DIY:office space

as many of you know, if you follow me on here, on twitter, facebook or {my favorite} instagram, my son turned 18 last month and moved out in order to cultivate some independence before getting married in June. to ease the pain... i miss him... i turned his room into my office. it took exactly 2 weeks. i thought i'd share my little DIY office space project with you...
*we actually did 2 rooms at once. one room became my office and the other became Brian's painting studio. you'll see photos of both along the way

one. sigh.... car packed up, bed strapped to the top {through the windows/door frames so he had to climb through the window to get into the car. made for some nice comic relief} look at the way the dog is looking at Solomon... so cute!

two. the empty room

three. we rolled up the carpet

four. and tossed it out the window.  it was just easier that way.

five. we did the same with the pad

six. here is the exposed plywood that was underneath the carpet and that will become a beautiful, albeit a tad rustic, wood floor

seven. i pulled up all the carpet staples with needle nose pliers

eight. while Brian removed the strips from around the perimeter of the room. {my job was WAY easier}

nine. we rented a sander and Brian power-sanded both floors. this effectively covered every inch of the rooms with plywood dust. you'll want to clean that all up before moving ahead.

ten. tape off the trim/perimeter of the room before staining the floor. 

eleven. purchase your choice of stain at a paint store or home improvement store. ours was oil based, charcoal color. really dark. {this is the stain we used}

twelve. start by 'cutting in' the outside edge. that way when you use the roller it's not bumping up into the baseboards. {we chose not to remove the baseboards for the sake of time and chose instead to be really careful, tape them off, and apply a coat of stain around the perimeter of the room with a brush}

thirteen.  next i rolled the rest of the stain on with a paint roller. we only did one coat.

fourteen. i rolled the floor in sections, and as i finished a small section with the roller, i'd then rub the stain in with a rag. i did the whole floor like that, rolling then stopping and rubbing in. so i had to do relatively small sections at a time so i could reach without having to step onto the wet floor.  *wear gloves!!

fifteen.  ta da!!! the grain of the plain-ol-plywood absorbs the stain so nicely!

sixteen.  now, after your stain has dried, should be just overnight, apply 3-4 coats of a clear coat sealer. we used a poly-ureathane sealer like this one. we did 4 coats. Brian did this step with an 18 inch squeegie attachment. each coat went on fairly quickly but since we had to do several coats, this step did take a couple more days than i had originally thought. the sealer goes on fairly thick so it had to dry overnight.

seventeen.  next step...painting! why on earth we chose to paint AFTER the floors were finished is beyond me.  but we did. so i covered the floor with a plastic tarp, taped ALL the edges and trim, and went to work, cutting in all around the trim/windows/doors first.

eighteen.  this project was 4-fold. Solomon's room became Brian's painting studio, Brian's painting Studio became Izzi's bedroom, Izzi's bedroom became my office, my office became Brian and Solomon's office/Metro One office. in order for this to happen EVERYTHING had to be moved out in order to be moved in somewhere else in the house. so my entire house looked like this for a while. just stuff everywhere.  i felt like i was in an episode of 'hoarders' for two weeks!

nineteen. i put Breakfast at Tiffany's on my computer while i painted because i've seen it so many times i knew i wouldn't be tempted to constantly look at the screen to see what was happening. instead, i just recited the lines along with the actors and painting time passed painlessly.

twenty. i tried to remain paint free. i really did. but it didn't work out so well.

twentyone. once i finished painting, i couldn't wait to get my stuff in the office!!! it was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.

twentytwo.  finally. mission accomplished! that painting was done by my husband in 1989, the year we were married.  i love it and it's always hung either in my bedroom or office. and it always will. the white cabinet i purchased at IKEA maybe 8-9 years ago. the dress form was a Christmas gift from Solomon our first Christmas here in Montana.

twentythree.  this big white bookshelf is from IKEA also. it has served multiple purposes since moving to Montana. in CA it was used to house books, then when we first moved to Montana it held Brian's paint and brushes. then it moved to the Metro Office and held cd's, songbooks, dvd's and shipping supplies. now it holds my notebooks, books, shoes etc. and clearly Norman, the cat, loves it.

twentyfour. these cool vintage chairs were Christmas gifts from 2 different years in CA. all from Brian to me.  the table was 99$ from Target! i've used it as a craft table, sewing table, gift wrapping table and now desk. the rug is one i've had for several years. oddly, i owned it before moving to Montana!

twentyfive.  i bought only 2 new things for this little office-remodel project. this is one of them. {drapes are the other, they have yet to arrive} i found this sputnik light fixture on Etsy {here}

twentysix.  i LOVE the way the floors in this room turned out. Brian actually did this room and i did the other one. he did not rub the stain in with a rag, like i did.  each room turned out really cool, but each a little different. the rolled-only floor did not absorb the stain quite as much, therefore ended up being a much darker color, without all the variation in color. but i really liked both. i chose this one because of the spectacular view of the mountains! Brian said i could:)  and that guitar  is a 1980's reissue of a 1950's Gretsch Silver Jet. Brian and Shawn Tubbs {a dear friend and my guitar player for years until he moved to Nashville and got a gig with Carrie Underwood...no big deal} found it at a pawn shop in CA 10+ years ago.  i've just recently started actually playing it. {you can read about that here}

twentyseven.  i didn't waste any time using this space! i love that we can sit all around the table, and that there is not just one chair at a desk.  already, i feel inspired and more productive in this room!!

if you have any questions about how we did the floors i'd be happy {to attempt} to answer them!