Office 2.0

I mentioned in a couple of posts ago that Chris and I easily work together in our new and improved office space.  So here's the lay of the land.  Chris and I live in a Georgian Revival built in 1941.  It is a spacious 1200 square foot house.  Way bigger than what the two of us really need.  Included in the square footage is an addition that at one time was probably a screened-in porch, but when we purchased the house previous owners had enclosed it, drywalled, added carpet, and turned it into an office.

When we first moved in, we agreed that the office would be my space (and Chris would have the basement).   I've looked and Chris has looked for pictures of what the office used to look like, but neither of us can find them.  However, Chris did use Google sketch up to redesign the space and he started by sketching the space as it looked.

The office as it once looked.  Drawn in Google Sketch Up by Chris.

The room is rectangular with a door leading to our back deck on one side and a huge window looking to the front of our house directly opposite.  Underneath this large window is a great built-in desk that features a narrow book shelf on the right.  On the long side wall there was a series of cabinets and shelves.  I imagine they looked great when they were first installed, but the years have not been kind to them, and the shelves were pulling out of the wall -- to the point that I was afraid to put anything on them (but eventually I began storing lighter items there without any problems).

When we decided to redo the room, Chris used Google sketch up and the two of us weighed in on what we wanted.  We agreed that a long desk in an L-shape running along the two outside walls would provide needed counter space.  Chris has a lot more things than I, so he wanted his desk to have upper shelving, and I was delighted to stay in the spot in front of the window.  Actually, my spot hasn't changed all that much.

The office as we imagined it.  Drawn by Chris in Google Sketch Up.

The first step in the process (after clearing the room) was to tear out the cabinets.  Not a difficult task as they were practically falling out anyways.  Next, Chris built a long desktop to create the L-shaped desk.  It joins nicely with the existing desktop; you'd never guess they were added separately.  

Once the desktop was built, we needed to weigh it down, so the glue adhered.

The way Chris chose to attach the desktop was pretty ingenious.  To avoid using too many nails (and thereby reducing the weight of this sucker), Chris built a narrow shelf along the two walls with a groove cut out on one side.  Then, where the desktop meets the walls, he added a tongued piece of wood which was inserted into the groove.  All this was secured with globs and globs of wood glue.  Finally, he joined the two desks underneath with a brace.

Next, Chris focused on the shelving.  He built an overhead 2-shelf cabinet over his workspace and carried the top of that cabinet as a shelf that extends the length of the wall.  To divide our workspaces, and provide more storage, he then built a center bank of shelves.

The shelves installed.  (Ignore the wallpaper leg, it was there for support during the build.)

Once the shelves were installed, we went to Pottery Barn and purchased the Bedford 3 drawer file cabinet to match the one we previously purchased when we first moved here.  That adds storage, and perhaps more importantly, adds support for this long, floating tabletop.

So Chris worked on the office project 3 months ago.  Care to see how it looks today?  Check out these photos!

And here is Chris's side of the office: