Wire Managment

So, the latest thing I’m trying to work out is how to manage the dozen or two cables coming out of the back of the server rack, and here’s what I’ve come up with:

Wire Management

I’ve ordered some spiral cable wrap from McMaster Carr to bundle the “wires galore” into a single entity, then I’ll use a bungee cord attached to an eyebolt I screw into the wall behind the cabinet to hopefully help manage the cables when I pull the cabinet in and out of the nook. It’s the best solution I’ve come up with, so hopefull it’ll work.

Once I get it set up tomorrow night I’ll take some pictures.

Progress Report (Now with More Pictures)

Last weekend I got some more painting done… nothing major, just the wood trim around the niche opening and the curtain shelf. I still have to do the curtain rod itself, but that’s not a big deal, and then there’s the bit above the sage but below the ceiling. Maybe next weekend.

Office 04

This afternoon, Phil helped me bring home the server cabinet. Let me tell you, we were both a little worried there was more demolition to do. The first problem was getting it into the office. After sending Phil home and running to Harbor Freight for a new set of metric Allen wrenches, I took the top off the rack and slid through the door with a millimeter or two to spare. I haven’t actually put it into the niche yet (I’m waiting on some cables), but it’s only going to fit with an inch or so to spare. I could say David and I planned it that way.

This is the rack (or at least parts of it).

Office 06

Office 07

And this is where it’s going to end up.

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Office 05

After finally getting the rack into the office I installed the TV wall mount I ordered from Amazon. Here’s the trick: if you buy it from Amazon, even though it’s about $6 more expensive than their affiliates, the Amazon free freight policy kicks in and saves you about $15. That’s a little tip from your Uncle Bruce.

Office 03

I ordered a new rackmount computer case for the server cabinet. I need to get the rails installed on it before I’m sure it’s a winner. Once I’m satisfied, I’ll order one more so I can get both computers into the rack all nice a sweet looking.

So it is… the progress continues.

Home Office Redo Pictures

Here are the latest pictures. Notice the bright Yellow. That was the first color I put on the walls. As much as I liked it, I couldn’t imagine a carpet that I would have found that would work in here with the yellow and in the living room with the posh red. So… I went back to my frst choice, a sage green. It’s in the same realm as something you’d find in a doctor’s office, but it works really well against the brown of the paper and the white of the trim. I’m very, very happy with it.

Office 03

Office 04

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Office 06

Office 07

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Office 09

Office 10

And the paper, geez, I’m so happy with it, too. It looks like someone came in a attached sheets of suede leather to the walls. The wrinkly texture is awesome. The hanging method was right up my alley. After prepping the wall and ripping up a bunch of kraft paper, you put on some latex gloves, pour yourself a bucket of wallpaper, paste and start smearing. The trick is to smear liberally on the wall and then smear over top of the paper as well to saturate it well. Once it dries, voila! Awesome walls.

Right now I’m still in clean up mode. There’s stuff all over the room. I have some more trim stuff to get done (like the curtain shelf brackets and the shelf itself), and then I’m going to finish running the speaker wire under the house for the rear channel computer speakers. I also need to get the new desk built, but David and I will work on that later.

Then there’s the moulding yet to be done, but that’s a project for another vacation.

  • 2006.05.25 @ 7:11 PM
  • By: Bruce
  • Comments: None
  • Under: Office

Home Office Redo - Phase 1 - Complete

My computers are up and running again, which means phase one of the office remodelling project has been completed. All that’s left now is to clean up and figure out where to put everything I took out of thie closet that is now my nook. I couldn’t have finished up soon enough. I nearly lost it this afternoon as everything I touched either fell over or wouldn’t work.

I need to go take a shower, fix some dinner, and then I might see about posting some new pictures. I’m not promising, as I expect I’ll pour myself a glass or three of wine and drink myself into a good stupor in celebration of the work of done on my vacation.

More later.

Das Closet

It seems I’m full on back into home improvement mode.

I’ve been strategizing about my home office for at least the last two months. This morning, David and I began the major remodeling which consisted mainly of opening the closet up to the rest of the room. Before now, there were two standard doors into a single space which was the closet. Now, there are no doors nor any wall for doors to go through.

Closet 01

Closet 02

Closet 03

Closet 04

Closet 05

Closet 06

Closet 07

Closet 08

So there you have it. There’s a lot yet to be done in here, but this is a huge first step. Monday I’ll pick up some kraft paper and paint, and Tuesday I’ll begin the walls. I intend to completely redo all the moulding in here as well, but that will wait until I get new carpet put in the room.

Office Floor Plan

Here’s the basic plan for the office. The wall that was removed is represented by the yellow stripe at the bottom of the graphic.

More Time

I realize things will settle down a bit soon (or at least I hope they will), but until I manage to get completely unpacked and get the majority of the house maintenance under control, I really wish I could get by on about three hours of sleep a night. Not having to go to work every day would be just as good better yet.

Last night I hooked up the home theater system. What a chore. It took me nearly two hours and my brain was fried by the time I finished. There’s really no excuse for it to be so difficult. In my defense, the confusion came about in regards to my new DVD recorder/player. I got hung up on how to get the cable into the DVD player and then back out to the TV. I think I got it all straight and I’ll know for sure tonight when I try to copy something from cable to the DVD. I’m curious how open the format is and if I’ll be able to view the result on any other machines.

I also I made a big dent in my home office. There’s still much to be done and much that will probably stay in boxes (mostly books until I find time to build the bookcase David & I talked about), but it’s becoming reasonably functional. I wish the room was just a bit bigger so I could add a bed for house guests. The closet is a disaster and I think I’ll ask David to bring over his Sawzall (affectionately known as the Scalpel) to cut out the half wall in between the two closet doors. I originally planned to put up bi-fold doors once the demolition is done, but Ginny has suggested not putting up any doors at all. I’m seriously considering it… as that would conceivably add thirty square feet of usable space to that room. The sooner I get that wall out of the way and put up molding around the resulting opening into closet, the sooner I can paint in that room. Of all the rooms in the house, it needs it the most.

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