Making Room

When we moved in, the staircase from the main floor to our second half floor looked like this...

(Yes, this is the best before picture I have....) Anyway, when I came home from work yesterday, it looked a little more like this...

No more wall closing in the staircase! This is what B spent his afternoon working on yesterday. We've had plans to do this since we moved in, along with putting hardwood and a new railing that will run from the top floor all the way down to the basement. We just had to do this a little sooner than we originally anticipated so that we can get the new washer and dryer into the basement.

I know it looks a little unsafe, but B was explaining to me that there is a piece of wood running the length of the stairs that is tied in at the bottom of the stairs and also at the top, which is tied in up to our second floor. There is also a piece at the back of the top step that is tied into the side wall. So for now they are safe, but I would definitely like to put some sort of post up once we start renovating the whole room. We have lots of plans for this little room to make it look bigger... but I'll have to share those another day!