Just a few things...

I haven't posted in a week and I feel compelled to make an update (hence why I wanted to do this as a blog...). I haven't taken any pictures of the doors I picked up last week and I'll do that first thing when I get home. Second, I've been batting around a few ideas for my new desk (to go with the new office). I priced a sheet of finished plywood (birch) and need to find some pricing on some cherry boards as well (I'm not even sure where I'd get those from around here). I've started using Google's Sketchup and have found it 'challenging' to use. I know what I want to do but am not sure of how to tell Sketchup how to do it. I think a little practice and a few tutorials should help with that. As soon as I get a handle on the basic design of the desk, I'll post some drawings of it.

The power of Craigslist compels you

Well, I've done it now. I made my first acquisition last night. I responded to a listing on Craigslist and I now have four interior doors (I'll get pictures posted as soon as I can). Part of the problem is that I thought I was picking up an exterior door (which I need)... As my military brethren would say (I was in the Navy for almost nine years), "Overcome and adapt.". Three of the four doors have the frame with them and one of them has the doorknob hardware. They seem to be 'older vintage' doors and look great (from what I could tell in the dark). I'll get a better look at them in the daylight today. If nothing else, I'll refinish them and sell them or trade them for something I do need.

Craigslist - http://www.craigslist.com/

A journey begins with the first step...

In thinking about how great my new office is going to be, I think about all the stuff that I'm going to have in it. I plan on building a new computer desk (because the one I have is very crowded and cobbled together from a couple of different desks) and open bookshelves to hold all of my books (I have quite a collection of Hobby Japan magazines and art books). I'll have wall space to put my original comic art on (I've got a few Geoff Darrow pieces and one Mike Mignola pre-Hellboy piece) as well as my video game marques (the top part of an arcade game that has the name). I'll have a place for my drawing table and I also want to build a MAME cabinet (more on that later). But I'm getting ahead of myself...

The first thing I need to do is come up with a plan for this new structure (and not just a scribble some measurements on a cocktail napkin either). I need something that I can take measurements from and build this thing. Something I can show to someone who knows what they are doing as a reality check. Something I can make a list of materials from and have a good idea what this is going to cost me.

Since cost is an important factor with this project, I need all the free help I can get. I began to look around for no cost software to be able to come up with an accurate drawing of the office. The one thing I did find was Google's Sketchup. It's free, seems easy to use and has a large, active community. There are collections of pre-made items that others have done that I can drag and drop into my drawings. Between being free, the online help and community, I think this may be a good place to start.

Google's Sketchup - http://sketchup.google.com/
Info on MAME - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAME
Goeff Darrow - http://www.geofdarrow.net/
Mike Mignola - http://www.hellboy.com/

One Man's journey toward building his 'castle'

My name is Tim and I'll be your host for this wondrous journey...

After having my interest peaked from seeing 'shackitecture' on http://http//www.dinosaursandrobots.com/search/label/shackitecture, I had discovered a whole new realm of 'backyard offices' on http://www.shedworking.co.uk/. It was at this point I decided that I must have one of my own.

I did my homework and discovered that in my town (Kettering, Ohio - near Dayton), I can have a 'shed' in my back yard and if it is under 200 sq. ft., that I don't need to submit plans for review ($75 just for that alone). That means I only need to pay for the $35 permit and then a final inspection.

The first problem I have with the whole thing is being short on disposable income for the project. This means that I must come up with the cash or materials on my own. I thought, "I'm a smart guy. I can figure this out...". So... My thought was that I could use recycled materials or scraps from construction sites around town (and I plan on asking before taking and blogging how that goes), hitting up craigslist for free items to help and asking for Lowe's/Home Depot gift cards for Christmas.

In not having any idea on how to build a structure ("I'm a network engineer. How hard can this be?"), somehow I thought that blogging the whole thing would help myself and perhaps others in building their own backyard office. I will try and detail as much as I can in what I do and how I do it to help out others. Conversely, if someone has an idea or suggestion for something, by all means, please share so others may benefit from it. I don't want to skimp on the details as I have seen so many other places/blogs.

I also thought that blogging the whole project would help encourage me in seeing this thru beginning to end (with the threat of 'someone else watching my progress' helping me along) as I have a bad habit of starting things and not finishing them.

So, welcome and I hope you find this journey as informative and entertaining as I hope to...