Blog
From Desk Nook to Piano Nook: Our Bonus Room Update
When we moved to North Carolina, remote learning was still very much a thing. So when we renovated the bonus room, we made a desk station for the girls with computers (The Desk Nook Before and After), and they were there every day doing schoolwork. Fast forward a few years, and now the schools issue them laptops, and they do their work at the dining table most days, so the desks just weren’t earning their spot anymore.
A house should work for the life you’re living right now, not the one you had a few years ago. Those desks were exactly what we needed when we built them, and now they’re not. That’s not a design mistake. It’s just kids growing up! We’re always moving things around to make a room work harder, and letting a space change with you is part of making a home your own.
When our contractor at Kennon had an opening in their calendar a few weeks ago, we jumped on it, and they came in and took out the desks. The one catch: when we designed the desk nook, the desks had gone in first, and the planking went in around them. So taking the desks out meant redoing all of the paneling, then spraying the paint fresh. (Every reno comes with at least one surprise!)
And now? Our family piano has a perfect nook. If you’ve been around a while, you know this piano has some history. It belonged to Chris’s great-grandma Delilah. Chris grew up practicing on it, and it came to us in 2014 when his parents downsized. Since then, it’s moved across the country with us. It’s lived in our living room, our reading room, the music room, the study, the upstairs landing, and a different corner of the bonus room. It’s nice to see it settled into a spot that looks like it was made for it.
Bonus Room Sources
The Piano Tour Over the Years
Circa 2019 in Idaho Falls: Our music room before paint
Circa 2020 in Idaho Falls: The music room in red
Circa 2022 in North Carolina: The Music Room Becomes the Study + a Mood Board
Circa 2023 in North Carolina: Upstairs landing
Circa 2025 in North Carolina: Bonus room back wall
