And so it begins again

It's been 8 months or so since we finished the major over-hauling of our kitchen and The Viking is growing ever restless. He can only sit back and enjoy the afterglow of a project for so long before his fingers starting itching for a new one. For the past 6 weeks or so I've been seeing warning signs and, this weekend, my suspicions were confirmed.

You may recall this door, pictured here in a "before" photo of our kitchen:

This was taken as The Viking was just starting to tear stuff out (can't you tell by the two detached cupboards and the clump of insulation visible in this shot?) and I stopped him so I could properly document it.

Anyway, that old door remained much the same even after the rest of the kitchen had been given its much-needed facelift. It became one of those things we meant to finish but ran out of energy for.

Well, as of yesterday, the door now looks like this:



I love it and think it looks just lovely. But I know he's been haunting The Home Depot again and I know what that means; he's gearing up for another project.

Sure enough, he said something to me a few hours ago about doing something about the coat closet or Man-Cub's closet, I get to pick. He thinks the coat closet is a more pressing need right now, but I still get to pick. I think we're going to be tackling the coat closet.

And, directing your attention back to the photo of the newly green door, can you blame us?

Just scroll up a bit. That area, that wasteland of coats, jackets, bags, gloves, hats and umbrellas is where the coat closet is set to be. You can see we need it badly.



This is just completely unacceptable. You can't see it, but there is a most lovely umbrella stand buried under there. I want that to be seen. I want to keep actual umbrellas in it (even though I know there are going to be baseball bats and field hockey sticks stashed in there as well) so I don't have to go rummaging about in a pile of nylon and wool whenever it's raining outside.

You may wonder why we have been dragging our feet on this. Well, we've been looking for a suitable piece to fill that space, but can't seem to find one that's just right. It's an awkwardly sized area and we want a lot out of it. We need hooks for coats and jackets, enough for all of us and a few for guests. We need hooks for bags as Red Headed Snippet and I have at least 2 each. We need storage for hats, scarves and gloves once the weather gets delightfully cold, and I would like a place to stash wet shoes and drippy boots, if possible. It would really be nice if there could be a place for the kids to deposit their backpacks after school and a mirror placed near the door for last-minute check-ups on the way out would be heavenly. As if all that isn't enough, it would really make me happy if all that lovely organization could be contained behind a set of doors, or even a single one, so I don't have to be tidying it all up all the time. So, basically, I want to build a coat closet behind the kitchen door, but I want it to be pretty. I am impossible to please, aren't I?

I am supposed to be looking around for ideas right now while The Viking has the kids at Target picking out things for their Operation Christmas Child gift boxes but I've decided I need to blog/whine for a while first. I know designing a space on our own is the best way to get an organized space custom-made for us, but I just hate doing it. I can't come up with stuff on my own out of the blue. I need inspiration, a visual example. I need to see a picture of a great coat closet someone has built in their own home and then expand on that. And I can't seem to find any. And The Viking is going to be home soon and if I don't have some good ideas, he's just going to pound some 6-inch nails into the wall for us to hang coats on! No, he won't do that, but he's going to want to leave for The Depot with a list in his hand within an hour of coming back.

While I'm whining, anyone got any brilliant ideas for what I could do with this empty space?



It's the wall just outside the pantry and it's been bare ever since the remodel. The Viking likes it bare. He enjoys having just one wall that I haven't filled with stuff. But it's really bugging me.

Uh-oh, guess who's home? I'd better go...