Come together, right now!

So it finally came together. Our little office. Larry and I both work from home in some capacity so having no office for the past 5 weeks was tough. There's still some tweaking to be done and Larry's side needs a little spit shine but hey, that's what I'm here for. It will get done. Gotta get going on the craft room next...



Curtains: West Elm
Desk: World Market, the Josephine
Paint: Polished Silver (Valspar) at Lowe's


Lamp: Home Goods
Seagrass baskets total of 5: Home Goods (for super duper good deals- no bin was more than $8)


Mini card catalog holder: World Market
Metal bin spray painted burnt orange: Home Goods - again on the cheap (less than $5)
DIYed file cabinet spray painted in Heirloom White (love this!) and silver spray paint on the pulls


My DIY wall art, frames from West Elm
Scrapbook paper from Joanne's(at $25 cents a page I got lots of metallics and matte cardstock in oranges, grays and silver)
Then I added tissue paper tape in cool script and butterflies to make it stand out and add more texture and pattern - me thinks they look better in person


Oh drat, you can't tell from the picture but this is the $30 Target bookshelf that will be going into the trash (or to some kind of shelter). It's as steady as a kindergartener getting on the school bus for the first time. It sways and if you breathe too hard, it will fall over. So this part was a disappointment. BUT we're working on refurbing a piece of my mom's that will be just "the thing" we need here.

The piece will hold some mementos, my laquer tray (West Elm) and other goodies. I bought a small succulent plant with little white pebbles, bright purple moss and charcoal with dirt all in a pretty glass jar. (Update: it arrived today from a great Etsy seller in Cali, called Wendiland, which will find a home perched on a stack of books.) See??!! Aww. I love.




My lovely DIY shelves :) Two pieces of wood, painted glossy white and trimmed in a funky pattern. These are so fun! My two baskets were $1.98 each at Joanne's and I coated them in gray spray paint. Then my little birdy candle from West Elm along with a few random odds and ends are place holders for now. I'm waiting for some magazine files to arrive via One King's Lane (have you seen their site yet? If not, get thee Googled...and visit stat. I got some white storage pieces for a steal! White sturdy magazine files for $11 a pair- yes please! Beat that Ikea!)


See the dark laminate floors? Ahhh, so pretty. I made a quick back pillow cover for my chair out of the orange and white polka dot pattern and popped it with a little strip of flowery fabric I had around the house.

Whatcha think? I love it. Gray, orange and white is my new fav. Still to do: a make shift bulletin board to go under my shelves here in the most fabulous sea creature pattern.


Remember this? Now what to do with it. Cover a large bulletin board? Cover a few cork squares and call it a day? These are the decisions that keep me up at night.


So I saved the best for last, Larry's corner. It's much more, eh, what you call utilitarian. Yes,that'll be fixed shortly we just had to put our artist/craft/designer/printer/work supplies somewhere!



Thanks for reading along!

Christy

A lot of work...

This DIY stuff ain't easy. I've already suffered some minor injuries as a result so it's taken me some time to post the progress we made in the office.

Here's a few shots..


Getting my act together and gathering my pieces.


The clean slate of the office floor.


Our first day (a Saturday) yielded little results. We just didn't have the hang of it yet.


Even the pups were hoping we'd give in and take them for a walk instead. So we called it a day and did just that.


Day two (Sunday) we had success right outta the gate...after I read the instructions..hah!


Two hours later and only a sliver left to go, I called it quits and let Larry finish the row.

Ahh sweet success. He finished up the closet the next week and it looks beautiful. It's called Click N Lock but I swear there was no clicking or locking going on at our house. It was hard manual labor, for which I was not made to do for more than an hour at a time.

More final pictures to come. We hung curtains, shelves and touched up paint this weekend. Well, I can't lie, Larry did all of it. I'm still injured.

What are you working on right now?

