Kab Benfield sat in his uninspiring home office and watched a brand new custom home being built across the way. Bam! Inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning. It was finally time.
Flat Out Bored
He had always wanted to jazz up this room where he spends most of his time, but it never seemed like the right time. The 12′ x 20′ office had 15′ ceilings, and it had been begging for some custom touches for years. But as we all know, we cannot rush inspiration. And often, it comes from many places.
In the office sat a one-of-a-kind Peter Lik photograph and various model ships and boats that Kab had collected over the years. These were some of his prized possessions, but they were getting lost in this large space. The photograph, which was designed to change in different lighting, was even falling flat.
Inspiring Surroundings
Since the office was the only room in his Northern California home that lacked character, Kab took a stroll around to find some inspiration. He decided that the double coves found in the other rooms would add some much-needed pizazz to his office, but, unlike those double coves, Kab would install this one himself!
Kab spent hours on our website, browsing our gallery for more inspiration and watching videos to see how easy installation would be. After watching one video about a dozen times, he was certain that he could do this.
And as the wheels of inspiration were turning, Kab stumbled upon an image of one of our dome ceilings and remembered something amazing he had seen years before. An outrigger canoe hung from a decorative restaurant ceiling; Kab was in awe. This wasn’t any ordinary ceiling. With this memory came the final touch that would push his “nice” new ceiling into spectacular territory.
Dreams Become Reality
So, he set out to find a kayak in the right dimensions to fit inside his 17′ long by 8′ wide dome kit . Next, it was time to measure and order. This is where things start getting exciting, because this is where reality takes hold where before, there were only dreams!
Kab doesn’t have any construction or building experience, but he was set on installing everything himself, from the dome to the sheet rock and even the flooring. The dome, by the way, took less than a day for him to install. But when he had questions on anything, he turned to our website or to YouTube .
The entire process took a little over three weeks of part-time effort, including crown molding, wiring, sheet rocking, mudding, taping, texturing, and painting. Whew!
And there was still more to be done. As a true DIYer, Kab set out to paint the mural himself, but just wasn’t happy with the result. After weeks of trying, he threw in the towel and hired Harris & Kasten to paint the masterpiece you see here.
Next, the old carpet was removed and two days later, the new Brazilian Tigerwood floor and baseboard were installed.
Today, the office is Kab’s favorite room in the house. And he admits that he enjoyed the process of creating it so much that he’s almost sad it’s over. Sounds like it’s time for another!
