Family Workspace: So Far, So Good

Rooms with the ability to multi-task are essential when living in a small home.   Our dining room is the largest room in the house (about 13' x 14') and as a result has handled double duty as an office space for the last few years.  It all began about 4 years ago before the birth of The Boy when extra bedroom #3 was converted to a nursery.

The office corner fiasco started innocently with the placement of a vintage breakfast table that belonged to my grandparents.  Followed by a computer and a table lamp.  Time passed and we I haphazardly added to the corner piece by piece...

After several years, the small "desk" and assorted office equipment wedged in the corner became cluttered and wildly inefficient.  Keep in mind the area underwent significant paper-pile sorting and all-around stuff straightening just prior to the above photo.

So in a desperate fit of I've-finally-had-enough-of-this-mess The Plan was hatched to construct a larger family-friendly workspace.

The week of the radiator removal, we plunged headlong into this project.
You can read about the initial stages of the project here and here.
Armed with little more than Handy Husband's wits, good looks & Ikea cabinetry...

We embarked upon another do-it-yourself project
(BECAUSE WE JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH)
in an attempt to bring a little sanity to an otherwise chaotic space.

I used to dread this corner but now it is a much calmer place to be.

Family Workspace is still a work in progress

but overall the space has a more pulled-together & comfortable feel.
Kind of like in a way maybe we sort of have our act together, a little bit.

The Family Workspace project has resulted much needed storage and an overall sense of order in the room.  So that's a win.  It has also provided us with some cabinet installation experience.  That will be important somewhere down the home renovation road (ahem, BUNGALOW KITCHEN!?!) which is also a win.

We've carried this little project through to the stage where it is functional.  So I think it's safe to say we can cautiously chalk this one up as a project victory?

Of course I'm still working through a few design elements.  Specifically knob selection (harder than I thought it would be) and completing the staining/sealing of the wood top pieces.  I am not 100% committed to the depth of the 2 desk top pieces.  They strike my eye as awkward.   I prefer the look of the bench section.

I'm leaning towards revising the depth a bit to streamline the fit.  I'm also conveniently stuck in full-on decidophobic mode.  Handy Husband spent an awful lot of time in the workshop with tiny pieces of dowel rods, glue and wood planers to create the desk tops in the first place.  He will not be happy if I ask him to change it.  Which probably means I will end up asking him to change it.

 
Also on the To-Do List: creating a specific plan for organization in the newly reclaimed storage space. *YAY* I smell a trip to the Container Store for bins and baskets and boxes - OH MY!

I'm gonna organize the daylights out of these cabinets.

This post has been linked with:

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello
Post Your Project  @ Inspire By Heather
DIY Project Parade  @ The DIY Showoff
DIY Living Showcase  @ The DIY Club
Sunday Blog Parade  @ A Design Story
Show Off Your Cottage Monday  @ House In The Roses
Organizing Mission Monday  @ Organize With Sandy
Talent Tuesday  @ Vintage Wanna Bee
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday  @ New Nostalgia
CSI Challenge (Organization)  @ The CSI Project
Furniture Feature Friday  @ Miss Mustard Seed