I’m so grateful for all the input this week on our bedroom details. I am very happy to tell you all that after reading all your comments and thinking about the possibilities presented, I have a very clear plan for the hallway and bedroom. After meeting with the contractor yesterday, I know my plans are actually doable.
First, I’ll start with the bad so we can finish well. The bad has to do with the hallway floor. While the contractor was here yesterday morning, I asked him about the flooring under the entryway closet.
He is the one who took out the floor and subfloor after the bathroom and hallway were flooded (you can read about that terrible situation here) and replaced the subfloor for me. I was the one who installed the new hardwood floors. But if you remove that closet (actually, not if, but when), the floor under the closet will not match the rest of the hallway because the new subfloor was installed and the new flooring is around the closet, not under the closet.
I asked him if he would be able to remove the cut pieces of flooring and feather in new pieces of flooring, and he laughed a little and said no. I get it. I’ve done this before, and it’s not easy. Performing repairs to tongue-and-groove hardwood flooring where old selected flooring boards need to be removed without destroying the surrounding boards and then the new boards need to be feathered to blend in with the old boards, is a task best left to the professionals. I’m not saying it’s impossible for a DIYer to do this. Again, I’ve done this before, but never on an area as large as the one under the entryway closet.
He said, in his opinion, it would be easier and faster to replace all the flooring in the hallway. And you know what? I was actually thinking about that, so it was interesting to hear him (a professional, though not a hardwood flooring pro) say what I was thinking (just a DIYer). Considering the amount of time it would take me to remove those carefully cut floorboards without damaging the rest and feathering in the new boards, I really think it would be easier, faster, and a lot less frustrating to replace them all. Installing new flooring is easy, straightforward, and much less frustrating than trying to repair floors. If we were talking about a large room, it would be a different story. But that’s a pretty small entry, so I think he might be right. I will reevaluate after I remove the cabinet.
Now to the good. I decided to completely open the doorway to the bedroom. It will open all the way up the side walls and up to the ceiling.
Not only would there not be a door there, but there would be no open hatch either. He confirmed that nothing was carrying a load, so it should be fairly obvious. The frame of the pocket door makes it a little more difficult than if it were a regular door, but it will still work well.
I decided I wanted the two areas to be visually separated. I wasn’t happy with the idea of carrying the grass cloth and covering the hallway. Not only did this look very good to me, but it would also be a challenge because, right now, I have to wallpaper around the bathroom doors, and then, I’ll have to fill in the wallpaper once that doorway is drywalled. I didn’t like this idea.
How will I separate the two areas? Well, someone commented on yesterday’s post and left a link to this DIY archway that these guys added to their previously nondescript entryway.
I don’t want a hallway leading to our bedroom because, to me, that looks out of place in our house. We do not have any other bridges, and we have no plans to add any more. So one random passage might seem weird to me.
But that got the wheels turning, and I found some similar ideas on Pinterest that I thought would complement the fine work I’ve already done in our house. So, basically, in this little hallway “hallway” leading to the bedroom, I’m going to make a copy of the walls I did in the water closet area of our bathroom…
But in this case, I’m going to add that treatment to the ceiling as well. Imagine something similar to that arched doorway from Hambels Get Real, but without the arch in the ceiling…
This will give visual separation between the two areas while adding about ten inches of width to the bedroom entryway. It will open up the two areas to each other, while not requiring me to carry the grass cloth and wood covering into the hallway. The trim will be cohesive with other areas of the home. I’m so excited to have a plan in place! Now I feel like I can start.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I repurpose and decorate a 1948 fixer upper that my husband Matt and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical labor, so I do most of the work Working at home by myself. You can learn more about me here.
