Well, after months and months, we’ve finally finished up our new office in town. This was Phase 1 of our Building project, and while it did take us quite a bit of time to complete it, we’re so glad we didn’t rush the process. So many of the decisions we made in this office space—everything from the floor finish to the trim color, bathroom tiles, wall finishes, hardware, cabinet wood variety, cabinet finish, etc.—will carry over to the next phase of the Building project, and will make things move along so much more quickly. We’re grateful to have been able to do the office project first so that it could be a bit of a proving ground for the rest of the building. And of course, after all these years, we’re so happy to have our ranch office back in town. Even though we all live and work out on the ranch, having a centralized spot in civilization is really nice. I won’t be in there as much as the guys will since I don’t like leaving my house (ha), but I know we’ll all really enjoy having the new space for a variety of reasons.
I’d love to take ya on a tour if you’re interested! (It’s a little long…but I hated to break it up into separate posts.)
This is the new stairway that leads to the upstairs office. It’s separate from the rest of the building, so that when the public space is eventually open downstairs, the two can remain independent of each other.
This back stairway is exciting, because it’s the first (and only, so far) place where the old, original ceiling tiles have been installed.
You might remember the state of the old tiles when we began the Building project.
One by one, we’ve had them sandblasted clean…
And then powder coated with a neutral metal finish.
It’s fun to see some of them up on the ceiling! We used them in this back stairway because it actually ties in with the rest of the ceiling in the downstairs space, and my soul is more at rest when materials are consistent.
We actually didn’t even intend to use this barn light here; I had ordered it months ago to see if we might like this style for either the office or the rest of the building. Then, when we realized we needed a pendant light for the back stairs…it wound up fitting just fine!
This is the original lift—and it totally works! We had to replace some of the beaded board inside, and since it proved to be so difficult to match the old stain perfectly (the wood is totally different), we just stained the new and decided not to care that it wasn’t all matchy-matchy. It’s an old lift, after all, not a piece of furniture. We’re good with it!
And here’s a shot of the lift before we started the project.
A definite improvement!
*Gratuitous First Position shot. (Sorry.)
This is the landing halfway up the back stairs…
And this is the railing. We reworked the stairs a bit, and used as much of the original railing as we could make fit. Then we just matched the old where the railing needed to be rebuilt.
Headed up the stairs…
And here we have what Marlboro Man and I have come to call The Short Mirror. Throughout the office, we wrapped the posts in mirrors to mimic the original style, but on this particular post, because it had to have a bunch of light switches on two sides and because of its proximity to the stair railing, the regular mirror wouldn’t fit. So Marlboro Man had the idea to do a shorter version so that the post didn’t stand out and look wildly different from the others. In my limited decorating capacity, I always turned up one of my eyebrows at this idea, and I couldn’t really see how a short, cut off mirror wouldn’t wind up looking like the Headless Horseman in reverse.
But I’ll be darned if it didn’t wind up looking really nice!
This is the top of the stairway, before.
This is the top of the stairway now! (Pardon the dirty floor. We had a shindig the other night.)
This is a little area behind the lift.
And this is the crazy file cabinet we had made.
It was a weird idea, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Since this is going to be a functioning office, we definitely needed plenty of file cabinets. But standard file cabinets are so deep, and we couldn’t figure out a way to integrate them without them standing out like a sore thumb. So we opted for more file cabinet drawers that were much less deep…and this is what we came up with. And since it was made from quarter sawn oak and we used black hardware, it looks a little more timeless than standard metal file cabinets.
Marlboro Man took these chairs from our living room the other day. Ha! They look much better here.
And this is my desk area in the corner. As you can see, I haven’t really started using the space yet, and it will take some time for me to figure it all out…but that will come in time. But at least I realized my dream of putting a sparkly crystal chandelier into the ranch office. I can now die a happy woman.
Here’s the view from my end of the office before.
Here’s the view from my end of the office now. My sister-in-law Missy set up this little seating area, and I thought it was such a good idea. It breaks up the space a bit and gives this area purpose.
My friend Dee at Red Letter Words made this, and I love it.
(The cabinet on which it’s resting is designed to hold everyday papers and file folders that would otherwise clutter a desktop.)
Marlboro Man had ordered this shelf for me, and it was delivered the day before our office warming party last week. Since I was busy shooting at the Lodge the whole week preceding the party, he got it all dusted and cleaned and moved some of my cookbooks and Charlie books on there…and rested four cowboy hats on the top shelf to represent our four children.
I kinda like that guy.
The conference room divides the east end of the office (my end) from the west end of the office (Marlboro Man, Tim, and their dad’s end.)
This table (and matching benches) used to be in the Lodge years and years ago. It had just been sprayed with a clear coat of varnish and had yellowed through the years, and eventually wound up in storage under a dirty tarp. All we did was sand it all off, slap some stain and a matte finish coat on it…and it has come back to life!
In other news, for awhile my mother-in-law and I were toying with the idea of painting it bright turquoise or doing some other crazy bright color…and all I can say is, I’m glad we didn’t stay on that train. I like it dark and neutral!
On one wall of the conference room is the “kid wall.” We separated all the prints with the kids working cattle and my mother-in-law came up with this arrangement. I love it!
On the other wall are two identical shelves.
Missy decked out the shelves with simple black-and-white framed photos of friends and family. And cows.
Here’s the view of the kid wall from the other side.
And here’s the view of the conference room from the west end, looking east.
Traveling back…this is the west side of the office before.
This is the west side of the office now.
Here’s one of the credenzas. Lots of drawers for papers, maps…and hard candy. Ha.
This is the bar area. Less about booze than about pop and coffee.
I based this on a photo of a bar I saw on Pinterest a long time ago…and it wound up looking absolutely nothing like the bar I saw on Pinterest a long time ago. Ha! But I think it turned out okay. It probably needs some colorful glasses and cups/pitchers/bowls or something…but I think we’ll just sit with it awhile and let it grow on us.
This is me doing a plié.
Here’s me doing another plié. Just in case you needed to see it again.
Here’s the Uneeda Biscuit Co. mural just after the plaster had started coming off (remember that it had been buried under plaster for years and years.)
Here it is now. I think the mural is one of the defining features of the space…and I’m so glad we kept it as is! It’s all cleaned and sealed now, so it should be with us for many more years.
And here’s my finished bathroom with the pipes painted black (much better than the PVC white!)
Next up, I’ll show you Marlboro Man’s/the boys’ bathroom.
I can’t promise I won’t make you vote on which bathroom you like best.
(Pssst. I’m absolutely, 100% certain you’ll pick mine. Haha!)
Love,
P-Dub
