Cleaning Closets

I'm working on another project with a shop up in Maine which unfortunately I have to keep under wraps for now.  You see, this blogging thing is a dirty business. When scoop-crazed followers get wind of future plans, the Blogarazzi come out and I get sent fuzzy cell phone photos of my projects before I see them.  "I'm touching your table!" the last one said. 

I made a clandestine mid-week trip up to Maine the other day for a progress check on the new project so I thought I'd stop at Old House Parts to see if they had a four-panel door that was perfect to replace the nasty luan door on the closet.  I found the perfect one!  

Wanna see?

Ain't she sweet?

I've decided to move forward with my plan to convert the dining room into a dining/study.  I'm excited about the possibility of doing more with the room than vacuuming up the dust bunnies--more like kitty tumbleweeds--once a week.  So before Sam comes over to replace the door, I first needed to clean out the closet to ensure he isn't crushed by the avalanche of crap I needed to hide in here to take my stunning blog photos. 

This chore turned into a bigger project than I expected.

Try not to be jealous but this closet is wallpapered with this stunning wallpaper.  Now available in my etsy shop.  (Not really.)  As much as I hate to part with this beautiful pattern, it just doesn't set the proper mood for the room.  So I started pulling it down. 

This easily pulls off to reveal another layer.

Under the fantastic floral is this tan botanical print.  The metal to the left is the air return duct from the upstairs.  

Here's a close up of it.  Not so ugly, huh?

And this easily pulls off to reveal another layer.

Now, why didn't somebody stop after this was put in and leave well enough alone?

I kind of like this pattern and this is in the palette of my favorite colors.

 

Here's a closeup of it that's better lit.

Unfortunately, this is all that's left.

I would guess this is 1940s.  Maybe even earlier.

This really wasn't what I had in mind when I

decided to clean out the closet.

It's kind of crusty chic, right?

So now what do I do with it?

I have a few ideas.