My new “office”

Hey hey! Hope you had a great weekend! Ours was fun – we had drum corps finals for my husband and (because drum corps is done and we have him “back”) a family day at the Indiana state fair. We had a blast!

Slowly but surely things are coming around in the family room. If you’re just joining me on this project we recently took down a wall between my office and our family room. The end result is AWESOME. Seriously the best thing we’ve ever done in this house, hands down, no question.

My office was the brightest room in our house so not only did we get more space, we get a TON more natural light as well. It’s my favorite part. :)

But the question for me has been where to put a new desk. This was my set up in the office before:  

The old farmhouse table was huge! I absolutely loved it as a desk although recently it was feeling a bit too big to me. I was looking into something smaller and smaller is definitely what I ended up with. ;)

Originally I planned on keeping an actual desk in that area. I even considered building out window seats in the corner for me to sit on. But when all the floors were done and I started moving furniture around I realized it was a perfectly lovely corner just as it is.

I came up with a plan for a desk space that has worked really great for me so far. It’s not going to be for everyone but I love it. Even though we have more space I still want to use it wisely and this has worked well!

The corner where my desk was now holds a comfy chair and an ottoman:

Both of which we already had. I’ve actually bought very little for the “new” family room – the only two things are in this corner! That brass banker’s lamp is from Target and is perfect in that spot. I really wanted some soft light back there in the evenings.

By the way -- the subwoofer is a part of life that I’ve come to embrace. I may cover it someday, I may leave it as is – it doesn’t bother me like it used to. You pick your battles. ;)

Now my “desk” is a simple laptop table from World Market:

Most of the time it’s used as an end table next to the sectional. When it’s time for me to work in the morning I pull it over (I have pads on the bottom so it doesn’t scratch the floors) and then sit down to work (with my feet up on that ottoman!).

I got their oversized version so there’s plenty of room for my laptop, camera, notebook, whatever:

It’s nice for when I’m sorting mail or writing checks or whatever too, although I do have to write on a paper or notepad because the top is textured. Not a big deal to me – they have smoother versions but I loved this look. 

I’m still working out the other storage in this part of the room so it’s functional for me. The dresser that was in my office is now in the living room and still has the office stuff in it. I need to switch out some of the contents to the dresser that’s in this little nook now.

The built ins next to the fireplace give us tons of new storage too so I’m considering those for my supplies as well. I have an outlet next to the built ins that I plug my computer into and just leave there so it’s always ready.

So far I’m quite loving it! It’s no big deal at all to pull the table over in the morning. And when I’m done working I put it back next to the sofa – it’s kind of nice to be able to put it all away, you know? I considered moving my desk upstairs to the loft and working up there every day, but especially in the summer when the kiddo is home I need to be downstairs where all the action is.

And I still get to work in what I think is the prettiest corner in our house: 

There are a few minor things that will be changed here over the next few weeks – I’m redoing all the window trim like I did in the living room. The walls will all be painted a new color (more on that this week) and I still need to do little things like touch up the crown molding and baseboards.

But for now this spot is the most completed area in the family room and I’m enjoying it! The view doesn’t hurt either:

SO many hydrangeas this year! Love!!

Oh, and a few of you have asked but we did contact two realtor friends before moving ahead with this reno project. I was concerned that getting rid of the office would hurt the value of our home but both said the bigger family room far outweighed that. (It would be different if it was a bedroom though.)

Do you have a dedicated office space? Do you need to be able to shut the door or could you handle having it out in the open? Any creative solutions you’ve used to make your own work space?

DIY stencil (fail and save!)

Hello all! I hope your weekend was a great one! Ours was jam packed – we did a ton of family stuff, I got to hang with friends quite a bit and we went to a couple Fourth festivities as well. It was one of those weekends that is exhausting but leaves you feeling so incredibly blessed. I am a lucky lady.

So I didn’t have time to do much DIY this weekend but I did finish up a small project I started last week. This one started one way (a bit of a fail) and ended up another – I was determined to salvage it because I loved the look.

