Opening up the Wall

The biggest job of the weekend, and the one we were most excited to get done was to open up the wall that separated the guest bedroom from the living room.

We had an idea to install five or six-foot barn doors that would slide closed when we had company. When we didn't, this would greatly expand our living area and really open up the space.

JC started by cutting the studs.

Then he pried off the door header.

Next, he and Gerald installed a reinforced I-joist to support the ceiling.

It took a little finessing....

But at the end, the effort was worth it. We had a new, wide-open space, and we loved it.

bead board, doors and other miscellany

We tackled a bunch of projects. I did more bead board wainscoting, and covered the backs of the kitchen cabinets with bead board.

Then I started installing bead board in the part of the utility room that was already sheeted.

Gerald and JC changed out the door on the guest bathroom. We had previously installed a slider, but after Gerald had installed the boards on the wall, the framing wouldn't support the weight.

And JC spent a day sheeting the rest of the utility room.

Master Closet

While we were away, Gerald refinished some cabinets to install in the master closet. So the first thing we did when we got back to the land was to tackle the closet.

Gerald installed molding around the door to the master bathroom.

Then he got to work on the cabinets.

Then he installed our first closet rod. It started to feel like a closet to us.

The next day, Gerald continued the work he had started facing the stairwell from the garage.

For that stairwell, he decided to use some of the boards that were damaged with blue stains with the idea that he would treat them to make them look like weathered wood.

Here's how it looked once he got all the boards up.

Meanwhile, I got to work installing wainscoting in the bedrooms.

Gerald installed drywall on the remaining closet wall. He plans to design a large mirror that will take up most of the wall and include a painting of some scenes around the property.

Then J.C. helped him install the remaining drywall in the master bedroom.

While we were away, the crew that was working on our ceilings returned to finish the job.

They had completed two-thirds of the upstairs ceiling...

And two of the three dormers.

They had also started on the last third of the ceiling, which was separated from the rest of the space by a wall, so we decided to go with butt joints as opposed to the tongue and groove of the rest of the ceiling.

We actually liked it better.

We got to work on installing the molding in the master closet.

Here's how it looked when we were finished.

Finishing Touches

Our walls were far from finished, but Gerald couldn't resist some decorative touches. This is the south wall...

Next to the fire place...

Just outside the "tack room."... (We found this rope in the middle of the road on the way to Prescott one day.)

Above the French doors in the living room.

Walls and Ceilings

JC delivered another load of wood. After doing some electrical work, he got busy installing the ceiling in the master bedroom closet.

That done, I worked on installing the cedar paneling. This is how it looked after the first day.

Gerald's shop manager, Dave, came up on Saturday. He had given us a gift of a day's labor for Christmas. (Isn't that an awesome gift? Hey anyone out there wondering what to get us....) He and Gerald worked on paneling the south wall.

The following weekend, Gerald continued paneling other walls. This is the dining room wall. The open door is the utility room. In keeping with our barn theme, we've decided to call it the "tack room."