Going HON Wild!

I'm not sure why this post has taken me so long to get up. I had this done when I had the book case done, but just never got around to taking the pictures and posting it. Anyway, I was successfully able to replace my old desk for a much more modern HON desk. HON is a manufacturer of desks and they are really high in quality. On their website, no desk is under $300.

What happened to the budget McKell?
Budget.... oh yeah! That thing... Hmmm...

Once again, because of the glory that is KSL Classifieds, I was able to find a HON desk in the Layton area for only $60! Plus I was able to sell my old desk for $20, making my net expense on my desk $40. I think that is in the budget :)

When looking for desks, I wanted one that had actual legs. Writers desks were really attractive to me because they were kind of elegant with the legs and it would also help make the room seem bigger with the increased floor visibility. I'm not certain how much room the futon will take up in this room, so I wanted to help make it look at visually large as I could. I did actually find a beautiful writers desk and chair on KSL, but after I drove all the way down to Holladay to pick it up, the old man had sold it out from underneath me! Needless to say, I was rather angry, but that is one of the dangers of shopping on KSL. I highly recommend you always call, give your name, get their name, and get a commitment that you are going to buy it and they are going to sell it to you. That way there is no confusion.

In the end, it worked out for the best because even though it's not the exact style I wanted, it turned out being the better choice. The desk is more modern and sturdy, it's massive, but it doesn't appear to take up much space in the room. I'm really glad that I ended up getting this desk, plus the resell on it will be easy if I decide to redecorate in the future.

Enough talk, on to the pictures!



The old desk



The new desk



Old view of desk and book case






















New view of desk and book case

One thing I didn't realize is that if you have open legs on the desk, then all of the random cords and wires can be seen. Right now it looks like a jumbled mess, but I'll be using twist ties to organize them as soon as I steal the ones I have at work (I never use them there).

Financial Breakdown:

Cost of new desk: $60
Less old desk revenue: $20

Total expense: $40

Special thanks Justin for taking my old desk off my hands AND paying me for it. He sent me a picture of the new desk and he could start his own before/after blog :)

To keeping to your budget,

Boomba

Distractions, lovely distractions!

So I'm doing what I swore I wouldn't do... pausing one project to start another! This is how you end up with a million projects in process and none of the complete. I originally wanted to do one room at a time because then if I failed to complete one project, it would only show in one room... not scattered throughout my entire house.

Here is the story, I was cruising right along with the living room and got down to buying a new rug and reupholstering the furniture. Granted I was probably looking to find a reason to procrastinate, but my next room to attach was the office/guest bedroom. So I've been looking for a new bookcase, desk, and some sort of sofa/day bed for company. Well since I do all of my shopping via KSL, all of the things I needed sort of fell into my lap sooner than I expected. So I had to pause on the living room and move on to the office so that I could pick up the new furniture and move it in.

All I can say right now is that everything is a mess! I have old furniture and new furniture all over the house and really, the mess is driving me insane. Things are coming together in the office, but it's not quite like I envisioned and I'm having a hard time with that. Hopefully when it all comes together, it'll be more satisfying.

To start, I need to get some pictures up of the office before. Then as each piece of the office is completed, then I will have an individual post on that item. The office won't be near as much DIY work as the living room since most of it is new furniture, but some of it does need some work.

Warning: for those of you that know me, the state of this office may shock and appall you. I have found that when you are dissatisfied with the function of anything (a room, system, etc) you are more likely to let it get messy. Since I have started the redecorating of the living room, it doesn't hardly ever get messy. So, to put things succinctly, the office was a disaster! See for yourselves:



View from the door into the office...



The opposite wall...



The small bookshelf...



The desk and filing cabinet...

As you can see, this room is an absolute disaster area. The action plan for the office is as follows:

-Replace desk with a modern black one with no hutch
-Get a larger book case, also black
-Procure storage containers for the book case
-Find a decent futon/guest bed
-Frame photos from Michelle to go above desk
-New filing cabinet?

Just so everyone knows, I do not have an obsession with black. However, in many places I have lived, my living room and office area have been in an open layout and visible to one another. If this happens, I want to furniture in both rooms to match. That way I don't have to redo things later. Besides, black is just a really good neutral that you can use to create a variety of modern color schemes. Not a black lover (my favorite color is grass green), but I'm still a practical girl at heart.

The majority of furniture is purchased, but the conversion process still needs to be finished. More posts *hopefully in the near future*, when things are complete.

To bumps in the road that keep us on our toes...

Boomba