Throughout this week, the Cyberhomes bloggers will turn our attention to some recent home improvement projects we've accomplished. Read on and let us know what you think!
My home office before and after remodeling.
As my younger daughter headed off to college, my response to my impending empty nest was to re-feather it. After redecorating the master bedroom and all the bathrooms, I was ready to tackle my office.
Located in what had been the formal dining room, the office walls were covered floor to ceiling with wallpaper. I hate wallpaper. The beige carpet had gotten trashed over the years, and nothing I could do kept our cat from peeing on the same spot, right by the door. Plus, the room had become a dumping ground for the entire family’s stuff. It was embarrassing.
It was also where I spent eight to 10 hours a day, and it was all I could to make myself stay in the room, much less get any work done. It needed a total makeover.
The plan was to cover the wallpaper with drywall mud and paint it, replace the carpet with the same hardwood laminate we had – and loved -- in our living room, and reorganize for better use of the space. In particular, I wanted shelves and a reading corner.
Stage 1: Empty the office. It was a daunting task, but one that desperately needed to be done. I went through every drawer and cabinet, throwing out things I didn’t need. Very cathartic. Then, we moved the desk and credenzas into the hallway, which they completely blocked for the duration of the renovation.
Stage 2: Good-bye, wallpaper. Our wonderful drywall contractor, Derrick Nursey, had previously introduced us to textured drywall mud as a wall coating after I nearly destroyed the walls of a bathroom trying to strip the wallpaper. The coating gave it an Old World look, and was much less expensive than sanding the walls down to a smooth finish. Derrick sealed off the room with plastic and spent about three days working his magic. I also had him remove the 1980s-era popcorn texture coating from the ceiling, but opted to leave the chair rail in case any future owners wanted to use it again as a dining room.
Stage 3: A new color scheme. This was the biggest part of the transformation. I wanted something warm and inviting, and that would mesh well with the terra cotta color in our living room across the hall. I really liked the idea of an accent wall, and I wanted a different color on the ceiling. I finally settled on a pumpkin color for three walls. The accent wall would have a base coat of mocha, a brilliant red glaze over that, topped with a faux gold patina. To cool down all that warmth just a little, I chose a subtle, silvery blue for the ceiling.
My husband was more than a little skeptical about my painting plan for one simple reason. I am the worst painter on the planet. I get paint on myself before I get it on the brush. The notion that I could pull off the accent wall bordered on the ludicrous. But I figured that the worst that could happen was that it would look like crap and I'd just paint over it.
So I went for it. I primed the room and painted the ceiling. I loved the silver blue so much that I almost went out and bought enough paint to do the walls in the same color. It was very soothing. But since this was to be a creative space, I wanted to surround myself with energy. So I stuck with the original plan and I was incredibly glad I did. The pumpkin was a great fit for my personality and design tastes.
Then I painted the accent wall, which required a day of drying in between each layer. After applying the mocha base coat, I looked around the room and said, "This looks like a giant Reese’s peanut butter cup." The second step in the process was applying a bright red glaze. If I hadn’t already practiced on a board and seen how it would turn out, I probably would have wimped out at that point because it looked pretty odd on the wall. But I knew it was worth the effort to keep going. By the time I finished the patina, I was feeling positively artistic. I was ecstatic with the result.
There were two more stages in my office renovation – replacing the flooring and redecorating the room. I’ll tell you about those in my next post.—Pat Curry