Construction project - Part 1

As you might remember in this blog post where I spoke about my office space organization I mentioned that I had an idea for some shelves that I wanted Larry to build.  This bookcase was placed here to see if that was something I really wanted long term.

Well I decided, yes it was something I really wanted long term so we mapped out a plan and Larry started on Friday. 

First things first was to rip up the carpet.  I hate the carpet, its not conducive to crafting, little bits get stuck in it and my chair always gets caught when I roll off my floor mat.  I was very happy to see it go.

Here is a look after the carpet was removed.

This photo also gives a good look at the empty space.  See that little ledge there, well I use that as a counter top and its not very deep so my idea was to build a shelf unit that spanned the whole wall and have it the same height as the ledge, it would extend the ledge making it into a counter top for me to stand and work at.

Saturday I got to help rip the large pieces with Larry, I'm not a fan of machines like this but it was kind of fun to help out. 

Essentially he built me a box and then planned to add the top.  Here is the box, pretty big right.  It's 7'8" in length.  Hello storage!

Hello break the back getting it up stairs!

Here is the box in place.  See it fits nicely into that little space.  It's actually 11.5" deep of you were wondering.  We ended up with three shelves, all different heights.  The bottom one was sized to hold my paper storage so it had to be at least 14" high.  The middle shelf is 10.25" high and the top shelf is 7.25" high.

She thinks she's helping but she's not...

Here it is with the lovely counter top.  See those wires sticking up, Larry did some electrical magic and installed a electrical outlet right on top for me so I can plug a light and any other tool I might need.  So awesome!

Here is a look at the whole space.  Please pardon the mess on the desk, its covered in dust and needs a good cleaning.  It definitely makes the space cozy but its going to be awesome.  I can sit at my desk do the computer work with my photos and stand up and have everything I need below to do the hand work.  It will be a big improvement over working like I do normally, crowded in front of my computer and a bit of desk space on the right side.

Here's the outlet on top.
 

One of the things I really needed was a little backsplash so things wouldn't roll off over the edge.  Larry installed this bit of trim for me so that wouldn't happen.  The space is wide open to the first floor so I'm always worried about stuff falling off.

The next steps will be to sand, fill holes and paint the whole thing.  I'm having Larry paint the unit the same color as the walls so it blends right in.

After all that tile will be laid on the floor so I can roll around easily.  I also want to put in a new light fixture.  The ceiling is really high in this space and the flush mounted light fixture doesn't provide enough light.

I don't know what I would do without such a handy husband.  I love that he can take my ideas and turn them into reality for me.  Your the best Larry!

I'll be sure to post more photos as we progress along.  Have a good Monday!