Office in Progress
Posted on June 23, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 38 Comments
As most of you are aware, I’ve been renovating my office for the last few months, a process which has included repainting, taking out the old carpet, putting in new floors and shelves, getting new furniture and so on. The office isn’t completely finished yet — we still have new blinds and couple of new pieces of furniture to get, and then books need to go back on the shelves — but I thought you might like a sneak preview of the office in progress.
I’m particularly pleased by the bookshelves, which were custom made for me by Overholser Cabinets here in Bradford. Aaron Overholser, the owner, is also the fellow who made my new desk, and there’s also another really excellent piece here that he’s done for me that I’ll hold off on showing you all until the office is completely put together. Nevertheless, if you’re in the northern Dayton area and need some cabinet work done (as well as kitchens, etc), he’s the fellow I’d recommend.
Also, for those of you who want a followup, Athena (pictured here on the chaise lounge) is doing fine; a little bit of an ear infection but we’re working on that now. Thanks for the good wishes.
Ear infections can be a bugger, I hope she gets better soon.
Also, I have bookcase jealousy.
My cousins and I all had pretty bad ear infections when we were younger.
I’m trying to refurnish my library/office, in what neighborhood does custom carpentry run(my old fabricator was a relation so it didn’t cost much more than materials and a few favors).
I love the chaise lounge by the window. Great idea.
Sean H:
I couldn’t say; it all depends on how much you need to get done. It why you get estimates. Mine wasn’t cheap (in the thousands of dollars range), but I got what I think was a fair price for the work and quality.
Those Book Shelves are the Business.
Hope Athena feels better. Ear infections are not the business.
Ooohhhh. I hope your bookshelves are really a secret door to a priest hole or a dusty stair with cobwebs and skeletons (available at all the finest Halloween shops) or at least have a hidden compartment for hiding top secret documents.
They are beautiful. When its done, you will have a room that make you want to be there and not leave. That is always worth the work and wait.
Sara:
In fact, there is a hidden compartment behind the bookshelves, but it goes to the plumbing for the bathroom on the other side of the wall. Sorry.
Nice rug!
Yeah, I like the couch/chaise thingy, too.
Those are beautiful bookcases. I am as sure they weren’t cheap as I am sure they are awesome.
Scalzi,
Well, its not really all the imaginative to put plumbing in a secret compartment, but it will still work for top secret documents.
That’s one of the sucky parts about having a Kindle. There’s no reason to buy cool bookshelves.
It’s imaginative to put the plumbing in a secret compartment if it’s hiding The Flushinator
damn, I tried to put html tags on my post signifying that I was using my Doofenschmirtz font. Curse you Perry the Platypus for foiling my typing!
I’m sorry, that way too clean to be your office. Surely you must have this confused with a different room in your house (if that is even your house).
Nice. It looks all, I dunno, grown-upish and mature. Just be sure no one sneaks a pic of you with the monacle and pipe that I know you have in your desk drawer, cuz that would ruin your reputation.
I am so very jealous of your spiffy new office. My husband and I just moved, and our office is still in boxes. Both our desks were destroyed in the move, and we’ve been too crazy with family emergencies to replace them. Sigh.
Those shelves are fantastic!
(Hope the ear infection clears up quickly.)
Dayton, how often do you take Athena to go and look at the Apollo capsule?
@ #14. jeff o
damn. now i have to sing doofenschmirtz evil incorporated (as i must whenever someone mentions that name). :P
Speedy recovery to Athena. Ear infections suck!!
Harrison Ford does all of my cabinet work. If it’s good enough for George Lucas, it’s good enough to me.
Wait a second, I wasn’t taking the prequels into account. Nevermind. Nice book shelf; wonder if that’s why the other office shot awhile back had books stacked everywhere.
I hope Athena feels better soon. My daughter had some nasty ear infections until about age 7 when, I’m told, the ear canal changes and it’s not as common. I know Athena is older than that though. The advice I got from a friend of mine who still gets them is to avoid milk/dairy products or at least use the lower fat ones and consume decongestant at the first sign of cold/flu/allergy congestion.
The shelves are beautiful! The office looks like it’s going to be a lovely place to work and probably easier to keep tidy.
Oh thanks. Now I have officefreude. That looks like such a comfy place to work. Or to just sit and read. What is it about your office? The window? The awesome bookshelf? The chaise? The groovy modern carpet? Mmm…
(And on infections: modern medicine is a greate thinge.)
The paint looks like the same color I used in my kids’ room. Mine is non-VOC paint, there were only a few shades to pick from, but SO worth it!
Athena,
If you think the medication you’re taking are yuck incarnate, ask your mom about some of the things she ate when she was expecting you.
Hope the ears clear up, and produce the sort of grody stuff you can spazz the other kids with.
“That’s right, your brain turns into this and you become an imbecile. Why do you think 7th graders are such spazzes?”
Shambling about going “Brains! Brains!” as your ears dribble is also fun.
Glad the kinder ist gut.
Those cabinets are freaking gorgeous. Want to eat.
when i grow up,i’ll get what you are having in one of my rooms,but with a wayyyy bigger bookshelves siince the one i’m using is running out of space. haha
Very beautiful work.
Professionally, I work in a lot of different homes and custom woodwork stands out. It’s not cheap, however, and there aren’t many great finish carpenters around. Most of the carpenters I know in Minneapolis have a wait list for new clients.
You’ll be proud of those pieces – desk, bookshelves, mystery furniture – for many years.
Sara @6 & @11 — Scalzi’s reply @7 is clearly a COVER STORY.
Underlying truth: he is the real Batman (the whole Gotham angle is a canard — the rest is real) and this is his entry to the Batcave.
If I may, I have a small suggestion. I’m not a interior decorator, but I know what draws a room together like nothing else. Two words: mechanical bull.
Happy Athena wasn’t too sick to figure out the PERFECT thing to use your new chaise for!
I highly approve of a chaise lounge in an office.
I moved a day bed into mine and built my own bookcases–but there the similarity ends!
John, is the chaise custom too? I want one.
who supplied the chaise? In a tiny bit of irony, am looking for one to put next to my new bookshelves….
Since it’s summer vacation, I’m going to assume that she got the ear infection from swimming. At least, that’s how I always got ear infections during the summer :(
Tip from a pro: hydrogen peroxide.
Tilt your head and toss a capful in whenever you feel as though you have water trapped in your ear. Sit for 1-2 minutes, then tilt your head the other way and let it drain.
I once had an ear infection so bad that the dr couldn’t even get the medicating drops down into my ear. He tried to shove a thin piece of cotton down into my ear, then we’d put drops onto the cotton and it would (eventually) make it’s way into my ear. Until it came out. And didn’t work. And was extremely painful to put into place.
And so a Good Lady at the church we were attending said “Hey, hydrogen peroxide!” And I was all “But everyone else says rubbing alcohol, and that does jack diddly.” Tried it because I was desperate, and it worked wonders. My mom administered the peroxide and said she could actually see my ear opening up. Then applied medicated drops, and all was well with the world.
Though it does tingle and is somewhat loud when it bubbles.
as an elementary-high school diver, second the h2o2 rec.
“chaise lounge”? Ak! I weep at how foreign languages massacre my mother tongue! (It’s the first time I see that word). FYI, the original French is “chaise longue”. Makes me think of when people misspell “rogue”.