Overdue Office Renovation Updates
/Holy accidental summer break!
It definitely wasn’t my intention to take the summer off of blogging, but the office renovation needed as much attention as it could get - so that’s where I’ve been just about every day.
But all that time spent at the office was well worth it. We’ve made an insane amount of progress! While I’m not officially ready to reveal any of the rooms, you’ll get plenty of updates and sneak peeks in this post. Keep scrolling!
Refinished Floors
In my last post about the office, I shared that the months-long saga of demo was complete, and drywall was being installed. Shortly after that post, our floor guys started making headway, too. And let me tell you, it was a game-changer! Just look at the difference between the next two photos!
Considering the state of this building when we bought it, we didn’t think the floors could be salvaged. We weren’t even a little bit kind to them during demo. Even after all the debris we ruthlessly dropped on the floor, chucked down the stairs, and scooped up with shovels, these floors amazingly came back to life!
Once drywall and flooring were finished, I spent a few weeks priming and painting (with a little bit of help) every single wall and ceiling so I could move on to the more fun projects. (Though let’s be honest, I actually really love painting too!)
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s been happening in each room in the building - without giving too much away! I’ll share more detailed posts and tutorials once each room is completed.
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Lobby
This room is pretty far along. The showstopper here is the stone veneer accent wall and wood-clad fireplace. There’s still some styling left to do (as there is in every room in this building), finishing the trim, and replacing the three smaller windows with one big picture window.
On the other side of the room, I have plans for a reception desk that I originally wanted to be clad in wood very similar to the fireplace. Now I’m worried it’ll be too much, so I’m rethinking the design.
Conference Room
This room is the furthest along out of all the rooms, and I’m in love with how it’s coming together.
Can you even believe this before and after view from the same angle!?
There are still a couple of things left to do in here, like swapping the two smaller windows out for one large picture window (not pictured). We also plan on adding (DIYing, perhaps??) a sliding door for privacy when needed.
Agent Office
This room looks a little empty right now, but it’s actually farther along than it may seem. The largest project of installing the desks (made out of IKEA Havstorp cabinets and butcher block countertops) around the perimeter of the room is complete.
Now it’s a matter of building/installing the corner pieces between the cabinets, installing hardware, building bookshelves on either side of the windows, waiting for the center window to arrive, and styling the space.
Bathroom
This bathroom has been a labor of love for me. What started as a grimy little bathroom now has tall board and batten, hexagon tile, and a toilet! (which we went a surprisingly long time without)
A little bit of art (and fixing the board and batten around the new window) is all that’s needed to complete this space.
(Pst, you can see how I frosted the window in this tutorial!)
Media Room
This room has gone through a bit of an identity crisis. For a long time, we didn’t know what it would be used for, so we just called it the back room or the kitchen (because apparently, it was a kitchen at one point?). It’s now been deemed the Media Room.
It feels good to have a direction for this room and definitely helped narrow down the design. So far, it’s been painted a really pretty dark grayish-blue color (Past and Present by Sherwin Williams), and we’ve replaced the flooring.
On the wall you see in the picture above, we’ll be installing acoustic panels in some sort of design to help with the echo and add an aesthetic backdrop. We'll also be replacing the door and adding trim, and painting it all the same color as the walls.
Upstairs
The main room upstairs is a long, lofted room that will be rented out for use by other businesses.
There’s still a little work to do up here including installing doors on either side of the staircase and, oh yeah, a railing around the staircase. Important stuff. But I’m already loving the open space, the hanging lanterns, and, of course, the exposed brick chimney!
Robb’s Office
The only other room upstairs is Robb’s office, which has new flooring and a fun accent wall. Aside from missing a door and trim, this room is thisclose to being finished.
Exterior
Along with the interior updates, the exterior of the building has seen its own share of changes. We removed most of the stucco and all the siding, rebuilt all the rotted exterior walls, wrapped the building in a protective barrier, and installed board and batten siding.
We also recently got copper-colored gutters, which are going to pop once the nude-colored siding is painted. I can only guess what people are thinking as they’ve been driving by a nude building all summer. Any guesses on what color we’re going with!?
There’s also landscaping in the works, which will bring it all together.
Final Thoughts
All in all, we’ve been working on this office for about nine months so far. It’s been a wild ride! I’m blown away by the transformation this building has undergone in that short amount of time and that we’ve done most of it ourselves. I can’t wait to share the spaces with you as we finish them up. Keep checking back here for those posts, and follow along in real-time on Instagram!
