help me plan the ultimate 'me' office/work space!

October 4, 2007 6:09 PM

Constructing a floor to ceiling desk/bookcase/close/organizer thing, but I don't have a good idea and need some help.

My office is renovating and i got hold of lots of great solid wood paneling. Have you seen the shot of the hallway in House? That is it. It is all solid wood that is 1 inch thick. I have about 12 pieces of 25 inch square pieces, 4 25 inch by 50 inch pieces, and one piece that is 10 feet long. The room in question is 11 x 11, with only one unadultrated wall.

One wall has a window in the middle, one has a door at the outer edge, and one has a small built in bookcase that is in the corner next to the door.

so what am I looking for, well for one a shift key that works, but other than that, some good inspiration galleries, first hand experiences, and perhaps some free software that will help me plan this all out. Actually, we have a deck and a shed in our future, so buying software as long as it is relatively useable would be fine too.

thanks!

posted by stormygrey to home & garden (5 comments total)

What's your skill level with computer design programs? Some people swear by Google Sketchup.

Good luck, sounds like you got quite a deal there.
posted by DMan at 6:27 PM on October 4, 2007

I have no experience with such programs, but i am pretty good at thinking about things spatially, am pretty artistic and not flipped out by new programs.
posted by stormygrey at 6:56 PM on October 4, 2007

Well, Sketchup was always a little challenging for me, but I know several people who picked it up quickly. Might be worth a shot.

FWIW, whenever I have to design something that I plan to make, I just pull out a sheet of paper or open my computer drawing program of choice (strange as it sounds, I love Flash's drawing tools, so I use that) and just draw out what I want to do with as much detail as I feel like putting in it. Getting it out of your head and onto paper (or the screen) is a great way to brainstorm and come up with what would work and what wouldn't. Many a time I've thought an idea would work, and realized that it wouldn't as I attempted to draw my thoughts.

Of course, for this to be effective, you have to have a reasonably good idea of what construction methods you could use--your spatial abilities will help for sure, but if you don't know how to make the joints, for example, you might run into some problems. I'd try to find a book with basic woodworking projects in it; surely you could glean some ideas from that. Also, I'm sure a Google search would turn up some great images of what you're trying to build.

As far as the engineering of such a thing, I'm sure if you could draw a picture of what you were wanting, someone here on AskMe could help you with the actual building of it. A good idea and design will get you a long way.
posted by DMan at 8:31 PM on October 4, 2007

I used Sketchup to plan the layout for our new apartment, and it was super-handy. It's really pretty simple to use.
posted by Happy Dave at 11:14 PM on October 4, 2007

sketch up downloaded. we shall see it i can work it. i also have a pretty nice router and a table saw, so i should be able to make some decent joints.

i am thinking about classic dovetail, but with different stains. It might be hot, it might look undone, we will see.
posted by stormygrey at 6:04 AM on October 5, 2007