One of my favorites spots in the house to decorate has been my office. It’s an area completely my own and I can do whatever I like to the space and don’t have to run anything past my other half (who recently shot down my longing for a hot pink coffee table when we finish the basement…I’m dead serious…but I suppose it’s understandable he’s not exactly on board).

Anyway…

The final piece for my office literally wouldn’t fit in the car during our last Ikea expedition. So without a long list of other items to pick up, we made a day trip up to the yellow and blue heaven store in Minneapolis and brought home the chair and ottoman I’ve been waiting for!

I love having a comfy spot to sit by the window and read, but I also like having a place for Page to sit. We often come into each others’ offices when the other is hard at work on a project. I sprawl out on the couch in his office and chat with him about the project or anything else that is going on. I feel like now that there’s a spot for him, he’ll be more likely to swing by my digs from time to time while I’m working. It seems like a small thing, but it helps us both continue to get work done in our freelance business, but also spend time together.

Did I mention the ottoman has storage? Always a score for me. In this case, I’m using the space to stash all of my gift wrap supplies. Minus a few rolls of paper in the closet, everything else from ribbons to tissue and gift bags to on-hand gifts fits in here.

The last thing to do in here is to find a way to add some *bling* to these letters. I would like to cover them in some kind of shiny coin or round sequin object. We’ll see what Hobby Lobby has in store for me.

Otherwise, I’m feeling like this space is complete.

I’m sure I’ll keep tweaking the details, but it’s so nice to have this room checked off my list!

It’s funny…I had originally kind of planned this whole adventure into three even posts. I see now that it will be a full series of posts because the project is way more involved than my big picture “details, schmeetails” head could wrap around.

Thankfully, the dude behind this project is way more detail-oriented than me. And despite me being down for the count the last week with a nasty cold, and our attention turning to outside spring maintenance, we’ve made some next strides in our latest installment of Bookcase Bodaciousness.

First up – Page cut a “countertop” piece as we’re calling it for each bookcase, from our 3/4 ” thick oak plywood. (And yes, a nearby whiskey was nearby for this stage. Hehe.)

To make these long cuts, he clamped a level to the master sheet of plywood to act as a guide for the circular saw.

If you’re using this technique in your own project, just know to clamp the level however far from the edge your counter depth will be (in our case, 14 “) ….

…plus whatever the distance is from the edge of your saw to the blade (in our case, it’s an even 5 ” additional).

Page used his jawhorse to hold the middle of the plywood sheet in place, but because it was so long and thin, he set up additional 2x4s at each end with extra clamps to hold the ends steady as well.

And it’s helpful to have an assistant brace the clamp that’s holding the piece that will be cut and fall away. (Please excuse my pajama attire.)

Page sanded the edges to gently round and smooth them (no sharp corners to bump into) and then I sanded and primed the counters and gave them the same two coats of paint I’ve given to the cabinets.

While I was painting, Page added shims to the cabinets (as perfect as the cuts and measurements were, the cabinets were, well, less than perfect, so to get them level requird a little finessing.)

Now you see the gaps….

…and now you don’t!

Much better, and a little caulk smoothed over the seam will make that line disappear altogether. Once in place, he screwed the shimmed cabinets into the walls for support, using wood colored screws to blend as much as possible.

One of the last steps will be to cut off the shim pieces sticking out at the bottom.

We also screwed the doors back on. By default, the single cabinet doors both opened to the right, so to balance things out between the two bookcases, we drilled new holes in one of them so the door could open left. No sense in having a cabinet in the corner that opens into the wall. We marked and drilled holes in each door using the same amazing four-dollar wonder tool we bought when adding our kitchen cabinet hardware. They make these for doors and drawers and have been life savers!

The piece on the end is a 1/4 ” plywood to end-cap the units and will be one of the last pieces to go in, but you can get the idea here. I caulked the seams in each of the cabinet doors, which, once hung, showed a few gaps in paint, since the center panel shifts oh-so-slightly and could only be fixed so well with paint alone. The caulk made a huge difference – wish I had a before to compare to the afters!

Next up will be adding backboard and of course the shelving to both sides, then a bunch of trim to both the shelves and the bottom of the bases to finish it all off. It sounds like a relatively short list…we’ll see how long it takes us. I’m already thrilled that I can put the shelves back in the cabinets and start loading them up…I’ve been daydreaming about all the stuff I can now stash in here!

No…we didn’t take a spring vacation. Our staycation is right here at the house. But we’ve had to “break” for Spring and put a hold on any other projects since, after an already unseasonably warm winter, spring (in Iowa!) started several weeks early…and skipped right into 80+ temps.

Don’t get me wrong – we are NOT complaining. I am more than happy to skip drizzly cold March and April worrying about that last “freak” snow storm of the season in favor of grilling on our deck and rediscovering my flip flops. And Page is definitely okay with an extra-long golf season. But the surprise jump-start on the season left us scrambling to get a plan for our sod which was planted while still dormant last December. Suddenly, we were responsible for actually doing something with it. (And I use “we” lightly here – this plan was all Page).

It started with the damn-another-expense purchase of a mower and trimmer. Although there is something to be said for a dude’s first mower, and inaugural mowing of his first lawn haha.  I couldn’t resist sneaking out for an iPhone pic to capture.

Then came the hoses and the sprinklers with the idea being that we’d have enough to run everything at once – no dragging the sprinkler around the yard every half hour each evening (good thinking, babe). The plus for us being in Waukee is that the city offers water meters for outdoor water use. We installed them on both faucets and every year, you call in the reading and get a refund for any outdoor water you were billed for, since it doesn’t have to go through sewer treatment. Our neighbors said they’ve received nearly 500 dollars back after a year of use, so we made sure we got ourselves the hook-up on that one – we’ll need it I’m sure after this first year of watering. Everyone keeps cautioning us about how much water new sod requires!

With a plan for the yard in place, the next thing to think about is some landscaping out front. My friend, Tara, has been kind enough to lend me a small library of books on what to plant based on where we live and what requires the least maintenance (yes, please). We’re thinking an L-shaped bed of shrubs and flowers around this left corner of the house, and adding solar lights (just sitting in the garage, waiting to be installed). Yes, another project. At this rate we could USE a week of spring vacation, just to get caught up or even (gasp) ahead!

And while it pales in comparison, I did try to do my part to get the house a bit more ready for spring…

…aka I spent five minutes hanging up a different wreath and swapped the flowers in the entryway vase. Hey – I have other projects to get to!

Happy spring – and Easter – to all!