here is a good "before" image of the downstairs bedroom with its closet and some stairs. the closet was so awkward and tiny that it is a mystery why the builders left half of its area totally unused. (only the area right behind the door was actually the closet space.)
this image shows the subfloor opened up and the earth exposed. we needed to lower the ground here by removing some dirt so we could lower the hallway above and do away with those stairs between the room and the hallway.
the old closet during demolition. one can see on the ceiling on this image that only a small portion was actually a usable closet; the rest was an enclosed empty area. we divided this space between the new closet and the shower.
the hallway used to be so narrow and so low that larger people had to draw their arms closer, and taller ones had to bend down so not to hit their head into the ceiling. when the bathroom door swung out, it hit the glass part of the light fixture across the hallway! there was a small door here across the bathroom door as well, it led to the utility room. this door was removed and today the heater and the likes are accessed from the outside of the house.
next to the old toilet one can see a small opening which used to be a doorway to the crawlspace. across the room from the toilet this room had a kitchen sink, but no shower.
