home office face-lift

If you ask my husband – he’ll tell you that our house is perfect, not a thing could possibly be done to make it any better.  And for the most part he’d be right.  But ask me – a type A perfectionist/over achiever - there is ALWAYS something else that can be done in this place!  Case in point – our home office.  I absolutely loved what I did with it when we first moved in (did I mention I didn’t sleep for about the first year we lived here b/c I was up all night painting, decorating and putting things in their place?).  But I always felt like the office wasn’t “finished.” I thought that one day I would add one more color to the black, white and red motif.  I’d add curtains, art on the wall, etc.  Then about two weeks ago I woke up with that fire under my A$%.  It was time.  It’s been 3 years, I spend a good majority of my time in that office now that I work from home.  I was off – woman on a mission coming through!!!

 

BEFORE:

Because I was unable to convince my husband that this facelift was necessary I had next to no budget to work with so there were only a couple of tweaks I could do to it.  The last color I decided to bring in was teal (if you’ve seen the rest of my house you’d know that I’m a little obsessed with blues – mostly teals).  The first place to bring it in was CURTAINS.  I love curtains.  And lighting fixtures.  Ohhhh lighting fixtures….. Anyway – curtains.  After a couple of hours of looking online I went to an old stand-by: Z-gallerie.  And there they were – in all their tealicious glory.  My. Curtains.

Next came the book case – it never quite fit the office.  It was a piece that came from college and was ready for a new home (it’s for sale if you want it).  I had a vision of a perfectly antiqued white unit with teal undertones.  It couldn’t look too vintage because then it would stick out like a sore thumb against the simple lines of the Pottery Barn desks.  After looking through some consignment/vintage shops I decided I wouldn’t find what I wanted for as cheap as I needed it to be.  So I went to my haven – target – bought a $30 unit and decided to make it what I needed.  Before I put it together I painted the back panels a gorgeous aquamarine color to match the new curtains (Martha Stewart Paint collection for Home Depot).

I loved the matching his/hers diplomas of ours – and I’m still not sure how to get them back on display…. but that’s neither here nor there.  The room was so tiny it needed opened up – case in point – a mirror!

 

I’m OBSESSED with writing.  Writing devices, writing utensils, paper, pens, pencils, you name it.  Which is odd because according to Nick my handwriting is illegible.  I’ve always wanted a full wall sized dry erase board – but Nick wouldn’t like that and it wouldn’t look as pretty – so I scoured google then Etsy to find me a beautifully vintage inspired one.  And of course – I FOUND ONE!  Isn’t this thing a piece of beauty?  The Artist is “Revived Vintage” – Amy from Huntington, West Virgina.  She was SUPER sweet – totally accessible, had a quick turn around time and I was very pleased with my purchase.  She even went to Home Depot and bought the same paint I used to paint the inside of the book case so they would match perfectly:)

 

Last was the art on the wall – I seriously went back and forth on this.  Should I get family portraits canvased?  Should I do text/script?  I found an awesome Etsy artist that custom makes script words.  If you are on pinterest they you’ve seen his “shut the front door” piece.  I was two seconds away from either doing “holla” quite largely or asking him to do “you got this.”  But then I decided it’d be way cooler to just put up a scenic image from my artistic collection.  I took this picture pre-caden.  Nick and I went for a walk for no reason back on the Campeon Trails.  I loved that it was a late November day and it was warm enough to walk in shorts, a tee and feel a warm breeze.  Looking at this picture just reminds me of where Nick and I have been and where we are going.

 

Okay – enough talking – here are the rest of the pictures.  Just bought a couple of little teal accent pieces for the desk:)

 

 

Cara Richardson - July 14, 2011 - 11:05 pm

Wow you have a great eye for interior design Jessica. The changes you have made have really freshened up the room, it looks amazing.

AP - July 14, 2011 - 11:43 pm

it looks awesome! you know I love it, you added my COLOR!

Gina - July 15, 2011 - 12:49 am

i love the facelift… i want to see the rest of your house…

jessica - July 15, 2011 - 1:23 am

thanks gina! you actually can – i’m in the middle of putting together a website for my house to put it on the market. when we get back from europe we want to start house hunting! anywho – it’s got pics of the rest of the house: http://www.8621millcreek.wordpress.com/images

Laurie - July 15, 2011 - 4:03 am

What a wonderful space.. congratulations on your redesigned office!

Amy Weaver - July 15, 2011 - 4:53 am

Wow, you pulled everything together beautifully! I’m honored you chose my Dry Erase Board…looks great with the bookcase!

Gretchen - July 15, 2011 - 1:15 pm

Love it Jessica! There’s so much personality and creative energy in there!

Rachel McPhillips - July 16, 2011 - 4:47 pm

Oh my word.. it’s gorgeous. I am in love and want to live in your office!!

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