Office Redo

 My intention when I started this blog was to blog at least once a week. Little did I realize that life and work tends to get in the way and take up a lot of my time. Any time I did have to myself has now been hijacked by our new little furry family member, George. Not that I mind too much! I mean, just look at this sweet face! He is a silly, energetic, playful yellow lab that has stolen our hearts and the bliss we once knew as "sleeping in". Anyway, as he has gotten a little older and pretty much potty trained I have been able to sneak some time in today and share my little office makeover with you!

Our home office is a little room off of our  living room and sunroom/entryway. The only window in the room looks out to the entryway so it tends to be a little dark without a light on. It's not ideal and if I had an unlimited budget I would bash down a few walls and relocate the window. But, with a small budget, I was determined to make the most of this space. With a little creativity,  I now have a space I love!

 First things first, the paint! Light and bright is my mantra and so I chose transparent by Valspar with the help and input of my hubby. He comes in handy with making decisions and I value his input. Sometimes I just have to roll my eyes but for the most part he has a good sense of style! Most of our home still has the original 100 year old hardwood floors, except for the kitchen and entryway. So, when we first moved in, we sanded down all the floors and painted them a bluish gray with porch and floor paint but never sealed them. I quickly grew tired of the color and the floors not holding up to dirt and cleaning. Frustrated, we just covered them all up with new laminate wood floors. I liked it for a while but I still missed the patina and character of the old floors. Fast forward to when we did the makeover on our laundry room last year. We pulled up the laminate and painted the floors again (better process this time) which caused a domino affect throughout the rest of the house. 

This time around I primed the floor first with Kilz. I rolled on 2 coats and let it dry. I then rolled on 2 coats of porch and floor paint in the basic white from Home Depot. After letting it dry overnight I rolled on 2 coats of heavy duty varathane polyurethane in gloss. After letting it dry overnight it was time to put the room back together, my favorite part! Hubby put up some new trim and I gave them a couple coats of new white paint. It is amazing how painting the floors white really made the room so much brighter!

I just love this antique crib I found on Offerup. The chippy paint and wear and tear is just so charming and really adds to the character of this piece. I managed to score a free crib mattress on craigslist. (Don't worry, it was one that was covered in a waterproof lining so no pee stains or smells!) The top mattress that resembles an antique French mattress is from Pier 1. The cool office sign you can buy here. My love affair for vintage fabrics and grain sacks runs deep and I love displaying them all over my house. 

​That antique cupboard was a once in a lifetime find on Craigslist. When I spotted it, I knew I had to have it and by the next day I did! She was painted in a kind of yellow paint so I gave her a little makeover with Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in Linen. It fits this corner perfectly and does a great job keeping our office supplies and my crafts organized and easy to reach. The cute basket light you can buy here. I made a ruffled cord cover out of left over linen I had. So much prettier than an ugly plastic cord don't you think? Most of the doors in the house are also original but were missing some of their knobs. I managed to score a few of these beautiful vintage glass knobs that fit all our doors beautifully.

The chalkboard was another DIY hubby and I did together. I wanted a large one to make a statement on this empty wall.  We used a sheet of plywood which I spray painted with a couple of coats of chalkboard paint. We then made a trip to my hubby's favorite place, BMC Lumber and picked out this decorative 5 1/2" trim to use as our chalkboards frame. Once it was all put together I painted the frame with Miss Mustard seed milk paint in Luckett's Green. The vintage suitcases in the corner were a find at my local antique store. I just love their look and they make great extra storage. I use them to house my paper crafts. 

I loved this little desk when I spotted it on Offerup last year. It is the perfect size for this space under the window and it wears the paint color Ironstone very well. To hide the printer I made these little curtains from linen fabric I bought at Joann Fabrics. The sweet little floral pillow is from an etsy shop and is made from Cabbages and Roses fabric. You can shop for similar items here.

All in all, I'm very happy with the turnout of this space. It's a fun little space that I feel is great for getting my creative juices flowing. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and that you feel inspired to create your own creative space.

xo Rene'