Bear Bear’s Den!

February 7, 2023

This renovation project took place because of a promise I made to Isla for her 9th birthday. Apparently I actually promised her this in the summer, but I only remember promising this for her birthday. Well, I finally got around to it and began this project on the 27th of December. This was originally a crawl space located under our stairwell. It was essentially just a storage place for our Christmas decorations. Nothing much to it, it was stripped down to the studs, with concrete floors.

The original entrance was through our hall/entry closet. It was a small 3-foot-high opening that you would need to crawl through to get to the space. I ended up relocating the entrance to the living room, and drywalling the original entrance.

Here you can see the original entrance. It was originally about 3 feet by 2 feet, but I cut it open bigger so I’d be able to access it easier.

from the inside looking out
here you can see it’s now closed up
I’ve closed it up from the inside
Now closed up from the outside
1st coat of primer

I did all the electrical work, installed a new electrical outlet, along with 2 pot lights on a dimmer switch, as well as a multi-coloured LED Strip light.

Rats nest of wires
I installed new pot lights, and electrical outlet, and a dimmer switch
Here are the pot lights

I installed drywall and encased a lot of the wood holding up the stairs with drywall as well. This was probably the most time-consuming part of the project because of all the weird angles under the stairs.

this wasn’t too bad, mostly straight cuts of drywall
got more difficult as you got under the stairs
drywall taping, mudding, and sanding is an art in itself
i decided to encase this piece with drywall as well, total pain

I framed out the new entrance and encased it with new door trim. Seeing as I closed up the other entrance, I had to make a new one. The new entrance was going to be from the living room. It would be a much more practical entrance, that had much easier access; rather than the one through the hall closet.

I had to reframe this so the entrance would be wider. You can see the part of the ripped drywall, that’s where the original 2×4 was. I moved it more to the right as you can see, butted up against the existing 2×4. You’ll also notice the electrical junction box above that, of which where all the wiring comes to.
The hole from the inside looking out with the door casing installed
Here you can see that I cut the hole to the new entrance!
here you can see the entrance with the door trim installed

After drywalling and sanding (the most time consuming part) I did the priming and painting.

it’s a mess!
notice that I painted the wood below the stairs white as well

Then I began work on the floor. I ended up installing a moisture barrier on the concrete (not really necessary), then put in the underlay, and then the new vinyl plank flooring. Baseboards followed, along with the transition from the existing living room to this new room.

moisture barrier (more for bug protection)
underlay courtesy of Andy!
flooring model number for future reference
we found flooring from Rona that matched well enough to our existing flooring
flooring has been installed!
painting and prep of the baseboards

baseboards installed, wood filler on all of the brad nail holes

This is the transition from the living room into Bear Bear’s den. I ended up using some leftover stair case nosing that I had when I did the flooring project for the whole house back during Covid. Sadly the piece wasn’t long enough, so I had to cut 2 and put them together, so you’ll see this thin line on the transition. Oh well!

You can see where the 2 transition pieces join together

Then I began work on the door for this new space. I got a little ambitious and wanted to make a Dutch door for Isla. Honestly, I could have just left this space open without a door, but I figured, heck… let’s put in a door… and it may as well be super cool! l would obviously have to custom build it, for the height and width of the door are non-standard. It was also ambitious because I wanted to install some glass panels in the door as well. I ended ordering some tempered glass kitchen cutting boards from Amazon and built the door around the glass.

My original plans
Here’s where I got the idea from, except I would have 2 separate panels

The top and bottom of the Dutch door would consist of a glass panel. I learned to make dados, used my router, and had to make sure that my math was precise.

Here it is all deconstructed
glued together and clamped
one is complete, the other is clamped and staying that way overnight
both pieces glued and set
added the shelf on the bottom door panel, you can see that I routed the edge so there’s a small roundover
priming
primed, painted, wood filler, and painted again

test fitting

I installed the doors using some cabinet hinges that soft close and installed a door jam. The cabinet hinges are rather unconventional for a door, but I think it works.

the completed door

Here they are chilling

I installed a small TV that I had kicking around and put in a google speaker so that she can listen to her music. Finally, 40 days after the original start date, the project is complete! I’m proud of this one, and best of all, I have an elated girl! Connor is excited too, cause he gets to use it as well.

The final tally: $649.28

Things I Had
Pot Lights
Dimmer Switch
Electrical Plug
Switch and plug Outlet boxes
LCD TV
Trim Paint
Wall Paint
underlay (Andy)
stair case nosing transition
Lenovo LED Lights

$49.64 (amazon)
tempered glass cutting boards

$35 (FB Marketplace)
Drywall Mud and drywall Screws, drywall tape

$29.11 (amazon)
TV Wall Mount

$18.42 (Rona)
Box Switch
Loomex Connector
Blank Cover for cover box
utility box

$45.89 (Rona)
2×4 x 10 feet Pine
2 x 1/2″ x4″x8″ Drywall

$123.56 (Rona)
Vinyl Plank Flooring – 2 boxes at $55.16 each

$21.25 (home depot)
Killz PVA Drywall Primer

$36.66 (Rona)
Tuck Tape
Acoustic Sealant Adhesive
Plastic Vapor Barrier

$16.10 (Rona)
Corner Bead

$19.06 (Rona)
Corner Bead

$20.13 (home depot)
Killz PVA Drywall Primer

$130.83 (home depot)
MDF Baseboards $49.95
PL Premium Glue $8.96
Kitchen and Bath Caulk $9.48
2 x Alex Plus Caulk $6.14
2 x MDF 1x6x8 (door trim) $42.28

$14.14 (rona) – pine 2x6x8

$28.37 (amazon) – Barn Door Handles

$12.62 (amazon) – 4-inch Surface Bolt lock to connect Dutch Doors

$62.64 (amazon) – Dutch Door Hinges