Progress on my office renovation is starting to shape up. Despite the minor disaster last night, I managed to finish cleanup of the room and it is now ready for the flooring to be done. Here is what it looked like before we started (2008 picture)
And here is what it looks like now, with the painting done and the furniture completely removed:
You can see more pictures of the progress in my gallery [2]. I found a great (for me) how-to home reno website [3] with clear instructions regarding painting [4] / painting preparation [5] in particular. That’s why I probably did more work than normally would be required to paint a small room like this e.g.: trim caulking [6], which had never been done in the room. I wanted to follow the guidance, and liked where it was leading me.
I like how the colours have turned out: the light green is sort of a “mint icecream” colour- I commented to Irene several times that it almost looks edible. And yes, I know I have to replace the window blinds, but that will be something I’ll look at once everything is complete.
As per usual when I complete such a project, I’ve “had” to buy several new tools. My favorite purchase was a Ryobi electric caulk gun [7].
For the record, I absolutely do not need an electric caulk gun. This is a tool for someone who uses 50 tubes of caulk a job, and does half a dozen jobs or more per year. I used one full tube… kinda lame, really. But I have used mechanical caulk guns in the past, and I don’t like them: the output is uneven, they are clumsy, and basically the results disappoint me. So where a $5 tool could have done more or less just fine, I instead spent $70. And I really like the gun: the electric motor works great, I already have the Ryobi 18V lithium ion battery from my drill (its an extra expense otherwise), and the result was much better than I would have achieved with the mechanical gun. But again, this is sheer overkill for my needs.
Once the flooring is done I’ll have to go back and touch up some of the edges a bit, fix the damage caused when they remove the baseboards for flooring, and fix the damage resulting from the shelf collapse. Then hopefully my new furniture will arrive by the beginning of April- it will be kind of irritating having to work without a functional office until then, but I’ll live. A side note regarding the furnishings: in completing this project I’ve realized that 29″ interior doorways, particularly when the door can’t swing completely out of the way like in this room, are too narrow for most furniture. Even my office chair doesn’t really fit through the door. So when I install the new furniture it will be assembled in the room itself, and it is a darn good thing that it *is* “assembly required” or else I’d have a tough time getting it in.
I’ll have at least one more update on the progress of this project once the flooring is in, and/or once the furniture has arrived.