It all began when I found this platter at Target a few weeks back:

I think it was from the Nate Berkus line? I loved the arrow design in gold and knew I could recreate it for cheaper. It wasn’t too bad at $25 but my constant “Pushaw, I could TOTALLY do that for cheaper” usually wins out. And one day on a HomeGoods trip I found a large platter on clearance for $8 to try this myself – score!

Then I got started making my DIY stencil. I used my trusty FrogTape® to do it – I cut a piece long enough to span the whole platter, then laid the tape down on a cutting board:

I just cut it freehand – this is not a time to be picky. There are times when I want something to look “perfect” but most times I like it to look a little more organic, so the different sizes and spacing didn’t bother me at all.

It only took me about 15 minutes to cut them all out – it was actually quite soothing. :) Sometimes I love a detailed project like this, it calms me.

After my “stencil” was done I laid it across the platter:

It was going to look so good!

And then I realized the paint I was using wasn’t going to work. It was way too thin and didn’t stick right at all – I was SO bummed. I mean, come on – it was going to look so similar to the other platter. And mine was even bigger! But…fail.

I was about to scrap the whole thing but I realized I could use the arrow design somewhere else to add a little somethin.’ Arrows are HUGE right now, right? I was at a jewelry party yesterday and bought an arrow ring. I see them so much lately.

Anyway, I have a little pen holder in my office that I thought would look cute with a little embellishment so I decided to try the stencil there:

My arrows were spaced out so I had to tear the long strip of tape up and make them work closer together.

I used gold Rub n Buff and it took no time at all to add a little bling:

I only did every other panel because I didn’t want it to get too busy. I flipped the tape every other one so some go up, some down:

I love it! I have a few gold/brass accents in here so it ties in nicely. I didn’t realize till after I was done that it is the same look as my FrogTape trash can too:

So there you go – quick and easy and free. I was determined to put my little arrows to use somewhere and I think this is a sweet little spot. I have to say I must have pulled that tape off of the surfaces at least ten times and it still stuck at the end and didn’t tear apart even with the delicate design. I was quite impressed.

Have you incorporated the arrows in your home at all? Are they still trendy? Usually I get on the trends way after the fact but I’m thinking I’m still good on this one. ;)

Looking back: A bright office

It’s time for a trip down memory lane! I mentioned earlier this week that I’ll be sharing some of the rooms in our home over the years over the next few weeks. I LOVE before and after pics and I love looking back at this space because I think it’s one of the biggest transformations I’ve ever completed in this house.

This room was decorated and painted before I ever started blogging, like all the other rooms in our house. I painted it a good eight years ago I think? Let’s just say my style was…different. :) I actually quite liked this room for a long while – I loved how cozy it felt. But the color always bugged me, I just couldn’t get it right.

These are total old school before pics – you can tell by the computer monitor. ;) I took these some time in 2007/08, not sure when. I know it was when my baby was actually a baby. :)

Behold the ORANGE:

I was never going for orange – let’s just clarify that right now. I always wanted it to be a rust color. It was not. :) Back then I was really into the dark wood tones and deep colors, as you can see. As I always say, my style then wouldn't be what I would do now, but I am still proud of what I did. It was “me” at the time – who knows what our house will look like ten years from now?

Did I mention I painted the ceiling the same color as the walls? Yeah. I’ve always been a painted ceiling girl, even when it made the room feel like a cave. A comfy cave at least:

A few years later I repainted the room, this time hitting the mark a little better. It was more of rust color color for sure, but it still would get an orangey tone in some light:

We also used this room as the kiddo’s playroom for years. After about three years of not being able to walk in there most days I moved most of the toys to the loft and reclaimed this spot for me.

So about four years ago I started the process of making over this room in a big way! I started with a new “desk” (actually an old farmhouse table I got from a friend), a new light (there is no overhead light in here) and painting the room:

I also painted over the red ceiling with a pale blue, I was SO glad to see that dark color go!!

Then I got the crown molding up and took on the board and batten walls:

My vision was starting to come together!

