Wood Barn

We have a lovely room in the barn that looks out over north west Dartmoor that is the study. It’s large, airy and with a southerly aspect making it warm and bright.

As my wife works from home most of the time, it’s the one room in the house she spends most of her time. She therefore has had a dilemma since we moved in. The room was fitted out with an extremely practical, large, floor to ceiling shelf and cupboard unit that incorporated a vast circular desk. As an office space it was nigh on perfect with a gorgeous view, and she felt privileged to have such a great working environment. On the other hand, she never actually liked the unit or desk. It was just too corporate and ‘manufactured’ for her taste.

We’d tried painting the desk front to soften and tone it down but it didn’t really change the look sufficiently. It was a cold feeling room despite the ambient temperature and the practicality.

I understood the issue but always argued the solution would be both expensive and require a total re-fit rather than cosmetic alterations. There was no ‘quick fix’, just complete re-model. This argument lasted a couple of years before I ran out of reasons why not. We decided to enlist the help and invaluable assistance of our friendly builder guru and saved up to do the job fully and properly.

What this meant was that I could excitedly plan and design the room. I could suggest ideas and thoughts and mull them over with time and deliberation. We were fixed with the floor, a porcelain tiled, neutral natural wood-like base that provided a good solid starting point. The main shelving unit was a lovely layout with a practical design, but made out of a contemporary wood veneer we didn’t like.

The planned solution was to essentially make a new set of shelves from oak in the exact same layout as the old one with a large and long oak worktop underneath that topped the cupboard units. We’d essentially clad those cabinets as we’d successfully done in our bedroom.

The desk we’d make from a slab of gorgeous wood we’d find at one of the sawmills in the area and hopefully from a local tree. Anything left over from that we’d make a secondary desk for me on the other side of the room.

We’d reconfigure the essential electrics into the long oak worktop and cabinet sides, a fiddly job but worth it in the long run.

The whacky idea I had (I always have to have one!) was to clad part of the ceiling in oak slats to create a further feeling of warmth and cosyness and lead the eye towards the large patio windows and the view outside.

We decided to re-decorate in an earthy off-white mushroom tone and add a feature wall colour of earthy terracotta to complement the wood and gas fire on the wall.

What could go wrong?!