Louie’s New Office

Louie and I have been working hard all weekend on a big project that popped into my head last week. We’re still not finished. We’re just taking a break.

It started with our guest bedroom. It has never been used for guests the whole time we’ve lived here, so why have one? The bed was just a ‘catch all’ and I wanted the space to be used for something we could enjoy more. I came up with the idea of moving Louie’s office, which was in the basement utility (furnace/air conditioner) room, and also had my machine quilting frame in there, up into the guest room. I found someone who really needed a bed, and I gave it to them. I was so happy to find someone could use it.

Wednesday night, we went to Dubuque to Lowe’s and bought an area rug to put down in the new office. Thursday evening, we tore down the bed and moved it out into the garage, then moved everything else out of the room to put the area rug down. We put everything back (utility cupboard, dresser and a couple of night stands). Friday we had plans, so we didn’t get anything else done, but Saturday morning, we started ‘digging in’ and we’re still digging. We’re going through ‘stuff’ as we go, and throwing away and donating. There’s a lot of  ‘Wow, where does all this stuff come from?’, and ‘Wow’…that’s where that went!’

Of course, Louie’s computer needed to be moved. His computer was the main hub, and my computer was wireless. Now, my computer is wired, and his is wireless, but that wasn’t an easy task either. What should have taken an hour, took over three, which included couple calls to Mediacom. We ended up fixing it ourselves, by moving the coax that Louie used, to the outlet that I am using. That cable can handle both internet and tv, where evidently, the rest of them cannot. I was not having any luck with the outlet I had, so it had to be updated. Yeah, Louie. He’s my hero.

Then the task of getting the HUGE desk upstairs. (What were we thinking when we bought that boat?!) It has a hutch on top and a huge bottom. Louie and I managed to get the top drug up the steps, but we had to call for backup and a strong back to get the desk upstairs. Jeff and Louie took it out the back door, walked it over to the top of the retaining wall, then picked it up again, carried it around the house, in the front door, into the kitchen, then stood it on it’s end and slid it down the hallway, and into it’s new home. They then, landed it back on it’s feet again. Whew! Louie did some modifications on the hutch part so it would sit higher against the wall, to have more desk space underneath, while I put his computer back together and fought installing the wireless usb device. Once installed, it needed to ‘talk’ to the router. I didn’t know where the disk was, so I had to download the software on my computer and transfer it to his. It wasn’t a quick job, but it got done. Louie worked on bringing the drawers and all his ‘stuff’ up, cleaning out and sorting as he went, and late last night, he got his desk put all back together. It looks really nice, and we both think he is going to love his room. It will have more light, and a lot more space. He won’t be sharing it with anyone.

So, here is his new office. The pictures are taken in the order that when you step into his office, looking to the left, then going around the room, this is what you see.

This is a quilt I made for him a long time ago. Under it, is a sofa table that I have had tucked away because I didn’t have anywhere for it. Now, it fills a space, and he can use it for work space when he needs it. He can just slide it over by his chair, or scoot his chair over to it. The two night stands are stacked on top of each other in the corner, and one holds cameras and bags, and the bottom one holds some duffle bags.

The desk sits next to the night stands, and the pictures on the wall were taken by Louie. The one on the left is a train coming around a corner in the fall. The picture on the right is called ‘Night Train’. It was taken at night, and it is actually a snow plow that was used by the railroad. The photos were taken in North Freedom, Wisconsin at the Midwest Continental Railway Museum many years ago.

Here is his desk, all put together. He added about 6” of wood to the sides of the hutch to hike it up higher. The top shelf on the hutch was custom built by Louie years ago so he could put his die cast cars on it. See the picture on the wall to the right of the desk? Louie took that picture in black and white.

It is an old abandoned house with trees growing around it. I tried to get a better picture for you, but there is glare on the glass and I didn’t use a flash. Too much light. You get the idea…

Across the room from his desk, is the utility cupboard, which holds lots more office ‘stuff’ and a dresser, which is also filled with ‘stuff’, some of it mine. One drawer has old photos in frames.

See the painting on the wall above the dresser? Louie painted that in high school art. He painted it from a photograph of a tree that was in the yard where he lived at the time. He gave the painting to his mother when he was finished with it. A few years later, some kids (they assumed) drove by his mom’s house and shot three shots through, and into the house, with a 22 magnum. One of the bullets went through the painting. Louie’s mom had been standing up, and had just sat down when it happened. Thank God it missed her! They also shot two shots into the car. No one got hurt, and they never found out why, or who did it. We got the painting back when Louie’s mother passed away a few years later, and Louie and our friend Jeff, built a frame for it.

 

Can you see the hole and the tears in the canvas where the bullet went through? Enlarge the photo, and look to the left of the reflection of the ceiling fan lights.

So that concludes the tour of Louie’s new office!

It seems like I have been on my knees crawling under desks all weekend, and my neck hurts, but oh, it feels so good to have it finished!

The next post will be the changes to my machine quilting room now that I have taken it over. I worked on it all day today. The rest of the basement is still a mess, but my room is finished. Maybe I can get a post up tomorrow. I need to go work on laundry and cleaning up the rest of the basement now.

Hope your weekend was productive as well! Tomorrow I’ll have to go back to work so I can rest!

Michelle