The Garagemahal. Part Trois: A new room.

For four years after college, I worked from home. In fact a big chunk of this time was spent on the road, traveling the world with pro cycling teams, but working “in the office” actually meant working in my bedroom. And trust me, it was far from ideal.

The problem, in part, was that there was no divide between time at home and time at the office. The computer, fax machine (remeber those?), files and more were always inches away. Not a good thing for that elusive life/work balance.

Back then I promised myself that if I ever had the chance, I’d have a home office that was truly separate from the rest of the house. And our garage project gave us this chance.

In reality we designed the 375 square foot space above the garage to be supremely flexible. It can be (and has functioned at different times) as an office, a craft room, a yoga studio, a play room, a bike shop and more. Call it an “away space,” if you’d like.

The Loft, as we call it, is one of our favorite spaces. It’s beautiful, and with the abundance of light and views of trees and gardens, feels like a very adult tree house. The clerestory windows, bamboo floors, maple trim and moulding, and ample-sized deck all add to the experience.

And while we have a heat pump to heat and cool the space, more often than not it’s off. Until you’re in a space like our loft, you don’t realize how noisy any house’s systems (furnace, water, etc.) are.

K. often practices yoga up here and loves the quality of light, the  privacy and of course the beautiful floors. Evidently when one practices yoga a lot of time is spent looking at the ground/mat.

Anyway, it’s a space we’re proud of. Like many other projects in the 1527 House, we took our time, learned new skills, and picked and chose materials carefully. The bookcase guardrail, that gives something interesting to look at as you enter the space, is something I’m particularly happy with. And the maple trim is mellowing to a beautiful color. Most people though comment on the amber bamboo floors. The vertical grain works well in the space, and the variation in color has an added benefit of masking dirt!

Here are a handful of happy snaps. Really, I need to get back up there to take some better pictures. These don’t come close to doing the space justice.

A blank canvas.

Ascending the stairs, here's the bookcase wall.

An early pic, looking back to the entry and light well.

Not sure why that old radio was there, but here's a view onto the deck. Up close that desk is very cool. It was my great-grandfather's drafting desk.

Before the garden started to mature. Funny to look at how small these plants were. Fun to look back on. Anyway, the deck is a super-nice place to hang out on and offers a nice view of the garden and patio.

Kind of embarassed to even include this, but it at least shows the view entering the loft. Really, it looks much better today.

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