Home Office Conversion – Woodland Park Ranch
Project Overview
A Woodland Park couple working from home full-time needed a dedicated, functional home office and had a neglected 10x12 spare bedroom that had been used as a dumping ground for years. The room had carpet that predated the current owners, a popcorn ceiling, a single switched outlet, and absolutely no storage. The window blind was broken, there was a water stain on the wall from an old roof leak long since repaired, and the single overhead fixture gave off barely enough light to read by. Exterior Solutions LLC was brought in to gut the room down to bare walls and floor and rebuild it as a purpose-built home office with built-in shelving, a wall-mounted desk surface, recessed lighting on a dimmer, and engineered hardwood flooring — a complete transformation that took an unused liability and turned it into one of the most productive rooms in the house.
Analysis
The initial walkthrough confirmed the room was structurally sound — the old roof leak had been repaired and the framing dried out over time, but the drywall in one upper corner still showed a ghost stain from the intrusion that needed to be cut out and replaced. The carpet was glued-down berber over a wood subfloor that showed some minor surface checking but was structurally solid. We verified the subfloor flatness with a 6-foot level — maximum deviation was 3/16 inch, within tolerance for the engineered hardwood flooring planned. The electrical situation was the most significant finding: the room had only one 15-amp circuit shared with the hallway, which was wholly inadequate for two computer workstations, a monitor array, and a laser printer. We planned two new dedicated 20-amp circuits run from the panel, with USB-A and USB-C combination outlets throughout.
Process
Demolition completed day one. Electrical rough-in and new drywall patch completed day two. Ceiling skim coat applied and left to cure two days. While ceiling cured, built-in unit was fabricated in-shop: plywood cut to dimension, dado grooves for shelves, face frame assembled and biscuited, sanded and primed. Day five: built-ins installed and secured to studs, desk brackets mounted. Day six: Level 4 drywall finish on walls, sanded smooth. Day seven: painting began — ceiling first, then walls, then trim. Day eight: flooring installation. Day nine: electrical finish, shade installation, final detail punch list and clean.
Outcome
The room went from an unusable storage space to a fully functional, purpose-built home office in nine working days. The built-in shelving and desk surface gave the homeowners organized storage and a proper work surface for the first time — no more working at a folding table in the living room. The two dedicated 20-amp circuits handle dual workstation loads without any tripped breakers. The recessed lighting on the Lutron dimmer allows the room to go from bright task lighting to a softer video-call setting with a single gesture. The engineered hardwood flooring with its wide planks gives the 10x12 room a sense of dimension it never had with the old carpet. Both homeowners said the finished room exceeded what they had imagined.
Project Details
Materials Used
Flooring: Shaw Floorte Pro 5 Series engineered hardwood, 7.5-inch wide plank, Mineral color, floating installation with foam underlayment. Built-ins: custom-built from 3/4-inch birch plywood, pre-primed and painted Sherwin-Williams Extra White, adjustable shelf pin holes on 32mm spacing, face-framed with solid poplar. Desk surface: 1.5-inch thick butcher block maple panel, sanded and finished with two coats Rubio Monocoat hardwax oil, natural color, wall-mounted with heavy-duty steel brackets. Electrical: 12-gauge Romex on two new 20-amp circuits, tamper-resistant duplex outlets with USB-A/C combo (Leviton T5632), recessed lighting on Lutron Diva dimmer. Lighting: six 4-inch Halo LED wafer lights, 3000K color temperature, flush to smooth ceiling. Window: Levolor cordless cellular shade, light-filtering, linen color. Paint: Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray SW 7029 walls, Extra White ceiling and trim. Trim: 3.5-inch MDF colonial baseboard, 2.5-inch door casing, all painted Extra White.
Methods & Techniques
Full gut demolition: carpet removed, popcorn ceiling scraped, damaged drywall section cut out and replaced, all surfaces sanded to a uniform finish-ready condition. Electrical rough-in: two new 20-amp circuits run from panel, outlet and switch boxes installed, recessed light rough-in cans mounted in ceiling joist bays. New insulation batts installed in exterior wall cavities exposed during built-in framing. Smooth drywall skim coat over entire ceiling. Taped, floated, and sanded walls to Level 4 finish. Built-in unit assembled and installed against study wall: base cabinets anchored to studs, upper shelving with adjustable pins, poplar face frame fitted and caulked. Desk bracket system installed with leveled steel rails, butcher block surface dropped in. Electrical finish: outlets, dimmers, USB combos trimmed out. Engineered hardwood installed floating with 10mm foam underlayment, transitions at door threshold. Painting: two coats walls, two coats ceiling, two coats trim. Cordless cellular shade installed at window.
Key Highlights
Full room gut and rebuild as dedicated home office. Two new dedicated 20-amp circuits with USB-A/C combination outlets. Custom-built birch plywood built-in shelving unit with solid poplar face frame. Wall-mounted butcher block maple desk surface with steel brackets. Six recessed 4-inch LED wafer lights on Lutron dimmer. Shaw engineered hardwood 7.5-inch wide plank flooring. Smooth Level 4 drywall finish and Agreeable Gray paint. Completed in 9 business days.