Instead of a paper project, today I’m sharing another kind of project: my new office redo! For a long time now I’ve wanted to make my office prettier and more functional. This year I finally got the opportunity to do just that. It isn’t quite finished yet, but it’s done enough that I can share some photos. 

I’m still moving everything into the new office. I’m taking my time, so each item goes to its proper place, and so I don’t take in something that doesn’t belong. Unfortunately that means that the whole house is still a mess, with boxes stacked all over the place. It’s hard to focus and be creative in such chaos. I don’t like not being able to find what I need when I need it. (The boxes were packed by someone else while I was away on the incentive trip, so each opened box is a surprise.) I really look forward to having an organized new office!

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The Office Redo:

The Good:

Here’s a drawing that will give you an idea of what the office redo looks like. The rectangle in the center is an island with drawers on both sides. It isn’t a very large room, and there’s only one window, so all the furniture is white, with pale grey countertops, to maximize the light. 

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The Bad:

The dining room has been the hardest hit area of the house during the office redo process, with boxes and crates EVERYwhere. I’m slowly but surely clearing them out now.

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The Ugly:

The room was all emptied out. It doesn’t look like much here, but it was ready and waiting to become functional and beautiful. The electrician had been here to move and add outlets. Next the walls and ceiling got patched and painted.

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Installation took two days:

Allen and Dale from Artisan Custom Closets had lots and lots of pieces to bring in, two vans full. These are just the shelves!

They were very organized. Each area had detailed plans for them to follow:

I left them alone to do their work, but I had to sneak in for a peek every once in a while.

Once they were finished and had cleaned everything, this is what I saw when I got to the door of my office. You can tell how small the room is, but my designer, Andrea Lively, did a great job of utilizing the space.

This will be the photo (and hopefully video) area. The puck lights over the counter work by remote and are dimmable (although I don’t know why I would ever want to dim them!)

This is the island (which has drawers on both sides) and the storage wall:

Here’s my desk. The area at the left is for the printer, and the cabinets underneath it have (left) a pull out shelf for my shredder and (right) a pull out trash can.  

And the closet is now a sewing nook. Now maybe I’ll actually use my sewing machine, since it will always be set up and ready to go.

It still looks pretty empty, but I am using the desk. I invested in a Varidesk, so I can sit or stand while at the computer. I love it! They’re coming back to put the grommet in the counter top for the printer – right now I have to leave the cabinet door open to get to the outlet. The chair I’ve had for a long time – hubby treated me when I complained of back pain while at my desk. It’s a smaller version of his chair.

S