I recovered the faux leather parsons chair (I’m sitting on it now and I can’t believe how well it’s held up!) and added a dresser from Craigslist for storage. I covered the upper part of the walls in Goodwill frames spray painted white – they are full of photos and art that are near and dear to me. I love it. :)

This room actually gets a TON of natural light, so my hope was to work with that and make it a bright, pretty space.

This is a corner of the darker version of the office before:

And that area now looks like this:

That DIY memo board that was hanging to the right felt too heavy in the room so I took it down. I think it looks so much better without it!

I didn’t completely remove all of the Bub’s things from this space – the dresser is full of craft supplies and the caddy holds his markers, paint and crayons:

Because of a leak that ruined our old laminate floors, we ended up getting new hardwoods and continued them throughout the main floor, including this room. It made a HUGE difference in here as well.

Here’s a shot of the other corner of the room before (check out that sexy monitor!):

That thing weighted at least 30 pounds, no joke.

Now that side looks like this:

The little table was my sister-in-law’s when she was small and she gave me the OK to update it. My boy doesn’t sit at this nearly as much as he used to though. Sniff. :(

You’ll notice the filing cabinet and printer are gone – the cabinet didn’t hold nearly enough files so I sold it. We now use a cheapy metal one and keep it in the basement. The printer is wireless so it’s in my husband’s basement office since he uses it more often.

Here’s what you saw when you walked in to the room before:

And this is that same corner now (well, a few months ago):

Ignore the Charlie Brown trash can, it’s been toned down quite a bit and looks much prettier now. ;)

I finished this space more than two years ago and I absolutely LOVE working in here. Before I worked from the sofa most nights, now I spend my days in here and it is a complete joy to be in this space. It’s quiet, sun-filled and there are usually a few cats laying on the desk as I work. :)

The only change I’m considering right now is the desk – I’d like to have something a little bit smaller. I do love the large surface space but I don’t need it quite this big. We have a couple options that I’m going to try in here to see how they work! (The cats will not be happy though.)

So there’s one of the spaces in our home that’s changed the most over the past ten years. I can’t believe the difference when I look back! My office is easily one of my favorite rooms in our house – it should be since it took me nearly two years to finish. :)

You can see all of my projects and posts about this space here!

Chevron, take two

Hey everybody! Happy Thanksgiving week! I won’t be posting much this week, and today’s post is short and sweet. I’m taking most of the week off and hope you’ll get plenty of family and rest time in too!

So here it is – my second attempt at chevron. If you remember I tried it a few months ago with my chevron Frogtape:

WELL. Funny story. When I was cleaning out the garage a couple weeks ago I realized I used the WRONG chevron tape. I work with Frogtape and they sent me their new shape tape before it even came out in the stores. This one must have been an early prototype that they didn’t use.

I grabbed this one off the shelf and didn’t even realize it was different from the others. The actual chevron Frogtape is actually much more chevron-y and less Charlie Brown-y.

I laughed out loud when I realized what I had done. Leave it to me. So last week I decided to do another little redo to that trash can.

I spray primed it and then spray painted it white…again. :) Then I played around with the tape to figure out the design I wanted. I was originally planning a thin line of chevron around the top and bottom but decided on a slightly different design instead:

I just offset the second line a bit to make it not exactly chevron.

I rubbed some gold rub n buff in between the tape and that was it!:

I decided simpler was better. :) Much better. This I love!

Their shape tape comes in three different designs – chevron, scallop and wave. (I showed you how I used the scallop design here.) As you can see you don’t have to use them as they come -- play around with them a bit to make your own look!

Want to try them out yourself? (You can see the designs here.) Leave a comment here this week and let me know which one you’d like to try! We’ll give away three of each design. I’ll announce the winner next week!

P.S. My friend Marty at A Stroll Thru Life has a lovely blog and highlighted me last week – go here to check it out!

Put a wheel on it

Hey there! I’m back today with a super easy update that I seem to like…a lot. I started thinking about all the times I’ve made this little change to an item and they added up fast.

