House Update - My Home Office

While my office was one of the first rooms in the house that we painted, it took a while for it to completely come together. First up, some inspiration, before, afters and in progress shots. Warning, this is a long, picture heavy post. But in my defense, it feels like it is worth it, as it took a long time to actually get to this point.

I really got inspired by this great gals office, pre move, pre baby Stella. But seriously, how great is this space? Perfect inspiration, and I might add, pre-Pinterest! One of the things that I really love is the light fixture, I couldn't do a chandelier because I really needed a ceiling fan in this space for circulation and air movement, and being that I work from home, well worth it. The art, the space, the credenza below, I loved all of it.

Awesome framed art and accessories.

My first office was nice and small and cozy,  and you can find a post all about it here.

Then after I had gotten my inspiration, I went to Craigslist and found some pieces that I thought would work.

The woman who  had the credenza I was interested in, had a LOT of  stuff for sale, so along with the credenza, I was able to pick up these mirrors as well. Originally in my old place, I thought they would work over the credenza, but I really like how they work in our new place. 

I knew I needed a credenza for storage. The first thing the boy did was paint this for me to go into my old office in our old place. 

The credenza came with us in our move.  The boy painted it to match my desk and the bookcase in my office. Great transformation, we added new pulls. I can definitely see this being transformed again when I decide to change the colors in my office one day, it is a very useful piece. 

Here it is in my old place, after I moved my office from one room to another. 

About four years ago now, we found these chairs at a thrift store. I know we can turn them into something special. These are the chairs on our House Goals 2014 list this year. I am just not sure where to put them. 

The boy did get them painted, and we took off the old cushion. Looking back I am not sure this was the best idea, it might have been easier to just put new fabric over the old. We thought they needed new cushions though. 

Here are some pictures I have found online to inspire us. 

Originally these were going to go in my office. We bought the fabric. But then I found a new chair, more below on that. So we will see where they wind up. 

The lamps I found at an occasional sale in Anoka, The French Flea. That was quite a while back right before we were about to move in. I saw the lamps in their email advertising the sale and I just knew I needed them, I even took the morning off from work to make sure I was there when they opened. As it turns out, they were from Home Goods, but it was just that pop of color I was looking for.

Here are some before shots of my office. Very plain, dark brown trim, blah. 

Oh and the aftermath of the move from hell. Can you say complete chaos? I don't think I ever mentioned our move from hell on here, but seriously, I don't think more could have gone wrong in one week! 

My office also has my main closet in it. The boy has the walk in closet in our master, and I have this one as well as the closet in the guest room. 

Slowly but surely I got the room pulled together and organized, but it needed that paint and finishing touches. 

It wasn't too hard to decide on paint colors. I knew I wanted a pale pale pink. We went with Antique Pearl from Behr and had it color matched and used Valspar. The trim is Swiss Coffee which we used throughout the house for all of our trim and doors. 

The boy is SUCH a good painter, we are really lucky in that sense. I loved it after he got the closet doors painted, it instantly brightened up the room. 

As soon as I saw the pink on the wall, with the white, I knew I had picked right! LOVE this color!

I thought it might be fun to add pink to the doors, but the boy said no, just in case I want to change the color later, it will be easier (for him!). But isn't this awesome?  (Photo Centsational Girl)

And then the pop of green. Still love these lamps!

We put in wide vertical white wooden blinds, but part of me wants to take them down. I love being able to look out my windows. 

The curtains may be the next update in my office. I bought them when we first moved in, and I still really like them, but if I find a pattern, I may change them up.

They also served as the inspiration for the color that we painted the mirrors. We got the mirrors from the same person that we bought the credenza from. When we went to meet her at "her house" which she used strictly as storage to sell things on Craigslist (in Uptown no less, not exactly an inexpensive storage unit) she had all kinds of fun stuff that we checked out. These two mirrors just happened to come home with us. The boy sprayed them for me, we did try one green, which was a little too light, but I love the green we wound up using. 

