Jeremy and I got to work together on a couple of "surprise design" projects this summer. Pretty cool for us as we got to pretend we were like one of those HGTV design teams rushing to come up with our creative plans, purchase items, build and pull it all together while trying to beat the clock before the big reveal. The first project was a Prayer Closet.
A friend from church had the idea to surprise her husband for his birthday. Our job was to take the closet under their stairs and re-organize and re-design the space to give him a peaceful area where he could quietly reflect on God's word and spend time in prayer. We also needed to keep the back portion of the closet as useful storage space.
I went away from our first meeting with a few snapshots on my phone and several notes on my notepad. We got right to work discussing options....love this part of the process. All the possibilities.
Jeremy was excited to get to build something. I wanted a fold-away desk area and he came up with a very clever way to build it and install it on the wall. He created a small ledge that attached to the wall with hinges holding the desktop. Underneath were two triangular wooden supports also on hinges that would fold out to support the desk and easily fold in and tuck away when the desktop was lowered. Brilliant! The next thing we needed was a cool chair. But I also wanted it to be something that would fold up out of the way for those times that the family needed to get in and out of their storage area at the back of the closet. Fortunately, we have some great "trade days" markets in our area and I was able to find the perfect fold away chair. With a little paint touch up it was good to go.
We got into the space while the couple was out one Saturday and went right to work clearing everything out and painting a relaxing neutral khaki color on the walls. We took out some of the extra shelving and hung a new light fixture. It's hard to see in the photos but it is a vintage looking Edison bulb with an industrial metal hood. When the walls dried we hung the fold away desk and a nice cork board/white board combination. We moved the curtain rod that the lamp had been hanging on and re-positioned it to hang our divider curtain (a Better Homes & Gardens fabric shower curtain that I hemmed at the top to make a pocket for the curtain rod).
Here you can see the finished space as you enter through the closet door.
One of my paintings hangs over the message board.
It reads: "Let it be all for the Glory of the Risen King"
The desk folded away.
and chair folded away
storage space
And that's pretty much it.
Oh, but I must share the best part... the reveal!
The couple showed up early and we scrambled to get our things out of the way, we hid in the closet and frantically tried to put things in order as quietly as possible when someone turned the lights out on us and we were completely in the dark. All of a sudden the husband saw an electrical cord that was running under the closet door and came to investigate.....SURPRISE!!
We gave him quite a start. And we all had a good laugh. Then we shooed him away to the other room so we could finish up and then do the actual "big reveal". LOL.
It was a wonderful project and we were blessed by being a part of it. Thank you friends.
2 comments:
That's awesome! We just downsized to a MUCH smaller home - our "empty nest" and as a result, I lost my prayer closet. =( I feel so displaced.
We have a room above the garage that was supposed to be the man cave, but due to the slant of the walls, it's not going to work. However, I just might make it my prayer den!!! =D
Sounds perfect! I understand how much the men want their cave, but this worked out for you. Maybe you guys can later add a shed in the back yard for his man cave.
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