The Office

The office was actually my first redo in the entire house, but I’ve since wanted to do more things to it, so I’ve held off blogging about it. Since we have a tiny house, and since I work from home, and since I never cook, I turned our formal dining room into my formal office when I landed my kick ass job that lets me work from home. It was the most logical of the choices, which included the alternate option of bunking the girls in the same room. That option was way too risky, considering I’d hate for The Little Jerk to rub off on my oldest, who is charming and sweet and not at all mean like her little sister.

Thus began my new office. I outfitted it appropriately last year with furniture, but it was never bright (aside from my obvious brilliance). I am messy and unorganized, but there are certain things that I am very, very particular about. One of the biggest is symmetry, which is why I have a hard time with art. So to be honest, I didn’t even consider art when initially creating my office.

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Yawn

And then? Pinterest. I decided to decorate finally. I found a random stick/flower thing at Walmart that had a teal color in it that fascinated me. I bought it, and thus, the entire room was formed around a $10 piece that I picked up while walking by it once.

The room blossomed from there. I knew I wanted to paint the trim and finally talked Hubbin into letting me, with the promise that yes, I would do it alone. And I did, for the most part, though he helped a bit with the windows. I didn’t prime or sand, I was lazy. Shocking, I know. Har.

The look changed drastically several times as I poured through ideas. I went to buy fabric for the curtains, and The Little Jerk was being awful, and I got confused and anxious and I bought this horrible yellow and gray fabric. They let me return it later, thank God. For a long time, the colors were going to be yellow, teal and gray, though I haven’t incorporated much.

I tried, with little success, several DIY Pinterest art ideas. To say they fell short would be the understatement of the decade. I was frustrated and annoyed that things weren’t turning out the way I thought they should, and the symmetry and driving me nuts…the spot of wall on each side of the window had to be the same. Art, though? Is never the same. I was stuck.

Until I considered wrapping canvases in fabric. As I searched for the perfect fabric, I found a teal chevron print on Etsy that I loved, and ordered it. It was perfect; not too big or small.

The room began to take shape, and once I wrapped the canvases on the fabric, I hung them and the sight took my breath away. It was completely different than what I had initially thought of, while being exactly the vision in my head. It was loud and colorful, without being busy. So, without any further adieu, the before and after pictures:

Before (um, obviously):

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Moose Mousse by Valspar

Yeah, furreal, that’s the same room.

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What? Doesn’t everyone keep their triangle paper on the floor?

 

Moose Mousse by Valspar

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Moose Mousse by Valspar

So that’s the office!  I love it in here now. I will say that one of my favorite parts about this redo is the dramatic difference that painted trim makes. There is a striking difference between the before and after pics, and the only thing that was done to this room was the painted trim and decorating. The floors were not refinished, and the wall color (Moose Mousse by Valspar) is the same. Amazing, isn’t it?

There are several things still yet to be done; I bought curtains but haven’t hung them yet, and I’ve rearranged a bit. I also added a rehabbed dresser thing that now serves as my printer stand, and I’ve switched out that rug for a different one. Once I get the curtains up, I’ll write another post. I actually took these pictures before I understood the art of staging photos, so ignore the cords!

There are also a few “if I had my way, I would…”, which include installing bookcases that sit on each side of the side window that would mock built-ins and a window seat. That is, by far, my biggest want in here. Next in line (but more likely to happen) are new windows. These windows are the original 40’s windows, and they don’t open, but they DO provide a light breeze when it’s windy out because they are so poorly insulated.  Third would be having my sister’s awesome boyfriend install electrical outlets; in this entire office, there are only two outlets, and only ONE is a three-prong! I really, really want one in the floor, too, which would eliminate the stupid cord issue.

What would you do differently?

3 comments

1 ping

    • Shelley in SK on April 6, 2013 at 4:10 am

    Hi. Those cords are always such a pain. Attach them to one of the legs of the desk with ties to get them down to the floor. Then you could buy a plastic shower rod cover and put all the cords that are on the floor inside of it. It would then just be one plastic rod lying across the floor.

      • Kristin on April 9, 2013 at 1:51 pm
        Author

      I SO need to update this post; I actually tackled that on Christmas break, and there is not a cord in sight now, thank God! I didn’t realize how noticeable they were until they weren’t showing anymore and it looks MUCH better now. I hadn’t considered the shower curtain rod, though; that’s a fantastic (and cheap) idea.

    • Debbie on October 25, 2012 at 12:42 am

    Um. Someone stole your ipad.

  1. […] here. And feel free to click here to see that monstrosity. When I took a job working from home, that room was transformed into my home office. That project was my first ever renovation and was actually what made me start this blog. When I […]

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