Have a great week ahead!
Christy

Before and after

So here's the before and after picture of my new desk chair! Even Toby thought it was ugly. I found this old-fashioned worn out granny chair for about $20 and turned it into a mod looking piece. I scoured the internet for just the right chair and they run $100 and up. No thanks! Just a quick spray paint in dark gray (Rustoleum Painter's Touch spray paint in London Gray for $4.00 a can) and a recovered seat in a fun polka dot print (by Birch Fabrics) is just the best friend that my white lacquer desk (see previous posts) needs. Now to find curtains and a rug...I digress.

Last night we painted the office walls in a crisp, neutral gray called Polished Silver by Valspar and I'll put pictures up soon. It's the perfect tone of gray- not too blue or green and definitely not drab! We tested a patch on the wall with the tired out periwinkle and it took on a weird shade. So Larry and I agreed that primer was definately in order. He also got a wild hair and decided to scrape our popcorn ceilings in the office only (for now). It was the messiest thing we've done, next to using a tile saw. Yikes! He managed to figure out how to resurface the ceiling without too much drama. Note to self: never buy a spray can of orange peel resurafacing for $15 at Lowes. It made a mess. I'll have to ask what he used in the end because the result is beautiful. No more nasty popcorn ceiling!!

So my vision for this space was a modern and sophisticated office that would be functional, inviting and beautiful. I've always shyed away from too modern because it tends to look cold and sparse. My color scheme is darker burnt orange/gray/silver/white. I've been hunting for weeks trying to find just the right pieces to bring in to tie everything together. Here's some fun finds that will not break the bank! West Elm has been one of my go too places as has Home Goods.


Birch Fabrics make really FUN prints..I used their polka dot fabric in orange and white (bought from Worthy Goods on Etsy: 1/2 yard for $8.50) to recover the old chair above. I love it. I still had a 1/4 of a yard left for a small fabric bin or something else.


Oceeania in Persimmon by Duralee spotted on draperyrow.com. I love, love, love this fabric almost too much to cut it. It gives me just the right amount of "sea life" with fish, an octopus (for Erica) and other creatures. I got this for under $37.00 a yard! This is normally up to $60 a yard and it is to the trade only. I'm going to frame a big piece of this (I think) or cover a few squares of plain cork to go above my desk as a cork board. I can't decide!


A pop of color from biscuit tins at West Elm. I got the small one for $9.00!


A silver lacquer tray, also from West Elm for $22.00.


A peek-a-boo tealight candle holder from West Elm in porcelain white for $8.00.

There is still much to be done and we're going to be laying the laminate floor this weekend. I hear it's much, much (much) easier than tile...here's what we chose: Swiftlock Laminate in Hickory Chestnut




After pics will be up soon. I can't wait to work and live in this new space. What have you been working on lately?

Christy

I heart spraypaint

Ah spray paint...the poor man's Benjamin Moore. The last time I used it to upcycle something was years ago. I turned a tired wicker chair from white to espresso. It did the trick! Then I turned it loose on another piece of furniture, with less success. These days, the spray paint colors and overall options are much improved.

In order to save mega bucks on furniture, I'm trying not to purchase anything brand new, unless absolutely necessary. Ok, ok, I dropped $150 at Home Goods the other day. But it was very much needed for the overall look of the new office. I'll post my finds from there later. Let's just say I got a gorgeous carved glass lamp for under $50! Pitter pat.

So here's a rundown of this week's projects....

Project #1:
Spraypaint an ugly wood two drawer file cabinet for under $8.00.
I used one and a half cans of Painter's Choice by Rustoleum in Heirloom White (a gorgeous color!). The hardware got a facelift in metallic spraypaint...love, love, love. It was so easy, the longest part is waiting for the coats to dry in between. They recommend two light coats vs. one heavy coat. I will probably use a top coat to seal it and impart some more sheen. Oh la la!

I have to give credit where credit is due. My newfound inspiration and creative juices owe much thanks Kate over at Centsational Girl. She has incredible design sense and does it all on a budget! Her ways with spray paint and wood glue have me looking around my house to see what I can paint next! See her wonderful blog here:

www.centsationalgirl.com


































Project #2:
Take a chair for $22 at a vintage/antique mall and paint it a chic gray.
In progress!










