Office Remake

One of the most helpful DIY projects that we have tackled in our home was my home office. Perhaps I am biased, but since I use the space daily, and share it with our very messy bird, making over the space was a must. The biggest change was taking out the carpet and putting down “tiles”. I say tiles in quotes only because they were peel and stick, but they are so nice that when people see them have no idea. They even feel like real tile, only warmer.

The product we chose for the new flooring was Cryntel Travertine tiles in 12×12, from Lowe’s. They could not have been easier to install, but first we had to clear the room! This is where the adventure began. Here is a before photo of the room, which is actually a fairly small and skinny space, measuring 10 feet long by 9 feet wide.

What you see most in the photo is the heavy, wood, computer armoire. We had such a hard time getting it into the office when we first moved in, and knew that getting it out to lay the tile wasn’t going to be an easy feat. We also knew that working around our bird, who is scared of everything, was going to have to be taken into consideration as well. So, we started off with a test spot, to make sure that she would like walking on something other than carpet. It was a success, so the project moved forward.

To lay the tiles, first you need to prep the floor. Our first order of business was removing the carpet, which we did by cutting it into smaller pieces, then throwing it out the window. I have to admit, throwing the carpet from the window, which is two stories up, was a lot of fun. If you had laminate or vinyl flooring and not carpet, these kinds of tiles can go right over the top of it, just make sure the floor is clean.

If you are tiling over plywood like we did, you need to clean and prime the floor first. Once it’s dry, use a chalk line to mark the center of your room both lengthwise and width-wise. This creates a + shape, and is where you will start laying your tiles. Once you get going it is truly fast and easy. The tiles we used are also easy to score and cut to size, much easier than real tile. Also, if we ever did decide to lay carpet again, they are thin enough that we could just carpet over them without having to take them out.

In addition to changing the floor from carpet to tile, we also painted the walls a cheery yellow color. It is so much easier to paint when you have a clear room, and with the carpet removed we didn’t have to worry about spills either. This was the first time we had painted using a long roller handle. I would not paint any other way again! It makes it so much easier to roll the paint on smoothly, and without wearing out your arm as much.

Here is the finished product, the layout of the room stayed the same, but the paint and the new floor have made all the difference. It’s a much more pleasant room to spend time in, and it’s easy to keep clean (fellow bird owners will know exactly what I mean). We like form and function, and feel like we got both with our remake.

The other great thing about this project was that it was cost friendly. With paint and tiles, it was about $150 all together. A big impact for a small investment! Especially now when so many are tightening their belts, doing even small, inexpensive changes can make such a big difference.

What about your home? What has been your favorite home project?

This post was written in part for the contest at Old House Web.

Tags: carpet, design, DIY, home, paint, remake