Monday, May 21, 2012

Office Project: The desk!

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I have no excuses.

It has taken me forever (well, at least a week) to blog about the desk—and for no good reason, other than that it has taken me that long to take and edit a few pictures.  But the time has come…

You can see my concept drawing for the desk here, and the technical drawings here.

It took me two trips to pick up all the pieces of the desk from the talented craftsmen at Sean’s Woodworking in Salt Lake City.   Have I mentioned that it’s NINE FEET wide??  Go big or go home, I say!

They would have been happy to bring it to me and install it for me—but that version is for people who have more money than time (that’s not me).  But never having installed cabinets before, I really didn’t know what I was up against!  So here’s a quick re-cap, if you’re interested.

Because I was going to be installing things myself, they built the upper cabinets with a cleat system, so they could be briefly hung on the wall on a 2x4 until I could screw the cabinets themselves into the wall.  This was a very good thing.  Otherwise, it would have taken a fair amount of juggling and weight-lifting to get everything up and level!

I carefully marked my studs, and first screwed the cleat for the bridge unit into them.  Then I discovered that the cleats for the bookshelves on either end did NOT transverse two studs!  That was not a happy moment, and that’s why the cleat is crooked in the picture!  I ended up using drywall anchors to secure one end of the cleat.

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I prevailed on a neighbor to come help my husband and I lift the bridge unit up onto the cleat—it was heavy!  Then I screwed it into the wall.   The side pieces we could handle on our own!

I posted this “sneak peek” on Facebook the day we were installing it!

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I ran into a few snags on the installation.  This desk is meant to be used for a computer, and so we needed holes for cables/cords to pass through.  When I picked the desk up, I was supposed to have them drilled—but we all forgot.  They assured me I could do it myself, but it was really NOT an easy project.

For example, drilling though the desk top involved drilling through TWO 3/4” pieces of wood, plus a 3/4” piece of MDF!  It took a good 20 minutes to get through all that.

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…but at least I learned that the desk was sturdy!  Yep, I climbed on top of it.  And really—it was easier to do that part than the two holes that had to be drilled in the sides of the cabinets below!

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But drilling the holes was only part of the solution—you see, there are DRAWERS under the counter top, and thus there was no where for the cords to go.

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My solution was to knock off the back of one of the drawers, cut the drawer bottom down my 3 inches, and reattach the back of the drawer.  It was a little hard on the MDF…

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…and trust me, it was emotionally difficult to break part of a brand-new and expensive desk!

Next problem was due to a bit of a miscommunication, I think.  I requested a pull-out shelf in the right-side cabinet for my printer.  They built me a drawer inside the cabinet:

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The difference was that my printer wouldn’t fit in the drawer!  So I took it out to my table saw and sliced off the top three inches all around—thus creating my own shelf.

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Not so pretty, maybe, but it worked!

So here’s a brief tour of my favorite features:

** My printer is tucked away, with space for paper as well!

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** The CPU is also tucked away, but in a prettily vented cabinet (I got the idea to use decorative sheet metal from Meridian Road).

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** I love the upper bridge.  I gave up on seeded glass (it was expensive).  The cabinets look like they open upward, but that’s only because of where the pulls are installed.  Upper hinges are VERY expensive, so this was a great cheat!

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**  I love the corbels under the bookcases, but I will admit that they are not as eye-catching as I hoped they would be.  But I love them because Sheri from Sean’s Woodworking let me come to the shop and help paint and distress them (more on that another time).

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So there you have it!  It is, without a doubt, the “most major” part of the whole “front-room-to-office” project.  There are still more things to be done in the room—a couple of furniture pieces to finish, and I’d like a rug—but we’re actually using that poor unloved front room now!

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And I am happy to say that I actually like having the computer there.  It’s easier to keep track of what the children are doing, more convenient for me to use, and best of all…

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…it’s pretty!

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P.S.  The Map Wall may be found here.

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This project has been featured at My Repurposed Life and Primitive & Proper.

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Linking up here:
  Elizabeth & Co.
Sisters of the Wild West No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic 2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper Thrifty Décor Chick
  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect {Primp}
Simply Klassic Sundays My Repurposed Life
From My Front Porch to Yours It’s So Very Cheri
Cowgirl Up! {aka} design

33 comments:

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

oh.my.gosh. it's awesome Korrie! whoa, that's going to be there for a LONG time!
way to go girl
gail

Homeroad said...

