We have an office in our master bedroom. The problem was we didn't use it because it was dark and cluttered.
See what I mean?
I decided it was time to do something about it, so I called my contractor to get an estimate. His bid came back at over $5,000!!! Did I mention that the room measures 9'x7'? I'm not cheap, but that seems like a lot of money for a little room that only Hubby and I use. So now I've got a challenge. What can I do and how much can I save? Here's what I came up with:
First, I cleared out all our junk, then my contractor removed the upper cabinets, changed the ceiling fan, and moved some electrical boxes around. I don't do electrical. The next problem was deciding what to do with the walls. The demo left some really uneven surfaces. I decided to use burlap because it would hide the flaws while leaving an interesting texture.
Bad texture. Good texture. Cute edge.
How did I hang the burlap? I used wallpaper paste that I had left over from another project. I applied it to the wall, adhered the burlap, then applied more paste over the top. Don't worry, I tried it on a test swatch before I put it on the walls. In this case, the paste didn't change the color of the fabric at all. I also left the raw edges of the fabric rather than cutting them off because I liked the way it looked.
Now for the shelving. I really love the look of salvaged wood and pipe fittings, so that's what I made.
Now for the desk. I painted it my favorite dark neutral (Benjamin Moore Dragon Breath) and decided what I wanted for the work surface. I'm a fan of metal countertops, so I called my sheet metal guy with the measurements and he fabricated my galvanized aluminum desktop. All I had to do was pick it up and install it.
Almost done. Now to bring back all the junk and have some fun with accessories!
I love it! Now I'm happy to open the double doors every morning and actually do some work in there. Best of all was the cost. I saved over $3,500 by doing it myself!
Do what you love and you'll love what you do!
Lynn
