Office Space Plan B

We got some sad news about the floating shelf idea I had for the office based on an image that I saw on Pinterest:

The original concept for our office!

Apparently our room is too wide to safety have this type of floating shelf - with no visible support - so the carpenter we had quote the job says it's a no-go. Insert sad face here.

I'm especially sad because we had the room painted white to match the floating shelves, just like the inspiration shot. Had I known that floating shelf concept was not happening, I likely would have chosen a different paint colour (oooooh, maybe a dark, inky blue!).

Unfortunately, I really didn't have a plan b for our office, since I had based every office decor decision around the floating shelf idea. That is until this week when I was catching up on my Young House Love reading. I was looking back in their archives and saw that they had DIY'd their own 13 foot home office desk and love the warmth that the stained wood counter brings to the room, and also the way it contrasts against the white cabinets. Once I gave it some thought, I realized that our office could use some warmth to make the white walls and builder beige carpet feel a little friendlier. That is, if we can pull this off ourselves by sourcing some kitchen cabinets and re-purposing them as desk bases with drawers!

We will need to decide quickly what we want to do, since move day is only FOUR DAYS AWAY, and the whole working from home scenario will need to start pretty quickly.

Here is the rough cabinet + countertop plan I put together after looking at Ikea Akrum cabinets online, however the overall cost added up a whole lot quicker than I thought it would based on my size selections (CHA-CHING) so we may investigate some alternative cabinet retailers. We'll see. Here is my crazy sketch/plan:

Sometimes I need to get the pen and graph paper out in order to have the ideas swirling around my head make sense!

Here's what I like about plan b:
> it allows each of us to have our "own" set of drawers so that I can keep my crazy, bright, colourful desk accessories separate from Max's more standard items (he's a fan of blue binders and black notebooks).
> there would be a large scale drawer unit in the centre in which the print could live and be hidden from view
> again, the stained wooden counter top will bring some warmth into the space that the original concept didn't do

Can't wait to get this finalized, the items purchased and installed!! Here's the new mood board for the room:

Everything happens for a reason (even carpenters crushing your floating shelf dreams), and I think this new office set up will serve us even better than what I had originally envisioned! Yee haw!