Project: Home Office

So it has been a few months since we last did anything and winter has made Kelly antsy for change. Guess that means it is time for me to get to work.This is not really a renovation...more of a redecoration. But it was still a fair bit of effort.

Upstairs we use one of our rooms as a home office. Great idea, but we have not put any effort into this room since buying the house. Time to give it that facelift it always deserved (not in the Meg Ryan way...more of the Catherine Zeta Jones kind).

Here are some before pics:

Small picture, big wall...think we mastered negative space decorating! 

We really didn't like anything about it. The blue walls = yuck! The desk I have had for over 19 years that was always meant to be a starter desk and has become a permanent fixture = yuck! The lighting fixture = yuck!

As always, here are the ground rules:
1) We need a desk that is both attractive and functional.
2) Can't have anything that blocks the window.
3) Need to do something with the closet to optimism storage space...reduce desk clutter. Also must have room to grow.
4) Replace ceiling-fan/light.
5) Keep the couch. It is awesome to have a reading couch in the office, or a space to watch on-line shows at. Couch is getting old (19 years, got it when I moved out of parents house) but it is still comfortable and since the space will only really be used by Kel and myself...that is ok. But it is black, so have to work with that.
6) We will not be replacing the flooring in here...no practical point. And can always be done later (it won't be done later, who am I kidding).

To start...get everything out of the room. Take apart the desk and throw it away (don't even bother trying to resell it...too much hassle). Then...abolish that ghastly blue. We went with CIL 'Cotton Grey' (I am told it is super popular on Pintrest).

Next, replace that atrocious ceiling fan light.

Now time to build the desk. Luckily it wasn't ruined as it was delivered when we weren't home and they left the shipping boxes piled up in a snow bank outside the front door. Idiots!

It took almost a whole day just to assemble the desk, it had a lot of sections and hardware pieces.

Oh...sneak peak! 

The bane of Kel's existence seems to be exposed cables. It is tough to hide PC peripheral cables as they are all extraneous lengths of cable and the desk has no built-in cable tray. Anyway, here are some shots of how I dressed them into the back. Not the cleanest job, but at least you can't see anything from the front.

I chose not to put the PC in the cupboard to the left as once the backing was put on the desk there would be no airflow front or back. I will use that cupboard for other items, the PC is on the floor for now. 

Almost there, onto the closet.

The old closet

Just like in Kelly's walk-in closet, when I took it apart, it damaged the wall. Arggggg!

Here is the new closet enhancements after patching, sanding, repainting and installing new shelving.

Lot's of storage capacity now.

The hard work is over, now time for the final reveal after Kel added her decorating touches.

Whiteboard in the office is Gold-star!

There is more decorating to come as Kel finds items she likes and we'll replace the side table with something that matches the desk more, but as I type this I am now at the new desk. A much more presentable option then the embarrassment it was. Simple, practical, and a place for everything.

That's it for now

Kev and Kel