Phase II: the barn mud room & storage room

This post shows the making of the barn mud room and the barn storage room. 
I was initially going to include the loft, but even I was getting confused, so for simplicity I'll focus on these two spaces.  The barn mud room and the storage room sit on the same level as the barn room .   
(for reference: the loft sits directly above the mud and the storage rooms)



As I have previously mentioned, our attached barn was a working livestock barn when we bought the property.  Here you see the livestock stalls; notice the iron water basins and the iron hay rack in the corner!   This corner will be the barn mud room.   Stairs will be built in this space that access the garage below.

The room cleared out and opened up for construction.
Please note the door opening to the right of the window- that is the doorway into the storage room.  As you can see in this post the ceiling is low (it is the same in the storage room.)  These boards will remain exposed.

View from the barn room.  The open framing to the left of the original barn door is the doorway from the barn room to the mud room.  The storage room sits behind a wall that the barn door is leaning against.  The space visible through the framing on the second floor is the loft.

This wall will be closed off except for the opening into the mud room where we will place these antique iron gates from Argentina.

I wanted there to be a division between the two rooms, but didn't want to close off the rooms entirely with solid doors.  I knew these would be perfect for this space when we found them two years ago!

View from the mud room towards the barn room with the iron gates in place.
I've always had a very clear vision as what the barn room will look like, but this mud room was more a means to an end (the garage) in my mind- until we started the renovation.... this little space is quickly becoming a surpise little gem!




Two layers of flooring were removed to get down to the original barn floor.




The mud room floor being demo'd for the stairs.

The construction of the stairs to the garage.

All of the original antique barn windows have been replaced with energy efficient windows the same size and style of the originals.

The framing of the stairs in the garage. 

The room after being insulated.

Wood post with original iron tethering ring.
The structural engineer mandated that a post be placed in this location in the mud room  (for reference: the opening on the right side of the photo is where the iron gates will be placed.)   This original barn beam was used instead of a metal post.  To the right of the post will be the stairs to the upstairs loft. To the left of the post behind the wall (this original wall will remain) is the storage room. (The doorway into the storage room can be seen in the second photo.)

The storage room "before"!  If you've ever lived in an antique/old house you know the challenges of having little to no storage space.  This room will serve that purpose for us.  We have some fabulous antique iron lanterns (originally gas) from San Francisco that will serve as lighting in this room.

The NE corner of the storage room "before."

The same NE corner with the old windows and doors removed.

And again, the same NE corner of the storage room showing the stairs that were added to the loft.  The stairs will be walled off from the storage room.

Standing in the storage room looking back to that corner to the right of the old post with the metal ring (5th photo up, where the doorway to the loft steps will be....are you still with me?!!)

The carpenter cutting the doorway to the loft stairs.

The loft stairs doorway.

So, you get the big picture, right?!!!