Office Redo - Make it Mesh

Yes,we are still trudging along on our office redo!!

 If you have missed any of my riveting posts about this you can go back and check out all my posts:

Part One - Crap Room to Craft Room

Part Two - The Plan

Part Three - I Think I'm Bob the Builder

Part Four - Shelving Fix

Now, I'm going to show you all the little things that make all these hodge podge pieces of furniture look like they were built ins. 

Making it all mesh together if you will.

First, Les moved the outlet and phone jack up above desk level as the old lower ones would be covered by the desk. While he was at it he added a outlet above the paper sorter that I built 

so we would have an outlet to plug in our under-counter lights that will be mounted in the desk area.

If you have thought I'm totally crazy and this whole thing is going to look like crap, 

hopefully these drawings will give you more insight of my vision.  I like to draw things to scale on graph paper to help visualize details that are floating around in my head.  I draw the basic picture and then draw separate parts and cut them out.  Then I can place them on and off the picture to see which details I like. 

 Below are two options for the arched part above the desk. 

 The top picture was an idea using some old pieces I got off of an old piano.  I really liked the look but they were so big and chunky I decided to wait and use them for a special project downstairs!! 

 (You'll probably have to wait a year or more to find out what that is!)

The second picture was a simple design cut out of  3/4 inch MDF.  

After picking the second option I cut out a full sized paper sample and taped it in place. 

 It seemed a little plain. 

So I went shopping to try and find a happy medium.

Here's what I found at Lowe's.  

They are vinyl outdoor house trim pieces.  

They were the perfect size and look I wanted 

and at only $6.18 each how could I go wrong!!

With these in hand I ran home and altered my paper template and cut it out of 3/4" MDF.  Once it was attached I just started adding all the rest of the face frame trim.  This step covers all the ugly parts and really makes everything mesh.  We put this 3/4" thick trim on the entire front of the shelving wall also.

Then we attached the pretty scrolly things I got at Lowe's.  

Just say you love them as much as I do. 

Are ya also loving all the white dots?  

They represent hours of hard work filling holes and sanding and then filling holes and sanding!!!  

And then lots of caulking!!!

Are ya seeing my vision yet? 

Next picture shows the crown molding going up!! 

I was so excited about that crown molding, I stayed up half the night to finish it!

The dawn of a new day brought me back to reality and other little details that needed addressing.  

Like the base board issue. 

 The two towers came with trim attached extremely well at the bottom.  When we first installed these two pieces we decided to leave this trim on because it was just not budging! We decided to try and have some custom paint grade trim made to match. 

 That was a great plan, until I found out It would cost over $100 just to have the knives set up to cut it. 

 Then I would have to pay for the 20 or so feet of trim on top of that. 

 So we went to plan B, 

use the original baseboards we took off the walls.  

This was a great plan cause it was free!!

 But.....

 I had this one spot where I would need to extend that custom molding. 

(see below) 

Here's what I did. 

 I cut a block of MDF to fit in the gap. 

 Then I traced the profile of the trim onto my block. 

 I used a couple of saws to get the general shape and then sanded it until the profiles matched. 

I thought it turned out pretty good.  

Once it's all painted out it will be hard to tell I added a piece.  

I was headed down the last stretch before I could start painting!!! 

 One last project was weighing on my mind. 

 I wanted trim on the arch above the desk. 

 But I specifically wanted curved trim. 

 I racked my brain and searched the internet for a way to curve the trim on a budget I could afford. 

 I soaked and microwaved wood, 

I cut slim pieces and tried to bend them. 

I notched wood.

 It was just not happening!!  

But...

 I was set on having curved trim, 

it just looked better in my mind!!  

Finally,

 I decided I could achieve what I wanted by making one large piece.  

I cut out the shape I wanted out of 1/2" MDF.

  (See below) 

 Then I routered the edges.  My router job was pretty good except the very small tip.  I did a very bad job with the router on that curve.  But when Less got home he fixed those curved edges.  

Thanks honey!! 

Once in place I added a wooden medallion in the middle.  

I like how it turn out!  

(Pay no attention to all those wires hanging down!)

Oh, one other thing I failed to mention was the small trim between the white scrolly things and the  MDF.  I picked that trim up at the Restore for practically nothing.  

 The key to making it look professional is the trim at the seams. Otherwise the seam looked like a mistake.

All these little details seem to take so much time, 

but in the end it 's all worth it.

Details, details, details!!!

So, I'm dying to know if you still think I'm crazy or loving it!  

Can you see my vision or do you just think I'm plain wacky!

Next up, I'll be painting it all!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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