Friday, November 8, 2013

DIY: Office Makeover

Phew....

that was a long break from blogging.  Hello bloggers, I'm backkkkkk.  And this time, am going to attempt to be better at keeping y'all up to date with what all goes on.  I've been cooking up a storm recently, and have lots of delicious recipes to share!!  But first things first...remember that office makeover I mentioned months ago?  Well, here's the post on it!!

Office Makeover

I love offices.  I love tranquil offices that both are functional, yet organized and decorative.  I find myself drawn towards common themes, whether that be color palates, trends, or even textures.  I think offices should both reflect your personality, but also a set of emotions such as calmness.  When J told me that he wanted me to decorate his office at work I was ecstatic.  I love decorating! I like finding bargains on things and changing the entire feel for a room....
 
He warned me that the before was going to be hard to handle...but I said I could tackle anything.  The previous tenant in his now office was particularly attracted to bold, neon colors.  Which is awesome, but J is definitely more of a bold, classic, calm color person.
 
Now when I start a decorating project.... I like to draw everything out (neurotic...I know).  But this saves me money in the long run because I can incorporate items we already have and then have a list of exactly what we still need. Here were some of those papers getting ready
 
 
I draw things out based on overall plan as well as each individual wall.  Then make lists of : "what we have" and "what we need to get". 

 
 
The before....
 
green...and lots of it.

the chair and the furniture we would keep.  The chair here was a graduation gift from the department for J finishing his residency training!

before you get too excited about the window...that window does not go anywhere...in fact, if you open the blinds it opens into a library.... where other people are... awkward.  I decided to cover it up!
 
 

Getting Started

After many trips to Home Depot looking at swatches of colors, we finally decided on a dusty blue...not baby blue like nursery blue, but one with hints of gray undertones to make it more relaxed.  I didn't want to go with the stereotypical "beige" or "tan" office, and since the area was small, I didn't want to go with brown either.  White would be too boring too, so blue seemed a good fit!!!
 

If you haven't noticed by now, I love "rustic" themes... I love twine, and mason jars, and burlap.  I love antique pictures, glasses, baskets.  I like the homey feel it gives, and I also love that it has its own story attached to it.  Not one for history, but having a painting hanging that I found at an antique shop in Savannah and being able to say "someone else had this hanging in their house once" just gives me happy thoughts.  I wonder if they got as much joy as we now do from it.
 
 
Anyway...enough rambling.
 
After a day of painting (and multiple coats of paint) we ended up with a gorgeous blue!! We decided on shades of brown, tan, and blue with hints of burlap, twine, and of course...mason jars (duh). 
 
 
Lamps: you may recognize these from the goodwill lamps post here.  I thought they worked perfectly in J's new office!!!
 
The picture now covering the mirror was a steal at Kirklands-- $19.99!! AND IT FIT PERFECTLY. the odds of that, I recognize, are slim to none. But I definitely recommend you all check out Kirklands every once in awhile--you never know what kind of art you may find!! 
 
The burlap backed push-pin board we found at Marshalls Home Goods...another one of my all-time favorite stores.
 
The three picture frame located above the board was one from home.  I put in two black and white pictures from the wedding and then used scrapbook paper and a wooden "J" that I painted in the middle to match the pin-board.

 
Front corner.  The left painting is a sketch of the hospital where J works.
Pillow- Potterybarn (my weakness)
Lantern- from our wedding
Blue candlestick- Homegoods
Painting on right wall: antique daschund painting we found on our savannah getaway weekend.

chalk board office supply holders- Homegoods
Chickenwire basket- Homegoods

 
Close-up of the pinboard and frame.

 
Clock- Kirklands: $19.99
Twine "F": DIY: wooden letter from Michaels wrapped with twine
baskets- Homegoods
Mason jar with wooden accent balls- Homegoods + jar from wedding
Antique doctor's bag: gifted


 
All in all, I love the change and I think we found some good bargains that we will use in future decorating adventures as well!  He's happy too, with his peaceful, organized, relaxed office!!!
 
 
Happy decorating, y'all
 

Virginia





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