The Billy bookshelf I bought off of craigslist and the boy painted it for me to match the credenza, my desk and the book case under the window. It works out really well. It is a little too crowded for me, but I keep going through it trying to whittle it down. There is the chair and ottoman that I love. We found that at an estate sale about two years ago. Perfect color, and it is so comfy! Every office needs a good reading chair. 

 I usually have at least two pc's going at all times, so I needed a small table so that I could maneuver between the two. The boy painted it the same shade of pink as the walls. It really works out well, and helps with productivity.

I am a huge fan of Jayes and have been lucky enough to pick up some great pieces that go really nicely in this space. My garbage can, tissue box, magazine holder (really this holds all of my Lilly Pulitzer ads that I save), recharging tray (truthfully I thought I would use this a lot more, for my ipod, which I never use anymore, my nook, which I never use anymore, my phone and my tablet. But my phone if I am in my office is charging on my desk, and my tablet is always charging next to my bed) flip flops and pencil cup.

You may notice a few elephants here and there. I love them, and they bring you good luck you know!

I love having a reading chair in my office, it is one of Stella's favorite places and she loves to knead and hide under the blanket. We have even been known to nap here while catching some HGTV on the weekend.

I am all about storage in this room. Whenever I come across something that I think will work from a storage standpoint, I scoop it up. My only problem now. I have too many things for storage, would love to streamline a bit. That means throwing out papers! That might have to be a goal one of these months!

My desk I bought from a really fun store in Anoka, Countesses Cottage, when I first moved to the Twin Cities. Oh I LOVED that store. Whenever I was home I would visit it before I even moved here. Unfortunately it has closed.  My chair I bought at an estate sale for $3. I painted it and my dad gave it new wheels. It does need a fresh coat of paint, but that probably won't happen until the spring. Every now and again, when I see cushions that match my office at Home Goods, I will pick them up. The latest and greatest is from this past spring. 

The shelves over the credenza have traveled with me, I think even from out East, I just can't quite remember, but they work. I love photos of friends and family in fun frames. Every time I see a frame that I think will work in a room, I pick it up. These are some of my favorites frames with pictures of some of my favorite people.

I am glad that I don't have to pay Stella a salary considering how much time she spends in my office. She is never far away when I am working remote. She is actually a LOT happier when I am home with her. She has her spots she loves. I had to change my paper inbox from on top of my printer to her bed since she spends so much time there, you can see her bed by the window on my printer. She loves watching what is going on out both windows (especially the birds and squirrels).  I don't blame her, that is one of my favorite parts about working from home, watching what is going on in the neighborhood. We live at the end of our neighborhood, on the top of a cul-de-sac, so there are only five houses past our house, but there is still enough going on in the neighborhood to enjoy what is going on outside. She also does a LOT of napping there. Oh the life of a cat!

And while I am pleased with the overall outcome of my office, the rug makes me crazy. I looked and looked for the right one, online, in stores, pinterest, blogs, everywhere. When this one popped up on One Kings Lane, I jumped on it. But I am thoroughly disappointed in the quality and I think it is too small for the room and I wish it was bigger.

My bulletin board is on my door now, I found this on ebay.

And also bought the matching lamp shade for my desk lamp.

It has been fun finding little things here and there along the way. The little basket I found in Buffalo, and sprayed it white. I thought it would be a great catch all. 

Another Home Goods find. Green and elephants, it was like it was made for my office. Oh I miss my Peonies. Spring seems SO far away this week!

Trees blooming outside my window. . . .one can dream right. . . 

So there it is, where I spend the majority of my days and sometimes nights and weekends! I have a few more rooms that we have finished that I need to post as well and will get them up in the next few weeks. Here are some other rooms we have completed. Not bad for just over three years!

1/2 Bath on Main Floor

En Suite Master Bath

Guest Bathroom

Mud Room/Pantry

Guest Room

The Deck

Still to come (these are the rooms that have been completed, I just need to get the pictures posted)

Master Bedroom

Upstairs Hallway

Dining Room

Sitting Room

Laundry Room