May 21, 2014

Make Room for A Door

Not long after getting our new entry way bench set in it's new home:


We started to get this nagging feeling.  The "You know what would be better?  If there was an actual entryway..." feeling.  And then the Hubs went and did this.




That's his, "What?  Me?" face?  No turning back now.  I guess it's time to make room for the new door.  After a few minutes of demo we discovered that this wall would put up a little more of a fight than we intended.  It had a crazy collection of studs and wires secretly enclosed within it.



Boo for home improvement surprises.  You never know what you're going to find lurking behind the walls, but for the record, this is what you don't want to see.  Which means in order to get it re-framed, we had to open up a little more of the wall than we intended.  Good thing it was a nice day out.



Don't worry, those electrical lines look menacing, but they're all dead and harmless. 



And so the rest of the day became: Operation Close the Wall Back Up So Wildlife Can't Enter Our Cabin While We're Sleeping.  I'm not going to lie- it was one of those soul crushing DIY days when the project is way more intense and complicated than you signed up for.  But what did we expect?  We were cutting a hole in the side of our house.





For those of you interested in the Cabin's new side entrance, let me explain.  Main door is currently very understated and located at the far left side of the cabin.  Besides the sidewalk and steps that lead to it, there's not much happening here, and it's pretty off balance.
 



In fact, the original entrance to the home was actually located in the center of the home.  See that door shaped trim located between the two center windows? 



We are guessing that the front door was moved when the far left of the house was converted from a porch to interior space that was then the Dining Room and Den, and is now our Dining Room and Third Bedroom.  The current door just feels like an after thought.  But after 2 days of hard work (and one night of boarding the hole shut because we hadn't finished yet), our main entrance looks like it's always belonged here in it's new home:




Pretty awesome- huh?  Just imagine it with a perfectly pitched portico over it, a set of steps on the right side leading up to the door and a deck that extends to the left side, and meets up with the deck on the lake side of the house.  If you can't envision it yet, don't worry, I can and it will look amazing!

Here it is all closed off back on the inside. 


Obviously we have work to do with paint and trim, but we were ready to call it a weekend, so instead we choose to sit around the fire and enjoy the warm spring day.  After a rough first day, we needed a quick and easy victory on day two, so it was nice to regroup and just spend some time enjoying the weather.  We're making so much progress so quickly, but I always try to remember to take a break and enjoy as well.   This cabin is supposed to be a relaxing getaway after all.  Well... eventually.

3 comments:

  1. You two are crazy! What do you want to do today? Ok let's do that with a big side of door installation. No biggie. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. It’s awesome how you two just get right to work on a project like that! My wife and I like to tackle DIY projects but we have never opened up exterior walls like that before. Maybe one day we will get to your level. I hope that you all have a new front door and can relax soon!

    ReplyDelete