We’ve known we needed to redo the back bedroom closet since the start of our Union Hill project, and that really became apparent when we flooded the upstairs laundry room (whoops). But we did not need to finish the project to get our certificate of occupancy, so it sat on the back burner… until now. We’re now two months to listing, and the old paneling had to go.
The last major project in our remodel… the paneling
Part of the paneling was already missing due to the aforementioned flood, so I began the process of taking down the rest. The clothing rods came down, as did the ledger board, and finally the wood that supported the drop ceiling. I then started peeling off the paneling.
The closet is on the other side of the bathroom, and some of the plumbing is inside of the wall. However, the pipes from the upstairs bathroom are on the outside of the wall – this is what the paneling covered. As I start to take it down, I see a bit of light, which I assumed came from the bathroom on the other side of the wall.
Removing the paneling revealed some interesting plaster work
It was like Christmas when I realized that the light came from a long-covered window! I was thrilled. First, this seems like something that only happens on a heavily-staged HGTV show, and second, the closet did not have a source of light. This window provided some much-needed light in the dark space.
Behold!!
The covered craftsman window even included an outline of the original trim, and what I believe was a plate rail. Originally we had planned to use extra dry wall to cover the exposed pipes and whatever was under the paneling, but now I’m rethinking that. Do we patch the plaster as much as possible and bring back the trim? I think so, but this is also a closet. More to come!
The outline of the trim is visible at the top of the window. And the apron extended to a plate rail? I need to take off the rest of the paneling to figure it out…
