Decorating Project or Madness? You Decide

Ach, mein little lady boys, such doings at mrpeenee's fine, fine home. I have decided to repaint our office, which has been a brilliant cardinal red for 20 years. Enough. I'm going for a greenish aqua, with white trim. One wall is basically black cork board, which I'm leaving. Have you ever noticed how these simple decisions snowball into major projects?

After I decided to paint, I realized I didn't like the setup of the room: a built-in desk centered on a window with a single bed at right angles to it on the left and a country style kitchen table (which we've always used as a computer desk) perpendicular to the desk on the right. Flanking the bed is a large built-in bookcase and next to the table is a squat ugly bookcase. I've decided to rip out the desk, ditch the table, move the bed to the right of the window, and put the the squat bookcase on the same wall as the built-in one, for symmetry. I have an old vanity that belonged to my mother that I will place between the bookcases.

So. The desk is not only built-in, it's constructed oddly with weird little sort of wings the height of the desk and about 4 inches deep that are also attached to the wall the desk is part of. I don't know what's behind them and am not sure if I can get away with leaving them in place, thus simplifying the whole thing or if they have to go too.

Also, the squat little bookcase has its own oddities. The shelf that forms the top of the case sticks out past the sides about three inches. I have no idea why. R Man designed it and had an extremely cute junkie in New Orleans. It's very well built, as was the junkie. I don't remember his name, but I do recall his aquamarine eyes and that we had a very interesting afternoon groping each other while his wife and R Man were at the A&P. Tease.

I plan on cutting off the jutting edges of the book case and building an addition to it that will make it that same height as the other one. Nothing to it. All this just because I got tired of the red paint.

I would post before and after shots, but the camera battery is dead (natch) so you'll just have to believe me.