightful Eastlake style hardware, from the era when I believe the kitchen/dining room addition was put on the house.
There will be more hardware pictures in the future, and probably research into where it came from. I've already traced the basement door knob plate to P&F Corbin company in New Britain, CT.

My intention is to remove the doors one room at a time come summer and give them a good sanding/repainting. I've put the hardware back on for now to stay functional, but it looks sad, nestled in the many layers of chipped paint built up around it.

Exciting electricity

One of the first things I knew I was going to have to do, upon taking the very first tour, was update the electric service. This is what was there:

Not the worst I've seen, but sketchy.

Inspector Guy Bill wouldn't even open the furthest panel to the right. Wouldn't even touch it. But he knew that my price reflected it's replacement.
After very minor consideration, I decided to jump it up from the 60 amp service it had to a 200 amp service. I finally found an electrician in Wayne, who'd done the service update for my former landlords, Dick and Jane Perkins. Wrangling the time and everyone into the right place took some effort, as an engineer had to get involved. But by early January, I had this shiny new beauty in the basement.

So pretty and new.

It's so nice to plug in my vacuum and not have the whole house dim now!

I bought a house!

It's true. I went and bought a house. I've been updating things like Facebook, but I wanted a place when I could really document what the heck I'm doing to the house, with picture proof. When and if I decide to sell it, there's a trail of what I did, when I did it.

This is the house, as I bought it on 11/29/18.

Plus, I can stop annoying people on other feeds with my incessant talk of the house. Some stuff has been done that I want to document, so there's going to be a small flood of catching up on posts.

This was a huge thing. A scary thing. Onward and upward.