More to come!!

Office makeover..part 1

Larry and I are at it again. We got a wild hair this weekend and decided to start getting things moved in order to tile and paint (again). Here's the first item for the new office- a wonderfully lacqured white desk (the Josephine from World Market).



Then I decided to tackle one ugly wood filing cabinet (sorry Mom) which had some old school gold accents on it. Here's some during and after pics- I was excited to dig in, I forgot to take before pics! I used Heirloom White by Rustoleum spray paint and Krylon aluminum matte for the hardware.

On second thought, pics will be up soon. True Blood and dinner duty calls right now!!
Christy

Paper

Paper has always been a love of mine. Shiny, glossy, matte. Heavy, flimsy and smooth. I am a sucker for beautiful paper.

When I was very young, my grandmother bought me the most lovely writing paper with delicate pink flowers along the border. The coordinating envelopes felt heavy in my little hands. It has a little surprise when you opened it up, more of the heavenly pink flowers. Almost too pretty to write on, I kept it tied up in the dark blue box that I would later learn is almost like the jewelry equivalent of the little blue box. Crane's paper is where my love affair began over 20 years ago.

Now being 33 years young, I can't imagine buying a niece or little girl a big box of expensive writing papers as my grandmother had done so many years ago. Mostly because I wouldn't think the art of the written letter would appeal to a 10 year old. How had my Gram-Ethel (grandma's name) known that it would be one of my most memorable gifts? Not to mention, the last time I got a handwritten letter from someone under the age of 20 was....well. Never. Letter writting's centuries old history has died off with internet, cell phone and texting.

I tried to recall the last real letter I wrote. Not a card or a prefabricated note but a letter of correspondence, as Emily Post would call it. It's been a while.





Brainstorming can lead to great projects so when I came across the scrapbooking section of my local craft store and the pounds of beautiful paper called out to me, I knew where inspiration would take me. I've never scrapbooked a day in my life, unless you count keeping a journal as a girl and ripping out newspaper articles to tuck into the pages covering all things boys and soliloquies as to why life isn't fair.

Here are a few listings in my shop that feature what else but... Simple. Beautiful. Paper. Gift tags for all seasons. Take a look.





To see more click here: www.mesweet.etsy.com


Love,
Christy

Sunshine on my shoulders...makes me happy

John Denver could not have said it better. There is something magical about the mountains. The sky is bigger, the stars are brighter and I feel a deep sense of tranquility out West. The sun is loving, not harsh. The communities are rich with life and share a unique spirit of living- not just surviving. As cheesy as it sounds, I really had a Rocky Mountain high.

Larry and I just returned from a trip to Denver and that familiar `gosh I miss it` pang is already following me around. Of course we kept very busy and had the most enjoyable time with family. Although our schedule was full, there is a simplicity to life out West. People take the time to slow down and appreciate the beauty surrounding them. I love the local flavor. The Denverites love their fresh fruits and veggies, green living and like the French, they share a Joie de Vivre. One moment that stands out- Larry and I walked two blocks from Mom's house to a tiny corner store and grabbed a fantastic assortment of microbrews and then sauntered home hand in hand, just tickled with our good fortune. All the while, the locals driving and (mostly) biking or walking smile at you and greeted us with a warmth and kindness that I have never experienced. I call it the happiest place on Earth, next to Disney.

So forgive me for going on about my love affair with this lovely city. For I have also fallen in love with the surrounding areas. Boulder for it's liberal eccentricities, Golden for its fun-loving beauty and even the airport is stunning with grand white canopies which resemble airy tee pee like tents, all nestled amongst the Rockies. It is a little piece of heaven.

I can't forget to mention all of the other wonderful happenings- my new nephew's arrival being foremost in my mind! I'll post more about our meeting and time together. Until then, bluegrass tunes will be humming softly in the back of my mind.

xoxo,
Christy