Reno Update...

So I have been procrastinating posting pics of our renovated office b/c it isn't 100% done but it's 95% done so seeing as it looks like next winter before it will be 100% completed I figured I had better let y'all see some of the fruits of our labors! So in the first picture here you can see the new flooring. Despite the absolutely horrible smell of floor varnish that lingered it he house for a few weeks- the floor came out beautifully. They had to tear up all the old flooring b/c the hearth had damaged it, so they re leveled the floor and lay down new oak hardwood. Then they sanded the whole room down and refinished it. You can not even tell where they laid the new oak- it is pretty amazing! Someday we're going to have to have them come and redo the floors in the living room too but we'll have to be out of the house for a few days for them to do that and they aren't in dire need of it yet! The rug is fro Ikea (Frank is finally convinced that he likes it!) and the coffee and end tables I bought years ago and actually go quite nicely in the room. We moved them out of the living room once Xander started to get mobile (glass top, sharp edges, you get the idea...) but now they have a nice safe place to live seeing as the kid are supposedly not allowed in this room!

Next you have our beautiful new library. The shelving is also from Ikea- I just love the corner shelf and we really needed more space to store our books. Frank and I are both a bit obsessive when it come to keeping books. Now we have enough room to store most of our books and display some of our photos and nick nacks. I have determined however that I really have way too many knick nacks but I am really having a hard time making myself let go of them- they all have some sentimental value and meaning to me! Mostly they are little trinkets from my various travels so I have made a new rule that we have no need of any more souvenirs! All that is left here is to do some more organizing of books (I need to go get many boxes of book from my mother's house and Frank needs to sort through all the boxes he has stored in the barn) and there is some cabinet lighting that Frank and I are in disagreement over. I want it, he doesn't but I need him to install it. Hence the lights are sitting in their boxes on top of the shelves!

So then you have the seating area. The curtains are also from Ikea (I really need to hem them but currently they are tied up to keep them mostly off the floor...). I haven't decided what (if anything) we are going to do for a window treatment on the small window- maybe a roman shade? The chairs are, if you can believe, the hideous gold velour chair that Frank has had since college and my little blue chair. We got matching slipcovers that fit well enough- certainly cheaper than custom ones or new chairs! The we have the diploma wall in the background, along with Frank's handmade ironing board/step stool that is currently serving very nicely as a plant holder! So we still need to pain the radiator, figure out window treatments for the small window, hem the curtains, install cabinet lighting, and the big thing- finish the 4th wall. Originally it was all covered with plastic to protect the built in shelving but now that has all been taken down but somehow that wall never got painted- probably b/c painting in between the shelving is going to be a giant PITA! So the last wall remains as it was before white with built in desk and shelving and as soon as we figure out how we want to arrange the desk area, filing cabinet etc we'll probably get around to painting and finishing it off! (I hope!)