Office redesign project finished!

BEFORE:

AFTER:


I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's so much lighter than with the dark paneling, and my plants are going to love it. No more crappy, worn, dog-peed carpet. And best of all, the whole project cost less than $400 to complete. I learned quite a few things too:

1. Measure everything BEFORE going to the hardware store. I can't emphasize this enough. I made two pretty crucial mistakes that ended up turning out just fine, but both required multiple, unnecessary trips to the hardware store. First, I didn't order the right amount of quarter-round molding, not even realizing I'd need it for all the way around the room. The quarter-round ended up being the wrong finish, but thankfully I had only ordered one piece of it, thinking I'd need it for the stairs. And it was only about $5. Second, I didn't get the right sized shelves, TWICE! I feel like kind of an idiot but I ended up staggering the shelves and really like the effect.

2. Check EVERYTHING before you bring it home from the hardware store. Several pieces of the laminate had little small flaws in the corner where the material had chipped off. If I had looked at this in the store, or had the energy to bring it back, I probably could have gotten a discount or even been able to re-order the damaged boards. As it turned out, I had already started cutting the boards, and didn't want to hold off completing the project any longer, so I'll probably end up repairing the few with a laminate floor patcher and a marker. Thankfully it's really not that noticeable.

3. When in doubt, use a primer. The step leading into the office is concrete, and as my dad explained, I couldn't really put the laminate on the bottom of it or it would stick out and cause the molding to look really funny. So I ended up painting it to match the molding all around the room. Unfortunately, the paint didn't adhere to the concrete very well and has to be touched up:



Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to just be done with the painting.

Anyway, the project is done, the furniture is moved back, and I'm very happy with it all in all. Now wouldn't it look great with a giant bay garden window?! I'll start saving for that now.