My office...my new favorite room in our house. It is the space I always wanted to have, but it has also become the room that the entire family uses the most. When I took the leap and started working as a photographer professionally, I knew I needed a place to work, where all of my "stuff" could be gathered in one place. The only space I could think of was our spare bedroom, which happens to be the first room on your left when you come through our front door. It wasn't a big decision to get rid of the spare bedroom actually. It had been slept in twice in the six years we had been here, and it had more recently taken on the identity of a storage room. So, I jumped into the bedroom to office conversion head first... while Jason was at work of course : )
To understand, how much this room has changed since we moved in, you have to consider it's previous lives.
Life number #1- I searched for a couple days for a picture of what this room looked like when we moved in, but I can't find it anywhere. Let me just say, it had beige carpet and was painted the color of flesh. Really...flesh. Ugh!
Life number #2- the first decorating go round. This is not the room at it's completion, but you can see the gist.
And in process...
And in process...
And now, life number #3- white walls with accents of sunny yellow and lagoon blue : ) This room makes me happy on so many levels : )
The whole transition began with painting the walls white. I wanted a BRIGHT and CLEAN space where I would feel like everything had it's place. I knew I wanted a desktop where only I would work, but I also wanted a work table where I could spread out my projects, and I could work with the girls on their homework.
And this was the result...light, bright and perfect for me : )
I wanted to utilize the height of the room as much as possible,
but I could not find a bookcase that was as tall as I needed it to be. I
ultimately decided on using an IKEA Stuva bench with a Billy bookcase (15" depth) stacked upon it on either side of the desktop, which has been secured to the wall and to the bookcases.
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| Stuva bench |
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| Billy bookcase |
Eventually, I may want to add crown molding to the top of the bookcases, but for right now, I am liking the streamlined and modern look, I've got going on.
I wanted to have a desk to work at that was clean and clutter free, so I made everything white- the desk, computer, keyboard, mouse, chair and even the artwork is B&W. When I am working there, it feels stress-free. LOVE it! By the way, the peacock is one of my photos that is available here
Before installing the bookcases, I painted 8" bright sunny yellow stripes on the wall where the bookcases were going to be. I started second guessing that decision until I started to fill them in. It was bright, but I knew this was one of the only places in the room, where I was going to have any color.
The next thing we did, was build that humongous and absolutely wonderful work table. Jason was a huge help planning this big project out...and I will actually have a DIY post describing the process in the next week.
I needed storage. Lots of storage for every possible tool, material, art supply, etc. I have collected in the past 20 years. I did not think it was possible to do it, without it looking like a jumbled mess, but I am pleasantly surprised with my organized chaos : )
Some of the storage solutions I used were galvanized containers I bought from Pottery Barn years ago, small glass jars from IKEA for my tiny things...
...two wooden boxes with drawers that I painted white and numbered, photo boxes and magazine files that I painted lagoon blue to pick up on the drapes, white plastic recycle bins stored under the benches for material and my larger items...
...palm leaf baskets fit into the sides of the work table for even more storage...
...vintage spools to hold all of my twine,rope and string...
...and shelving on the opposite wall to hold all of my paint supplies.
Sprinkle in some books, photos, and some of my favorite vintage items...cameras, spools and my grandfather's typewriter, and the bookshelves are full!
I wanted a calendar that was big, and hopefully would keep me organized, so I painted a chalkboard calendar on the wall, and used a chalk paint pen to write the days of the week and one of my favorite quotes at the bottom. I LOVE it and plan everything on it...seriously! DIY coming soon
One of the last things we did, was to install a light in this room. You may remember me writing about the fact that there was NO overhead light. It bothered me to no end! After a lot of back and forth, Jas came up with an industrial solution, which I absolutely LOVE.
One of my main complaints about our house, is the lack of architectural details and uniqueness. We are combating that one room at a time. This light and the conduit leading to it brighten my life : )
Last bit of color that I added to the space were these yellow barstools at the work table. I decided on a modern streamlined stool for my desk, but I wanted something a little more fun for the girls. These guys fit the bill.
A few billy buds and a tray to keep the work table clean, and I am done...for now : )
