Mary's Office Overhaul

My friend Mary and I are both nonprofit consultants who work from home.  Mary is lucky enough to have an entire room dedicated to her very own home office.  She's in the midst of an office overhaul and needs a little help in finding furniture and accessories. 

Mary is probably the most meticulous, efficient and organized person I know.  Unfortunately, her "before" office pictures don't reflect this.

She's started this project by emptying her office and getting rid of the old furniture.  She's already painted her office this pretty turquoise color that looks beautiful with her new dark wood floors.  Isn't this a huge improvement already?

Now, our job is to find furniture that will help Mary stay organized.  Ikea has lots of great items for offices and their white furniture would pop against the blue.  The price is also right!

Source: polyvore.com via Aubrey on Pinterest

Doesn't the white and turquoise look pretty?  I'm not sure what accent color Mary wants to go with, but I'm thinking a green, citron or yellow.

Of course, I would recommend an Expedit.  Is there a better way to keep paperwork organized and pretty at the same time.  This one is from Kirsten at 6th Street Design School.

While Parson's desks are attractive, I think Mary needs something with more storage.  Maybe something like this:

Source: houzz.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I also like the idea of a long shelf/desk space against the wall where she can spread out and work.

Wall space shouldn't be ignored.  It can provide additional storage.

Source: bhg.com via Jenny on Pinterest

I've always liked these organizers from IKEA.  What a great place to stash all of the pens, paperclips, staples, and other little stuff that clutters the desk top or drawers.

Source: houzz.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

That's enough for today, but I'll have a few more posts of ideas for Mary's office.  Next up, is a roundup of fabric for curtains and maybe a throw pillow or two.

Coral and Gold Desk

If you follow me on Facebook, you know Big K and I started a little impromptu bedroom redecorating project this weekend.  It's still in progress, so I don't have any additions to the house tour.  But, as soon as everything is put back together, you know I'll have a post for you!

One thing that I can share is my new desk.  I've desperately been seeking my own workspace and I've finally done something about it after being inspired by Carmel over at My Fifth House...use a desk as a bedside table.  Genius!!!

Luckily, I had this guy sitting in my garage just waiting for a makeover.  I picked it up for $10 at a yard sale earlier this summer.

Can you spot Emma back there?  She seems to sneak into every picture.  If I was that cute, I might try to be in more pictures too!

I also had some Krylon spray paint in Coral Isle in the garage that I sprayed the desk with after priming it with Kilz.

I hadn't spray painted something in FOREVER.  I had forgotten how easy it is.  No messy brushes to clean.  No waiting days for paint to dry.

Here's the final result.

I think something is wrong with my camera.  All of my pictures have been super-grainy lately.  I have no idea what is going on.  Do you have any ideas????  I don't know what to do, besides buy a new camera.  This camera used to take great, clear pictures.

My favorite part of the desk is this gold detail.

In the background, you can see my new blue-gray paint...also done this weekend.  It's called Oyster Pearl by the Ace brand Clarke & Kensington.

Over in the corner you can see my "new" file cabinet.  This was a old Target dealio...you know the fake wood pieces that you have to assemble???  I just primed and spray painted it glossy white.  This was my first attempt painting this type of "wood."  It looks pretty good and I think the paint will stick.  I made sure to prime well with Kilz.  Otherwise, I was afraid the material might have been too slick and the paint would have peeled right off.

One last look, just because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new desk/bedside table!  One of my favorite things - it was almost free!  All of the materials I used were found in the garage.  I didn't have to buy anything except for the $10 desk.

Linked to some of my favorite DIY blogs:  Liz Marie, House of Hepworths, My Simple Home Life, Happy Hour Projects,
Elizabeth & Co, DIY Dreamer, Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, , The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage,  Beyond the Picket Fence, My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Serenity Now, Get Outta My Head Please, You are Talking Too Much, The Southern Institute  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Office Obsession

Just over a year ago, we turned our office into a bedroom for our 7-year old. She had been sharing a room with her older sister, but they both needed their own space.  Since then, my husband has moved his desk into our bedroom and my stuff is scattered all over the house.

The busier I get, the more I realize I need a dedicated space for my stuff: computer, files, supplies, etc.  Right now, I move my laptop around and have my files in plastic storage bins.  I've also been known to leave important files on the kitchen counter, the kids' craft table, my dresser, or just about anywhere.  It's only a matter of time before something gets lost or ruined.

Here's my dream office:

Source: blog.poppin.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

However, since we don't have an extra room for an office, I've been obsessing over "cloffices," closets turned into offices.  Here are a few that I really like:

Source: thebloominghydrangea.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

This one from Ange at The Blooming Hydrangea has everything I need: a desk, a filing cabinet, and some shelves with boxes to hide other supplies.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

If only I had a little closet in my bedroom.

Source: homestoriesatoz.com via Lea on Pinterest

How pretty and functional is this space from Country Living?

Cassie at Primitive and Proper also made a fun craft closet:

Guess what?  Much to my dismay, I realized that I don't have a closet that can be spared to make a cloffice.  How about a hallway instead?

This hallway is really just a useless, wasted space in our home.  I brought in a table to see how it would fit.

I would need to be the size of a toothpick to fit in here!
The hallway is narrow, so I need something small.  I brought in this little table from the garage to see how it would feel.  This table is only 18 inches wide.  I don't think I could use anything much wider.

This size is much better.  I'm still trying to decide if I could work here, or if it might be too claustrophobic.

If I decide to make my "hloffice," I'm hoping to DIY a desk out of two file cabinets and a board.  I also want to mount two or three shelves on the wall above.  First up, finding the file cabinets. 

Stay tuned.  Hopefully this idea will be taking shape soon.  Unfortunately, "hloffice" doesn't have the nice ring of "cloffice."


Here's a sneak peak of something else I worked on this weekend:

In other news, Sarah at Pewter+Sage is hosting another edition of Mood Board Monday today.  The challenge this time was to design a room around one of three choices of art from Etsy.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to design a mood board this time, but I'm definitely stopping by to see what everyone else created.