The Project
As often is the case, the old adage “the cobblers kids have no shoes” is terribly true.
We work hard for our clients to make sure they have the best experience during a renovation, and to ensure when we leave they are left with a finished product they can enjoy for years to come.
However, for ourselves we often make due (or put up with what we have) because put simply, we don’t get paid to improve our own home/office spaces.
That is why when the opportunity arose we were excited to work on something of our own!
Our project would be to take the office (as seen in the image above) and turn it into something that was clean, organised and stylish. Oh, and to do that in 5 days, with a budget that was almost (but not quite!) nil. Would it be hard work… yup! Would that be possible… maybe?!? How did the team respond when told we were going to do this… CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
The Plan
We began by coming up with a theme; something that showed what we were capable of from the ground up.
Rough cut lumber with a modern flair. Clean and organized. Easy! We sat down, chatted and decided on the following;
- New paint on the walls to update the look
- Custom desks and shelves using lumber that we milled ourselves, (we will post something about the milling process sometime in the future)
- Leftover flooring from a previous reno to save the budget
- Layout change to go from 2 workspaces to 4
- With a last minute decision to improve the landing and entry way from outside (because you know the project wasn’t going to be challenging enough already!)
With a little Harbourview Magic we knew it would work.
Work Time!
Step 1 was a daunting prospect; move everything out of the office, but do it in a way that left the files accessible so that our office could function throughout construction. With only a few days to complete the reno, we were required to box everything up and remove it from the office after hours. Keeping things organized so our admin team could still work during this whole process took a bit of ingenuity, but with all hands on deck we sorted out the logistical challenges and found a solution that worked… kinda… well it was good enough for the short term anyways.
Next step was to rip out the old carpet, (which had to go if we wanted the clean modern look we were going for) and prep the plywood underneath to lay flooring. We chose to go with an engineered hand scraped hardwood that was left over from the renovation of one of our rental units. We usually return unused material, therefore passing the cost reduction on to our clients; however, in this case we had purchased the material for one of our own units, so I guess it is fortuitous that we had enough flooring left over for this follow-on project.
With the prep work done we started laying the new flooring (and because we are crazy that way) also painted the walls at the same time. It is a measure of how well our team works together that we could do all this at once. It is not recommended!
As you can see in the picture we attempted to stay ahead of the flooring by painting from one side of the room to the other. I am sure this would have worked a whole lot better if I was a faster painter than Rob is a floor installer, but we got through it with little fuss.
The next step once the walls and floor were done was to begin construction of the desks
and shelving to help us keep things neat and tidy. Andrew and Rob were the heroes on that day; and we never would have been able to finish the project without the talent and dedication they show day in and day out.
One of the things we decided early on (that breaks a lot of rules and can cause a lot of issues if you are not careful) was to use our own milled pine for the construction. It was still a little green so we needed to take this into account while building the desks. Luckily we were looking for a rustic rough look with natural edges. I think everything turned out very nicely!
For the desks we ordered a 1/8th inch clear vinyl to give a smoother surface for us to work on, as well
as adding a sleek finishing touch. The material used also has the added benefit that as the pine dried out and shrank the surface of the desks would not become uneven. All in all considering the work involved and our timelines I think the team did a fantastic job turning what was a cramped office full of junk into a clean, organized space that is wonderful to work in.
(With everything constructed and all the guys exhausted!) all that remained was to bring everything back into the office and set it up. Not a problem with the hard working guys at Harbourview…!
I hope you enjoyed reading about some of our adventures. Come back soon and remember,
“You’re busy, let us do the work!”
