The Office Reveal

Check out Part 1 here where we decided to turn our dining room in to an office!

Last I left off we had stripped the wallpaper and primed (I might have done the ceiling at that point as well). We painted all the trim including the hutch, window frames, and a door that goes from the office to the kitchen. We had taken off the door when we moved in but it was time to put it back!

We painted the walls Flowering Herbs by Benjamin Moore. In a lot of pictures it looks tan but it has some green undertones in it. In the pic below, the more accurate color is on the left.

I don't have any pictures of the beadboard cutting because that took 2 people and 2 hands! We were able to borrow some tools from Eric's cousin and it really helped us complete the job.

To adhere the boards to the wall, we used Liquid Nails and a nail gun. Here I am with the Liquid Nails:

Sorry for the blurry shot. The camera was somehow switch to manual focus and I didn't notice till days later!

After all the beadboard was up, we used caulk to fill in the seams and putty to cover the nail holes. I made sure to get paintable caulk but it would have been even better if I got it in white (it dried clear) so the painting would have been easier! We used a roller to roll the paint (same color as all the trim) but below I am using the brush for tight corners etc.



A work in progress!

Finally it was time to pull up the tarp and get rid of all the tools!

Here is a look at the newly painted hutch (with new hardware!) and the door we added back on (with a new handle!). We were still getting hardware for the doors on the hutch. Oh, and the hutch used to have 3 shelves... we, ok Eric, busted one out in the beginning knowing we were going to put our printer in there.

This is a shot with the door open so you can see our magnet-riddled fridge on the other side.

I almost forgot, we put up blinds! They were for our original office upstairs but since we hadn't put them in yet, we put them in down here. It's great for regulating the light but also now that the office is on the 1st floor, we can close the blinds so people can't see our computers.

From the get-go we were nervous how this space would look with our office furniture. We have a really nice executive U-shaped desk we got from my uncle in NY. We had been using it in 2 pieces but it was still HUGE and HEAVY. The new office is quite a bit smaller than the old office. I had to map out a floor plan with our desks to see if it would work. Because of the space and layout, we only had 2 options!

Thankfully bringing down the desk seemed much easier than when we brought it up. And the layout worked great... the room still feels really open!

There is another opening in this room we are debating how to close off. It is too wide for double doors but too narrow for a single door.

Dylan says "hi!"

Boy, nothing like a picture to see all the wires you have! You can also see below we put back the doors to the hutch. We also drilled a hole so we could run a power strip inside for our printers, etc.

So there you have it! Our new office. We spend a lot of time in there now and Dylan has a bed nearby so he can "work" with us. 

As with the office upstairs, we are going with a Travel theme. So far though I only moved down our diplomas and hung a wood propellor. We still need to replace that light... and maybe curtains. Anyhow, I am so glad this poor neglected room has had its makeover and is getting a ton of use!

Happy 5 Months Dylan!

Well, as I start *again* on a *new* blog, I thought I'd share Dylan's story being that today is his 5 months birthday!

As I am allergic to most dogs, Eric and I were looking for a hypo-allergenic dog. I had initially been hunting for a Whoodle (wheaten terrier and poodle mix) I think mostly because it sounds a lot of fun to say "Whoodle," but also, a combo of 2 hypo-allergenic dogs is better than 1 right? I was skeptical that there would be such a thing as a hypo-allergenic dog because it could be any number of things that I am allergic to (hair, dander, saliva, etc). I was also really nervous if we got a dog and I was allergic and we would have to bring it back!

The day after xmas snow was predicted but as it held up for most of the day, Eric and I went out. In a fateful turn of events, we got on the wrong highway and ended up in NH which is where we found Dylan! I decided I would have to find out sooner or later if wheatens were a suitable breed for me so we visited with him for a looooooooong time. Like over an hour... maybe two. He was so adorable and so excited and then at the end he was tired and snuggled with us. I was completely fine which was such a shock. If you have allergies you know the suffering and to be with a dog and not have watery eyes and a runny nose and an itchy feeling in your hands was amazing!

So we took him home! By then it had already begun to snow and the blizzard was setting in. We made it back and he settled right in! This is him snuggling in Eric's lap.

Here is he a couple days later with a plush hedgehog squeaky toy. Let's just say the hat didn't last long.

Hard to believe but the pic below is only about 2 weeks after we got him. We got him a bright yellow coat for walks (which I got a size up so he could "grow" in to it) and he looks like he's got a cape on!

And here is a more recent picture of him, lounging on his pet pillow in our new office (yes you get a sneak peak here!).

Since we got him, he has gained 10 lbs from 18 to 28 lbs! It is amazing. And he has certainly grown as he can hardly snuggle in to Eric's lap like the day we brought him home. This weekend he graduated from puppy kindergarten and has learned a handful of tricks. He is mostly house trained and can jump in and out of the car by himself. Sigh... my puppy is growing up!

Funny thing though... since the day we brought him home we have had snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm. Over 70 inches of snow in Boston which means even more than that out where we live! There was discussion of renaming Dylan to Blizzard or Nor'Easter.

Dylan doesn't seem to mind though... he loves snow!

Happy 5 months Dylan!