I think it’s a fun detail that also adds some functionality to a piece you already have. If it needs a little something -- just do what I do…put a wheel on it. ;)

These small castors are so cheap at the hardware store – I think two or three bucks for two of them. If that? You can get the plastic ones for even cheaper.

I added them to a little shelf I found at Goodwill years ago:

It’s easy to wheel it around wherever and they add a bit of height to something that may be too short otherwise.

I got an inexpensive ottoman for our basement last year that was super functional (there’s storage space inside):

But I wanted to be able to move it out of the way easily, so I picked up four of the slightly larger castors and screwed them into the bottom:

I love the copper color on those. :) They come in this copper color and brass. I think silver too?

Awhile back I added them to the coffee table in the family room so we could push it around if needed:

Still can’t believe the difference a new rug made in there. ;)

I’ve been thinking about adding them to my next victim for awhile. A couple years ago I made over a clearanced caddy for the kiddo’s markers and crayons in my office:

I wanted to add wheels to this too, but it was really deep underneath (the bottom wasn’t flush), so I didn’t do it back then because I’d have to add some wood to make them work. (I thought the wheels would have looked awkward because they would be so deep underneath there.)

Well, my wheel obsession continues and I decided to make the little update to this finally. The bonus was that I found four wheels in the garage clean out, so it didn’t cost me anything!

I emptied it out (this also gave me a good reason to go through the markers that seem to multiply) and measured the length I needed for the scrap wood:

See how deep that is? That’s why I wanted to make it more flush on the bottom. And yes, there’s a cat in there. There’s always a cat.

See the paws?

He likes to “help.”

So anyway, I cut down the wood and just used wood glue to secure it to the bottom:

I could have used a nail gun but I didn’t feel like dragging it out and I didn’t want to risk the nails to come up through the bottom of the caddy. I couldn't tell how thick that bottom shelf was.

Not helping:

And yes, there were a lot of markers in there.

Here’s the little castors I used:

They have more of an antique brass finish. Love it.

You’ll want to make sure the spacing is fairly equal when you install – I just eyeballed them:

And that’s it! You just want to make sure you have some kind of wood for them to screw in to. If there’s not you can always add some scrap like I did to make it more secure:

If you don’t have to mess with adding wood or anything it should only take you ten minutes or so to install the wheels. Or 30 if you have a cat helping.

There are also locking castors so you can secure something you don’t want floating around the place. :)

Now we can easily roll the caddy around my office:

Or take it all the way to the kitchen table for projects. This thing is heavy so being able to wheel it around is helpful.

Cute eh? I think it’s a fun little detail. I’m always looking for ways to make store-bought pieces more unique and this does it. Do you ever do this in your home? It’s such an easy and cheap project!

P.S. If a wheel doesn’t work you could always put a bird on it.

Taming the paper clutter beast

So…there’s one thing that’s an ongoing struggle for me in this house. Every year I go through a decluttering process and try to figure out a better way to make things work in our home. And I think it’s normal that it’s an on going process – maybe?

I’ve mentioned a few times that after nine years in our home, I feel like I’m finally finding a spot for everything…slow but sure. Even with that there will always be stuff to purge. ;)

But for years I’ve tried to figure out the solution to my biggest nemesis, and that’s the paper. I’ve blogged about it numerous times and every time I think that solution is the one that’s going to work for me. And little by little it does help – but it’s never a perfect fix.

Here’s the thing – the older I get the more I know what processes I’m going to stick with. When it comes to the paper clutter, a perfectly organized routine is not one of them. And the older I get, the more I’m OK with that. ;)

If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a million times – the key to keeping the paper under control is touching it once. Getting it out of the mailbox or the back pack or the purse and dealing with it immediately. But it’s just not in my DNA. I mean, really. It’s just. not.

Now that the Bub is in school it brings the paper insanity to a whole new level – and even though my process is never going to be a perfect one, it’s mine and I own it. For me that means I have piles and I have hiding spaces (for the paper, not me) and I procrastinate. But I have learned some things along the way that I know will help some of you who have the same struggle.

