I thought it might sound catchy, but it turns out that just typing the title made me cringe a little.  “Thinking outside the box”, “taking things to the next level”, “let’s circle back to that, “let’s put a pin in that and move on”…….  I spent a lot of time in meetings in the years leading up to my retirement, and while I understand the need for cliche phrases like these, hearing some of them just feels like nails on a chalkboard.

Enough of that….  In this case, I’m being very literal; we’ve begun working on the upper, bedroom level.  When we first saw the house, we really liked the openness of the floor plan, including the way the bedroom (which is directly above the kitchen / dining room) looked down over the living room.  But, we sort of felt like the railings were a bit overwhelming and maybe it was a little ‘too’ open to the downstairs.

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera

We began by removing the railings and 156 turned oak balusters to open the space, and then tore down the built-in seat and the ship lap siding on the wall surrounding the window alcove.

We wanted to replace those long, shaky lengths of railing with something that would be a little more solid, since I really worry about one of the grand-kids pushing against it and falling over the side.  At the same time, we wanted something that would provide a bit more privacy, while still capitalizing on the open layout and fantastic view.

First, I had to make another repair (which should come as no surprise to anyone).  The plywood flooring on the ‘bridge’ had a strange, square shaped hole, so I pulled up the entire piece and replaced it with a new sheet of decking.  I’d ask how someone punches a hole through a 3/4 inch thick, wood floor, but after everything else we’ve come across, I don’t even care anymore.  It’s easier to simply fix it than trying to sort trough yet another mystery that just leaves me shaking my head.

It looks a little confusing.  The second level is a series of wide, heavy, engineered beams and joists that don’t require a lot of load-bearing walls on the main level to support the weight above.

We decided to just completely wall off the side that looks down into the stairwell, so we’ll have a little more wall space for dressers.  The narrow, floor-to-ceiling columns on the side that looks down onto the living room will have book shelves once we’re done.

After puzzling over the railing question for a couple of weeks, I think we’ve come up with a pretty unique solution.  We’ve built some low (about 26 1/2″) walls between taller ‘pillars’ for added strength and support.  They’re glued down to the flooring with construction adhesive and then finished off with lag bolts into the joists below.  We’ll install drywall over all the framing, and once it’s taped, textured and painted, we’ll finish it off with short wrought iron balusters and a hand rail on top.  We’re hoping that once it’s finished, it will look as good as it does in my head.  Fingers crossed.

We’ve decided to do something a little different with the odd extension above the main entry so it isn’t just wasted space.  It’s about 44″ wide, which is just exactly right for a mini-fridge that’s 21 1/2 inches wide, an extra, left-over 15″ base cabinet that we didn’t end up using in the kitchen, and the 6″ stub wall.  A short countertop and a couple of new outlets, and it should make a really nice place for a coffee bar.  The idea is that we can pour a cup of coffee, walk out onto the upper deck, and enjoy the morning view without having to walk all the way downstairs to the kitchen.

The replacement pantry cabinet is apparently ready for pick-up, so we’ll take a day or two and finish installing the kitchen cabinets next week.  Let’s hope this one isn’t damaged like the first one.