Under Construction: The Perfect Design Workspace

This week construction (more precisely, demolition) began on my new design workspace and office. It has been in planning for about 8 months, and as some of you who have been through the construction process probably already know, once they open the walls and see what you really have to work with, all bets are off!! Above is a view from the landing just outside my office through the double door entry.

Just inside the doors of the office, you are looking at the gutted wall, on the other side of which is the 20x6 foot walk-in closet. The ceiling has been torn out so that a new cathedral ceiling can be built.

This project is quite large. The office and attached bath are about 500 square feet, and to make the room feel even bigger, and because we had immense attic space to work with, the ceiling is being raised from 8 feet to a cathedral peek of 13 or 14 feet. One surprise we became aware of in demolition is the gigantic beam you see, will need to stay in place. So I'll have an exposed beam I wasn't expecting and we'll add a few more to make it look like we meant to do it all along.

Here's the view back the other way from the closet wall to the double entry doors (the lighted opening to the right is the gutted bath.

My glass desk will be placed in front of the windows with such a pretty view of trees (when the windows are clean!!)

So, I planned every minute detail with my friend and Portland, designer extraordinaire, Susan Green, but........a wall in the bathroom couldn't be moved, as we had previously thought, which changed just about everything in that room's design. Design opportunity!! The sad little toilet is the only thing that remains for now (the above photo is about 1/3 of the bathroom). It, too, will be replaced in this remodel.

So, the fastest design re-do (thank you, Susan!) on the planet was done in about 18 hours, so that Jim, custom cabinet maker,

Dale, the contractor (that's him above) and I would have something to work with.

Bary and Casey are the most cheerful workers! I can't help but keep them topped off in french press coffee and cookies.

I am very, very excited about this project and will keep you updated as we move along.

Designing a space, is very much like designing knitwear.

It is certainly a lesson in being flexible and highly creative as each design choice impacts all the rest behind it.

I am grateful to the professional team that "has my back". More to come!