Step 1. Stop it from coming in.

This is KEY for me. Muy importante! The biggie, in my opinion, is to cut down on what even comes in your mailbox. A few minutes on the computer will help quite a bit. First off – you know all those monthly bills for things like the mortgage, the utilities, the bills? Most of them would rather not send you something in the mail, honestly. It saves them money and makes things easier for you if they can email it. So mark that little box on your bill that says “stop sending me paper statements.”

Of course this one comes with the added stress of remembering eleventy billion usernames and passwords, but I can only fight so many battles. ;)

Another big one for me is cutting down on the catalogs we get in the mail. I mentioned this one years ago, but it’s worth telling you about again. The site I use is Catalog Choice – you sign up and then can search hundreds of catalog titles to unsubscribe. You can also do this by calling the company directly, but this is a much more time efficient way to do it, especially if you have more than one.

Yesterday I updated ours again – this time unsubscribing from American Girl (uhhh…I have a six-year-old boy) and Restoration Hardware (have you SEEN their catalogs? A bit crazy – they are SO thick, like a phone book!) I feel like I may have saved a tree with that one. ;)

And along the same note – you can opt out of receiving unsolicited mail (like credit card offers) by going to this site. It will take you to another site where you’ll have to enter some personal info in order to do so. We did this years ago and it helped a ton but we need to do it again.

Step 2. Find a spot.

So this is where I struggle. I don’t have a perfect spot to put all the incoming paper every day. It ends up on the island and on my desk, and that used to drive me crazy. Well…the island part still does. ;) But I’ve come to terms with the fact that having a small (key word) pile on the side of my desk is just fine…for me. Once I hide things away I tend to forget to deal with them.

I have a box on the dresser in my office where I keep a pretty storage box, and honestly I think I may just get rid of it. I’m learning the more places I have to put the paper the less I deal with it:

HELLO. That’s a big thing for me – I think I just had a break through. :) I used to have about five places to put the paper before I actually filed it away. I’m getting closer to that whole “touch things once” mantra and have it down to maybe two or three. ;)

Now if the pile is on the island I move it to the desk. If it’s in my car I move it to the desk. I just focus on keeping that pile under control. Once I’ve gone through it, it goes into one of two spots in my little hanging file folder I showed you here:

Our big file cabinet is down in hubby’s office, so when the folder gets full I know it’s time to take a trip down. (Which is every few weeks.)

Step 3. Decide what to keep.

For years I kept a shredder by the mud room door from the garage and decided I would take care of junk mail before I even walked in the door. Well, when 90 percent of the mail coming in is stuff that needs to be shredded, that meant I was standing there for a few minutes, feeding everything in. (I shred anything with our name and address on it, even the back page of catalogs.)

Well, I got things to DO people. It wasn’t working. Then I would let the piles and papers add up and this would happen:

OK, well that time it was a little extreme, buy you get the idea. Ain’t nobody got time. For that.

So now I use a small recycling bin and fill it up and once every few months I spend $10 and take it to a local shredding place. It’s SO much easier, for me anyway. The ten bucks is so worth it – they take care of it and I know it’s secure and done and I only have to deal with it a few times a year.

And then of course there’s figuring out where the paper you’re going to keep will stay. Like I said we file most everything away in our file cabinet, and most household bills and statements we keep for a year. Anything tax related we keep pretty much forever.

Things like the Bub’s school stuff, magazine tear outs, blog stuff – it all goes into binders I keep in my office, just so they’re within reach and easy to access:

It’s helpful to have it right there when I need it – especially stuff for the kiddo.

My process has changed over the years and I’ve given up on it being a perfect one. I will always have piles of paper – it’s IN MY SOUL. I told you, I’m a piler. I guess the biggest point here is that someone else’s method may be pretty and organized, but you gotta do what works best for you. (Small) piles…they work for me. As long as I can stuff them in a drawer when company comes over. ;)

Do you have a method that works for you? Does it involve piles? Have you just come to terms with that like me? (It’s OK to pile, I swear.)