The Closet Reclamation Project - part 1

When Indiana Jones goes DIY

I knew it was there.

The "secret closet" was hidden behind mouthwash-blue paneling from an era of Mary Tyler Moore, Disco and Ford Mavericks.

I'd heard the rumors of the former storage space for years, and a closer look at the room showed there was a mystery wall space not accounted for.

My wife grew up in our circa 1917 Danish farmhouse, and remembers the lost cubby was "icky and dark" thirty years ago, back when it was her childhood room. That's when her Father decided to abandon the closet for a paneling job.

I had to see it. I had to be Indiana Jones for just a spell and peak into this time capsule, right down the hall.

Since our closet space was minimal, the "lost closet" could help our storage problems.

The paneling came off easily, and behind it was a spider web-laden broken plaster room about three feet deep and wide, with items on the floor and even a few hangers on the rod.

On the floor was a Milwaukee Brewer baseball card (pitcher Skip Lockwood) and a bright orange "tray" of sorts, dusty and textured.

"Hey, that's the piece for my 'Don't Spill the Beans' game!" My wife exclaimed, seeming to have really missed the item. "I wondered where that ended up."

The Closet Reclamation Project was successful all around: We gained much needed extra storage space in the Guest Room and it forced me to cover the wall in cool car siding wood, and even better, a mystery was finally solved.

She said there's another lost storage area above the stairs, this one larger and even "grosser," she warned.

I'm wondering if I'll need a whip and a fedora.