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.
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Ooooh, how exciting Pam.
A forced 10-day window to make decisions and have progress sounds divine! Revel in it!
Hey, did you know that your blog is mentioned in an article in the new Atomic Ranch Book? Congrats!
Super Exciting Pam! We can’t wait to see it!
You will do great, too, we all have faith in you…
Just have fun! :o)
I’m feeling a lot of pressure to make this fabulous… in a good way, pressure, though!
A Pam Cave! I love that!
I wish I could rip out all the dry wall in my entire house to double-up the insulation. These 70s walls of mine feels very thin in the middle of winter and the middle of the brutal southern summer.
Seriously, I have been calling it my Computer Cave for the past several years – it’s in the basement, it’s cold. Now I will remedy the cold, at least. Will have to come up with a new name for the space though!
Good luck and have fun with it. Anything you do will be “Pamazing”.
haha i like that of course!
Idea board time!
Sure, send me yours!!!!
We call that having the Might-As-Wells…if we’re doing this we might as well do that. We once might-as-welled from needing a new shower door to renovating two bathrooms, a good bit of the kitchen, and the flooring in most of the house!
Yup – that about says it. Once you have to clean out the room… then take down the walls, you Might-as-Well set it up for the next 50 years!
Two words for you…spray foam!
Very exciting, can’t wait to see how it all comes out.
Quick decisions, I don’t do well with, but when you have to and it’s boom boom boom, done…how good it will feel that it isn’t taking two years to make the decisions. You’ll be put back together and ready to rock ‘n roll. Then onto the next project!
Might I suggest a vintage, Broyhill Brasillia desk?!! ANd a matching redenza/cabinet?!
Ten quick days will result in some great results, Pam. You are getting great at the snap decisions: remember the fab job you did on your mom’s bath!
Above all, have fun!
What Nate said….you really should check it out if you haven’t.
Pam Cave, that’s great! I’m sure it will turn out grand and you will be SO HAPPY with the added insulation. We just put a little bit of insulation in our previously uninsulated breakfast nook (you could literally feel a breeze coming in through the walls) and I swear the temperature of the kitchen instantly went up at least 10 degrees (significant in an Iowa winter).
Can’t wait to see the pictures of the done deal! Good luck making all those quick decisions … trust your gut and it will all be fine.
Pam, I love your vintage Hoover! We have 2 and they work much better (IMO) than new vacuums; one has powerdrive so it practically vacuums for me. And it’s so easy to change the bags! 🙂
it’s not vintage! well… 10 or 20 years old? i can’t remember…
It can be your “Pamabode”, or your “PKave”, or your ……….OK, enough already.
I can relate to the “two years to make a decision” but that’s just because you care so much about getting it just right. A warm based color will help psychologically warm the space – like the sun is shining in. Then accent with the avocado?
A dedicated sink for crafting? More insulation? Better electrical? Wowsa! I bet you’ll be a lot more productive not having to wear a parka down there. 🙂
I think you need a disco ball down there! 🙂