~ Our Home Office: Debut! ~

At last - one half of our home office is complete! The other half of the office (where the desk and the old farm table are located) will undergo its own transformation in due time. Then I shall reveal the whole thing...

For now, I'm delighted with the colour of the furniture! It's so gentle. Once the paint was dry, I spent much of Sunday afternoon reorganizing things. The brown fabric boxes on the shelf are from Martha Stewart. They were expensive, so I waited until I got a sale coupon and picked them up for 40% off at Michael's. They are lined inside with a brown & white plaid! I use them for my stationary.

To be honest, now that the furniture is painted this soft blue, the darker blue wall colour doesn't thrill me anymore. I think a soft cream or pale linen brown would be prettier. But for now, I'll leave it as-is. I still need to paint the trim work (soon) and slipcover the armchair. Although David and I are now considering putting a chaise, small sofa, or daybed in here, so the armchair might get the boot!

I think the space looks a lot more tranquil. The little dresser (which I shall put a mirror over) holds bills and house files, and I bought some white storage boxes at Ikea. The big ones on the floor hold files and the small ones on the shelf hold jewellery and craft supplies!

I also treated myself to a bulletin board makeover. I had bought a cheap corkboard at Michael's, and this weekend I covered it with plain brown linen from Fabricland, a relatively inexpensive fabric shop.

I used a staple gun to attach the linen to the frame at the back. I also bought some pure white braid and added trim work (and a bow!). The trim is a little feminine for my liking, but I think I'll leave it pretty for now.Now I have a home for all my inspiration pictures (which I often photocopy from magazines instead of ripping them out).

Here is the other side of the room (opposite the bookcase) which we don't have well organized (sorry the picture is kinda tilted)!

I know decorating magazines complain about displaying family photos too prominently, but I think that's rubbish - we like to see our loved ones every day (even if they're not in classy black & white)! Eventually I'd like the built-in bookcase to look more coherent, so I may re-frame a few items and style it a bit.

I also covered a small bulletin board (below, $5.99 from Ikea) with linen, for snapshots and postcards. I'm not smitten with the location, but I'm running out of walls, and it's accessible for quick changes.

Biscuit really likes the new room as he looks best in complementary colours.
I will share more with you when I attack the other end of the room. I'm now thinking about putting a cozy chair (and footstool), daybed or sofa in here, so we may remove the big table. David & I often spend time in here together, so we need a little more seating.

In the meantime:

* I must hang curtains (white cotton)

* I have big plans for the desk thanks to a suggestion from Joni at Cote de Texas

* I have to install some shelves and figure out some art work for over the desk

* See where we can fit a chair or daybed!

Stay tuned!