The new office room - the transformation

So the previous owners of our house had created "a room" in the large garage.  It had been used by one of their kids for a while as I understand it.  That time frame was a good number of years ago though.  The room was a pretty big disaster and was made a bigger disaster when we ended up tearing down some of the paneling for emergency use in the last big hurricane.  

When we got the house, this rooms flooring has half carpet and half bare concrete.  Apparently there had been water damage (the water heater is in that room as well) and there is an external door to the room as well.  The frame of the external door was rotted out and there was significant termite damage around the frame and the wooden "hut" around the water heater.

I replaced the external door and used solid PVC to frame it.  We took the old door and after repainting (thanks Mom!) it used it as the inside door to the room (which goes into the garage) - this replaced a busted up interior style door.  

We put up 1/2" insulating panels over the bare stud walls and what appears to be an attempt at insulation in places.  Then we put up 1/2" drywall and painted it.  

I replaced the fan/light combo with a much larger plain light (no fan) which made a huge difference and made the room actually usable.

We are putting in some Aquaguard laminate flooring from Floor and Decor which is pretty nice - much better than the stuff from the big box stores.  This goes together pretty well.  My only complaint is you have to be careful about damaged corners due due to rough handling somewhere in the supply chain.  It isn't always obvious until you open a box.

Here are some pictures of the slow transformation that is occurring..

After the exterior door replacement but before any other work outside of carpet/paneling removal:  (sorry about poor focus)

Below is the garage side of the room with the new 1/2" insulated panels.

Below is with the new light installed, new drywall and the green paint we picked.  That's my dad below - working hard too (many thanks for the help!)..

Below is the repainted old exterior door which is moved to the interior doorway (which leads to garage).  

We've got the flooring started below.  I'm struggling to move things around in the room though (bookcases, elliptical exercise equipment, etc).   

I still need to rip out the frame around the water heater (on right) and redo all that yet.  

It is getting closer though.  Still a bunch of work left.

I've started to put the electrical boxes back in. This isn't enjoyable right now - back kills me after working on the flooring.

I'll keep on adding to this post - lots more to do.  

There is lots of trim work to do around doors, ceiling, floor and I think we will put in some wainscoting as well.  The trim and wainscoting will be white.

I'm still debating whether I can do some work on the far wall (not photographed) to get a new dryer vent run inside it (with or without wall modifications) - that is a pet peeve I think I covered in another post and is still a big sore spot for me regarding this house.

I'm thinking about a ductless mini-split heat pump for this room (maybe multiple heads covering this room + a couple others).  There is AC run from the main system but there are issues..

I'll replace the window too - I want to put in a double pane window to help reduce the AC need and also fix some other issues with it. I've got some research to do before I tackle replacing a stucco framed window.

Ok, so I'll have to work on the "glory in our sufferings" from the verse below - I'm not there yet.

Romans 5:2-4 New International Version (NIV)

2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[a] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[b] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.