Month: March 2017

Posted on

Basement Home Office Redo

Designing a home office is always a fun challenge. It’s one space where everything needs to be functional and look good and to top it off, it tends to be in an odd space. This basement home office is no different. With a weekend’s worth of work, this home office can be completely transformed into a function and beautiful space.

There are several parts of this room that we are not going to change because they work well in the space. The room is a nice open rectangular plan which we are going to keep since the basement isn’t used for anything else. The window, albeit small, allows natural light into the room which is fairly rare in a basement so we are going to leave it open like it is. Finally, the recessed lighting fixtures are also nice in a basement because they provide good general lighting without making the ceiling feel like it is lower which is important in a basement. All these qualities help make the room feel more like a home office and less like a basement.

The first change needs to be the color temperature of the room. This room is oddly yellow-orange. To fix the coloring, paint the walls a high contrast or pure white which will cut down on the warmth of the walls. Then replace the recessed bulbs with a higher temperature LED light in Daylight or maybe Cool White which will have a more neutral tone than the lights currently used. Your energy bill will also thank you for switching to LED due to the increased efficiency. Then under the soffit hang a large piece of art that has cool and neutral tones that will also cover the electrical panel since no one wants to look at that. These changes will help cut down on the warm coloring of the room.

The next problem with the room is, the workspace lacks definition. Simply add a large area rug in the middle of the room in front of the large piece of art. This change will define the space as the home office and anchor the workspace instead of just having a desk floating in space in the room.

Then, the office is lacking beautiful functional storage. On the wall with the window take upper kitchen cabinets in a Shaker Style and place them on a simple 2×4 base. On top of the cabinets add a large simple 3×3 cube out of plywood that fits the space. This will provide closed storage and open display storage for the office. This change will allow books, certificates, and personality items to be displayed while keeping paper and supplies hidden. Then put the filing cabinet in the closet because it throws off the balance by being overly heavy and a mid height. That change will increase the storage and create a focal wall for the room.

Next, the workspace lacks the scale and visual impact it needs to have. To correct this, take the current desk and place it on the area rug with its length mirroring the length of the room. Then, add a smaller desk in a similar style perpendicular to that desk so it forms an “L”. On the new desk place the printer and add an All-in-one computer like the iMac which will create a defined computer work zone and make the printer feel less heavy in the space. Finally add two wooden swivel chairs for guests to the office and add a wood and leather office chair behind the desk which will create a more cohesive style for the room. These changes will give the workspace the visual impact it needs and create a more functional workspace.

Finally, the office needs better task lighting. On the computer desk place the current desk lamp. On the other desk where the paper organizer and a desk calendar will be, add a vintage-inspired library light which will create better task lighting for that work zone. Then add LED puck lighting to the shelves and above the piece of art, which will create dedicated display spotlights there and create a more upscale look for relatively inexpensive.

With only a weekend’s worth of work, this basement home office can be completely transformed from a drab and boring space into something that is beautiful and functional. Using simple, non-permanent changes the space is now usable and beautiful.

Posted on

Tune Up Time: Kitchen Modernization

Sometimes design choices can remain timeless, however, the builder grade hardware from almost 40 years ago in this 70s condo kitchen isn’t. This kitchen is definitely in need of some modernization, but a full renovation can quickly get expensive. There is another way to do it on a budget though.

The first rule, is that we want to play up the good qualities of this room. One thing that I love about older spaces is that they have better natural lighting. This kitchen has a huge window that lets in a ton of light. We want to preserve this natural light. We also want to keep the layout the same, with only a few changes. While this layout isn’t perfect, it works until a full renovation can be done. Now onto the changes.

The first change that needs to happen is the bank of cabinets over the peninsula needs to be removed. These cabinets visually separate the kitchen from the dining room too much and create two small dark rooms. By removing them, you create one large light filled room that is less cavernous. Their storage duties would also be better served by Billy Bookcases with glass doors in the dining room to store dinnerware. To retain the balance hang an open shelving unit on the wall next to the peninsula. Finally, add stools to the peninsula so the overhang can be used for seating. This creates an open transition area between the dining room and the kitchen which can serve multiple purposes.

The remaining cabinets then need to be dressed up. White slab cabinet doors are boring and get dirty and look gross. There are two options, either replace the cabinet doors and fronts or dress up the existing doors. To dress up the doors, take lattice wood and add horizontal moulding across the fronts of the doors at equal intervals. Then paint all of the fronts and cabinets a light to medium cool grey. The peninsula should be painted a brighter color like cyan and be made to look like a piece of furniture. Finally, replace the hardware with overlay hinges and tab pulls. This decision will add visual interest to the space while keeping the look fairly simple and modern. This will transform the cabinets from blah to a more modern finished look.

So the fridge is missing, that means that all the appliances need to be replaced, right? No! We can easily replace the missing fridge by purchasing an inexpensive unit off craigslist or from a place like Habitat For Humanity ReStore and then using the same kind of high temperature spray paint in silver or aluminum, paint all the appliances to match. Spray painting the appliances is an easy and inexpensive way to update the color and make all the appliances match in a room without breaking the bank on an entire set. It also creates a cohesive element among the appliances.

The next element that needs to be removed is the atrocious light box. Kitchen light boxes are inefficient and have a disgusting yellow tint. Take it out and replace it with 4 LED recessed cans. In a future full renovation the drop ceiling over the kitchen should be removed, but temporarily use it as a place to recess better general lighting. Then add task lighting around the kitchen. Over the peninsula would be a great place to add pendants (which would help balance the space) and under the cabinets add LED light strips and power strips which will give nice work lighting and it will hide countertop appliance cordes.

Finally, the kitchen faucet is dated, lacks scale for the room. A larger faucet this is a more modern design will fit the space better and it will dress up that area of the kitchen. Then add a peel and stick backsplash that will add some blue color. This decision will finalize the design and help transform the space.

In a weekend’s worth of work, this kitchen could be taken from dated and drab to modern and fab on a minimal budget. This new design should keep the kitchen feeling modern for the foreseeable future or until a full renovation is undertaken. It is worth the effort to dress up the kitchen because minimal work will create a beautiful modern space.