Lisa's New Home Office

The task at hand was the total remodel of Lisa's home office. It had been Sarah's bedroom and as many teens are want to do, it was painted a VERY deep red. Oh, excuse me, "Merlot" is the color. The dark metallic gold drapes (what color would YOU hang over a merlot wall?), rods, and the swag-chained ceiling fan all went to the Goodwill.

Here's the end of day one. The carpet had been in this room as long as we've been in the house, better than 12 years, so it was kind of gross under there. After sanding down the high spots on the subfloor it got a coating of sealer. The baseboards and chair rail were also torn out. The baseboards had received so many coats of paint over the years they just weren't salvageable. The chair rail? Well, a design edit. :-) The big job here was the total removal of the sprayed popcorn ceiling. Huge mess, but well worth doing. Also, the electrical outlets, switches, and plates were removed and discarded.

Spackled all the defects in the wall where the baseboard and chair rail were removed, as well as the holes from a dozen Harry Potter posters. :-) In the bottom left of the picture you can see the corner of the gold framed sliding mirror closet doors. They're not long for this world.

So, how do you de-merlot a bedroom? Primer, the thicker and whiter the better. The room actually took two coats before I was comfortable painting the finish color. You can see the soon to be trashed mirrored closet doors better here. The ceiling needed some spackle as well to cover the holes from the fan as well as where I removed the hooks that suspended its swag chain. After a good sanding it got a coat of drywall sealer, then a coat of white primer.

This finished product. The floor is Pergo Vera Mahogany laminate. The wall color is actually a light gray, but given the light quality in the room it actually looks quite blue. The baseboard, casements, doors, and ceiling are all a much lighter shade of gray that really appears pretty white. The mirrored closet doors have been replaced with 6-panel sliders that match the door leading to the hallway. The wall mirror and rug were bought specifically for the room.

The window now has a casement, and the tall drapes have been replaced with window blinds the same color as the floor. The lamps and clock were bought for the room.  The desk used to be Ali's. (I think she'll have to arm-wrestle Lisa for it if she comes to claim it)

I still have to punch down the ethernet and phone wires, and Lisa has to choose which pictures she wants to hang (and where), but it's essentially done. I'm pleased to report Lisa totally loves the room and is quite happy with how it turned out. This is a really good thing because ...

"When Mama's not happy, nobody's happy."