Mark and Hans and D.D. and I can pat ourselves on the back. We’ve completed the finish surfaces for the new walk-in closet. That’s one room down, lots to go!

Mark designed and assembled a series of panels for the knee-wall. He clad the panels with the same cedar siding as the walls for consistency, but he chopped off the tongues and grooves between panels. That’s because he designed them for easy removal. His panels hide the utility race behind the knee wall, but they’re screwed on (not nailed) so Bob can pop them off any time he needs access to the ducts or electrical cables.

Mark also miter-cut some barnboard to cover the duct race along the closet’s west wall. It doubles as a low bench for sitting. Paired with the cedar siding, the dark barnboard makes this cozy room resemble a sauna.

But we departed from that spa look with our sloping ceiling, which we finished with the same whitewashed tongue-and-groove pine we used in the living room. We had no trouble at all fitting the boards tight to our new rafters… proof positive that we installed those rafters nice and even. Access was a little tricky at first since the ceiling slopes down to about 18 inches headroom. Hans and I sat on the floor to install the first few courses, then sat on stools, then progressed to kneeling and finally standing.

The ceiling contains a bunch of lighting fixtures, for which we stubbed out cables before the insulation went in. I couldn’t cut holes for the lighting in place without sawing through a cable, so we dry-fit each board, measured and marked the light locations, then returned the board to our saw station where I had at it with a compass and jigsaw. Finally, Mark threaded cables through the holes and finish-nailed the board.

Once we finished the ceiling and added some trim, we pulled out our protective plywood to reveal the grey-stained finish floor. While the closet looks darn good with all its finish surfaces (if I do say so myself), we still have some work ahead, namely the built-in shelving. Might happen this coming week… though if weather permits we have an exciting outdoor project that’ll take priority.