Our Home Office Is Finally Finished (And Some Big News!)

Well, hello there.  It has been quite a while since I last posted.  A lot has been going on, that's for sure.

For starters...I AM PREGNANT!  This little bundle sure did catch his/her mommy off guard.  I'm just about to enter my second trimester and feeling SO much better.  Business really slowed over the summer with travel and what-not, which was just as well because I was on the couch, nauseous as ever for a good 7 weeks!  My hubby was absolutely thrilled at the news of our new addition from the beginning.  I have caught up with his excitement after accepting the fact that I will be swelling to larger than life proportions...again.  For the fifth time to be exact.  I truly am grateful for the privilege to be the mommy of another life.  Sleepless nights, here I come. :)

Anyway, I'm "back on the saddle again" as they say and excited to take things as they come.  For as long as I'm feeling well and still mobile I'll be doing my thing decorating and rearranging with Dwell Inspired.  Speaking of that, I have finally finished my home office!  (Before and After pics are at the end of this post, so keep reading!)  I'm super excited about the results.  There is lots to talk about so let's get after it.

On our vacation to Michigan in June.

You may remember that originally we were going to purchase a new couch for the office.  All of that changed when we got back from vacation in late June.  (The week before I would discover I was pregnant!)  We had the privilege of staying in a beautiful, airy, newly renovated condo while in Michigan.  When I came back to Kentucky and walked into my house everything felt so dark and claustrophobic.  How could I remedy this problem creatively and economically?

I immediately decided to sacrifice some seating in the family room and move our navy blue couch to the office.  With this simple move I saved us $1,000 or so that we were reluctantly planning to spend on a new couch. Presto! Two problems solved with a little muscle and zero dollars spent.  I like it.

Feeling a little cramped, I decided to open up our family room and relocate this blue couch to the office. 

The way things happened with this redesign is just about my favorite way to decorate.  I love incorporating a few new items with what I already own to transform a discombobulated space into a cozy, cohesive space I want to be in.  Here's what happened.

Just before we left for vacation we had a neighborhood yard sale.

Our kiddos and the neighbors made an adorable lemonade stand for the yard sale.

I ended up snagging this painting for free from my neighbor after the yard sale ended.

The painting that inspired it all.

The colors in this painting sparked the color scheme for the entire design.  It was sitting in the garage when I moved our navy blue couch from the family room to the office.  About a week later my other neighbor a few doors down set out some furniture on the side of the road a day before our neighborhood "junk day".  My husband called me that afternoon and mentioned he had seen some furniture on our street that "looked like me".  Much to my delight I looked outside and saw the cutest cabinet in the world just sitting there on the side of the road.  My eight year old and I looked like idiots as we drug the thing down the sidewalk and into our driveway.  Here it is:

I couldn't believe the color that was on this thing!  It was just perfect with the colors in the painting from the yard sale.  I forgot to take a before pic.  This is after I spray painted the gold hardware silver.  I really loved the gold hardware, but for the design in my mind the gold had to go.  

A few weeks before all this, we pulled up to our church community group (again in our neighborhood) and there were these gems sitting on the side of the road.  I ended up using the piece on the left in our office.  Here is the before:

Some sandpaper, spray paint, new knobs, and a little elbow grease later... Here is the after:

For wall art I decided to spray paint a wide array of frames I already owned white to make a collage over my "new to me" cabinet.  I chose white because my goal was to brighten everything up without painting the walls!  For over the couch I splurged and bought three matching gray frames with mats from Michael's.  I was going to frame fabric, but decided at the last minute to incorporate some handmade artwork of my own for a meaningful and whimsical touch.  I grabbed some large pieces of construction paper and some acrylic paint from the school room and went to work.  It was so simple and I love it.

Frames before spray paint...working on a layout.

After spray paint and on the wall.

Wall art I created:)  New pillows.

The pillows on the couch are new.  If you are using an old couch it is always a good idea to spruce it up with new accent pillows.  Go ahead--they really do work wonders!

When it came to lighting, I knew lamps were a must because there is no overhead lighting in our office.  I can't stand a dark room, and really appreciate good lighting for any seat in the room.  Because our office serves many purposes I decided to use five lamps.  Two lamps flank the couch, there is a lamp next to the arm chair, and a lamp on each desk in the room.  This is where I splurged a bit.  Three of the five are new.  I picked up the matching lamps next to the couch from Walmart and bought the lamp on the drawers beside the small desk from HomeGoods.  I snagged the lamp on the big black desk at a yard sale and spray painted it white.  The lamp on the cute turquoise cabinet next to the arm chair was a lamp I bought at Dollar General in college.  It was originally a distressed black finish and I spray painted it a creamy white to help achieve the light, airy look I was going for.

College lamp from Dollar General spray painted and new shade added.

HomeGoods lamp on the left.  Yard sale lamp on the right spray painted white.

Walmart lamps on either end of the couch.

Just a note about the rest of the pieces in the room.  The other end table next to the couch was purchased at an antique store on an outing with my mother-in-law when I was first married.  Several years ago, I found the arm chair and ottoman on Craigslist brand new for $100 and had to get it.

One of the elements I love most about the room is the antique books in various shades of blue from my Grandfather.  I used them to accessorize the turquoise cabinet and side table and they just match perfectly with the colors in my inspiration painting and beautifully tie together the room.  Yay, Grandad!

Antique books from my Grandad.

Antique books add character, color, and charm.

The small pine desk is actually Scotty's grandmother's sewing machine.  I ordered a piece of glass for it a year or so ago and it has functioned as a desk ever since.  It is now the place where my middle son does school.  It was a bit of a fiasco on our first day.  I had the glorious idea of all being together in the school room across the foyer from the office.  You know, one big happy family.  Well, it was the school day from hell.  I've never heard so much territorial fighting and bickering in my life.  Needless to say, the three have parted ways.  Reece to the office, Jadon to his bedroom, and Vera gets the school room all to herself, just like the little princess she is.

The small chest of drawers next to the desk was in my dad's bedroom growing up.  It's great for storing school supplies, notebooks, and paper.  Eventually, we'll be painting this piece some shade of sea foam green.  (It's on the to-do list along with painting the desk chair to the black desk.)

The accent chair with striped fabric was in Scotty's room growing up.  Unfortunately I burned the back of the chair with the tip of a curling iron (I have this thing with burning things).  Oh well.  Perfectly imperfect, right?  I was going to recover the seat cushion, but decided to keep it as is.

Sewing machine desk for Reece, chest of drawers from my dad, and accent chair.   

I added some new fabric to this desk chair from Peddler's Mall that I've had forever.

I spray painted the frames on these photographs as well as the cork board.

So here it is, the disastrous before picture and our peaceful and much brighter Michigan-inspired after picture.

BEFORE

AFTER

New Items Purchased:

3 new lamps w/ shades....$90
2 new pillows...................$30
3 frames w/ matts.............$90
clock.................................$13
fabric.................................$5
yard sale lamp...................$8
spray paint........................$12
curtains.............................$25
curtain rod........................$26

Total:  $299

What furniture do you already own that you could use to restyle a room in your house?

To check out all of the before pictures of our home office click here.  We are loving our new space!