Office remodel, Step 1: Heavy lifting

My office is ready for demo. We emptied the four bookcases… moved them into DH’s office… I stashed everything in boxes, which are now staged all over the house…. I moved the other pieces of furniture and all my computer gear into the family room. It is a madhouse throughout the rest of this house, but this room — it’s ready for its transformation from a makeshift office into a Pam Cave.

Because I spend so much time in this room, and because it is in the basement and quite cold in the winter, I decided to ask my contractor — the amazing Kevin Sullivan of Colonial Restoration, Dalton, Mass. — if he could help do a few improvements. Amazingly, I did not have to wait like three months — he just happened to have about a 10-day window between two huge jobs, so it was Ready Set Let’s Go.

So how I am I spending the dough re mi? Kevin is going to take down all the paneling…. furr out the outside walls so we can double-up the insulation… replace all the insulation… then drywall. I will also get a bit more electric. A plumber is coming in to add plumbing for a sink on the wall shared with the bathroom. And then, I decorate.

It’s become more of a project than I planned (isn’t that always the case?), but it’s all good, because now that I am working fulltime from home, a purposefully-created room makes sense. I am super excited, but anxious because I am having to make decisions quickly, when I usually take, like, two years.

May the Retro Decorating Gods bestow their vintage gifts and not too many unexpected surprises upon me. Regular reports to follow. I hope.