But how did we get to that point? The last time I left you with an update, we were hardly desk move in ready.
The first way to make this space actually functional, was to drill a hole in the desktop, through the plexiglass and the bi-fold door {which is what the desktop was actually made from}. The hole would be the passageway for the computer cords to the outlet.
My husband got out a 1" circle bit for this step...
This baby went straight through the plexi and bi-fold door like butta!
As you recall, my intention with the plexi top, was to use it for smooth writing, and also to allow me to pop pretty paper or fabric under it, to act as interchangeable desktop decor.
Since I was just working with what I had, we used the plexi as a template to cut out a strip of leftover wallpaper to place down until I can find something I like better.
We did not tape/glue/mod podge/affix the paper to the desk in anyway. It's not at all permanent, completely switchable. The weight of the plexi keeps it right in it's place!
We will search for a desk hole plug thingy {that is the technical term}, but the really cool part that makes me all warm and giddy inside is that when we feed cords up from the outlet, all of the excess length can just hang out inside the cavity of the desk {since it was a hollow bi-fold door}. No cord clutter!
Moving on... we also added a couple of small task lights. We went with some Sylvania LED puck lights, found for around $12 each at Home Depot {similar to these}.
We affixed each one under the floating shelf, one on each side to avoid directing light right over the top of the computer monitor. We just used the sticky that came on the back of the puck light to stick it up. I didn't want any cords. Or anything that would create too much visual clutter. And after speaking with the lighting special at our home improvement store, they recommended these lights and said the LED would be bright and the batteries should last me a long while. So now we are left with this!
But I didn't stop there. Remember how I mentioned I went shopping at IKEA for drawers/doors? They actually make specific pieces for the Expedit that fit right inside the cubes. They are costly, but I didn't think we would be able to DIY them so I took a hard hit on this one.
When deciding on the investment of the doors and drawers, the choice was completely personal that not everyone would have to make if working on this project, as a way to save some pennies. I knew for me, that I wanted to hide some of the office storage behind doors to keep it looking clean and tidy and reduce the visual noise that comes with so much open storage. I also knew I wanted some drawers near my desk since the desk itself didn't have any. I like drawers for all of my office supplies, vs. keeping them on the smaller workspace.
We also drilled a hole {with the same 1" bit} into the side of the Expedit and into one of the cabinets, so we can put our desk scanner and external hardrive in one of the cavities and wire it to the computer.
We were finally done enough to pop the computer on the desk and plug it in! Can you hear my sigh of relief? Over a month later from coming up with an initial plan!
Wanna see how bright those little lights are? Here are a couple of shots to show...
All of those little updates really pulled it together. A quick before and after of this last week's changes?
This weekend, I am planning on putting on the finishing touches and begin actually using this awesome new space! And will share all the details next week! {Imagine updated knobs, books, boxes, accessories, storage, oh my!}. And I will be sure to end it all with final measurements and a cost breakdown of the entire project in that post as well.
Anyone else excited to be wrapping up a long, ongoing project this weekend?
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