Korrie!!!! That is fabulous! Did you have any help (other than whoever took the pictures)???? You are amazing! The map is fabulous and the desk is gorgeous!
Great job!
Susan

Unknown said...

WOW! It looks fantastic and i love the huge map and the cabinets are gorgeous!

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

Oh my sweet-sweet goodness! I love your desk and office area. I've been putting off working on my 'DEN'...because that is where the computer/desk/office will also be. I've been stumped. But you're right this PRETTY! I love the way you positioned the Map with the Good Ol' U.S.A. right up front and dead center!

Great job! ,going back for a nice long stare at it... Pat

ps...I'm leaving now, feeling very inspired!

wisp said...

I love it! :D A lot of work and it paid off. :) It's awesome!

Full Circle Creations said...

It looks amazing! I really like the way it turned out. I love the corbels. I think they would stand out if the wall behind it was a solid color. But I love the map behind! You could always paint the corbels black and then they would probably stand out more. You are going to get so much use out of it and that room now. Congrats! It is so pretty! And I'm so jealous!

Holly

Jacqueline said...

I love the cabinets and the map on the wall!

Mimi@blueroofcabin said...

Oh I am so jealous! (but in a good way.) I love all of it! The cabinets are gorgeous! I cant believe you just dove right in and cut things apart when they didn't work, oh wait yes I can I follow your blog, you're fearless.

From G2B said...

Oh my word- it looks sooo good!! What a gorgeous piece- he did a great job with the desk. Way to learn to hang cabinets- you go girl!!
I love, love, love it- the map is perfect behind it!
xo Becca

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

It looks wonderful, Korrie! I love the bridge piece and that nice long desktop.

Roeshel said...

Oh wow, Korrie! I LOVE how this is coming along! Beautiful desk! And that map makes facing the wall so much more interesting! Great idea!

Cassie Bustamante said...

korrie! it looks AWESOME!!!!!!

Ali Richardson said...

Ahhhhh! SO cool! Super jealous!

Maria Elena said...

You did a wonderful job with this desk. It looks awesome with the map wall. Gorgeous space!

Rachel said...

That turned out so nice!!

You are one brave girl! I can not imagine having to go in and do surgery on a new piece of furniture. :)

I love it!

Gypsy Heart said...

Absolutely wonderful! You are amazing at constructing and whatever else. I know you're going to thoroughly enjoy this!

xo
Pat

Gypsy Heart said...

Absolutely wonderful! You are amazing at constructing and whatever else. I know you're going to thoroughly enjoy this!

xo
Pat

pasqueflower said...

LOVE the map and your new cabinets/desk!

Irene said...

It's more then pretty, it is awesome!

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

Wow, The desk is wonderful! I love the map wall too.

Beth said...

I think you are one my biggest inspirations! This looks amazing!

Anonymous said...

Korrie---you totally rock!
It looks AWESOME!
I love that you climbed on top of the counter to get some leverage cutting that hole!
Your mantra has got to be from that old song, "Ain't no stoppin' us now. . ."
Catherine

Anonymous said...

Your desk looks so great - love it!! I'm going to Pin it too, for my new (in my dreams) office!

Megan Gunyan said...

Wow, this is amazing! I love the map wall, too. You do such great work. Love it!

Gwen @ The Bold Abode said...

Incredible! What a dreamy office!

TracyMB @ Crows Feet Chic said...

Oh my gosh... love this!! I have a beautiful cream desk (except that it's pressed board) and now I have a fabulous idea on how we can replace it. Brilliant upper cabinet idea too. Thanks so much for sharing!! :)

I Play Outside The Box said...

Do you feel my green envy oozin' out in this comment? I love this!! Found you over at Gail's MRL.

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about a wall map for a while, now, & I think you just tipped the scale in favor of it... it's gorgeous & I love maps!!! =)

Bliss said...

You dominated that desk!

~Bliss~

stive martin said...

Its so nice and sweet office. I like your all the information of this blog. I always search for this type of good and interesting blog.

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Renting Offices said...

Wow! The world map as a sort of wallpaper is totally awesome! Wonderful!

Good Time Charlie said...

This looks amazing!! And just in time as we are getting ready to do a built in workstation around here too. Pinning this one. You are so good!

Unknown said...

I can see the ordeal you guys went through to get this computer table done. It is very beautiful. All your hard work absolutely paid off! Great job!

Lance Vartanian