Finally! I get to show you my finished office! This has been quite the project, taking many more weeks than I anticipated or desired.
The first thing I did was go through my stuff and get rid of a lot, reorganize what was left, and rearrange a little bit. I showed you that phase here.
The next step was the lighting. I didn't feel like I could accurately choose a paint color in this room until we improved the lighting. So one weekend my husband and his friend Chris put in recessed lighting. Now this was not an easy job because there is no attic access and we couldn't find any tutorials online to show how it's done (you have to somehow get the wires through the joists in the ceiling). Luckily, Chris had done this before and was able to come on really short notice to help Nate with it. Our plan was to put 3 lights on one side of the room, and two on the other side. We got the three in on one side, but when we went to put the 2nd one in on the other side, we discovered that we had duct work in that whole corner of the ceiling and it wasn't going to be possible to put the light there. Dang! Come up with plan b! I ended up putting in a really cute hanging Japanese-style paper lantern that we got at Ikea. The only problem with it is that it has to be plugged in everytime which is slightly inconvenient. But, I do love how it looks!
(Recessed Lighting)
After the lighting, I was able to paint. I used Valspar Crystal Aqua (from Lowes). Then of course I had to refinish several pieces in the room, including the bookshelves, the filing cabinet, the chair, etc.
Okay, so here is a reminder of the before:
And here is the after (notice the paper lantern!):
Another before:
And after of my sewing table and the medicine cabinet. I plan to put some cute decorations on the shelves. Maybe some jars of buttons or some other cutsie thing:
My scrapbooking/project table with my new organizing shelves. Also, my fabric in mini-bolts. I got that idea from Smashed Peas and Carrots. (I thought I had a lot more fabric than that. It looks a lot smaller stacked this way).
More before shots:
And after:
A close-up of my medicine cabinet and decorations. I decided to use photos of Nate's ancestors as decorations in the room. Some of the frames I purchased at Ikea, and the others I had, but painted white. Then I glazed all of the frames, following the instructions from All Things Thrifty.
Nate's great-grandparents wedding photo (Great-Grandma Lillie whose photo is shown below):
This is a photo of his great-grandma Bessie when she was a little girl with her brother. This was taken in the 1890s. I love the look of these old photos with their sepia coloring and the scalloped edges!
The top photo is Nate's great-uncle and aunt who met and married during WWII in France. They never had any children, so I have many of their papers. Finding this photo and learning their story is what motivated me to do some family history a few years ago. (I need to start again). I like to have these photos hanging to remind me. The bottom photo is of Nate's grandparents when they were a young couple.
These photos are of Nate's great-grandmothers, Lillie and Bessie:
This chair belonged to Nate's grandma Leah, who we are naming our baby after. Here it is before:
And after, using tips from--yes again!--All Things Thrifty (I LOVE that blog!):
This painting was done by my artist brother, Brett. He gave it to one of my kids on their birthday, but I've never framed it or put it up (what a shame!) until now.
Ta-da!! Now that that is done, I can take a big sigh of relief and then start the next project!
The first thing I did was go through my stuff and get rid of a lot, reorganize what was left, and rearrange a little bit. I showed you that phase here.
The next step was the lighting. I didn't feel like I could accurately choose a paint color in this room until we improved the lighting. So one weekend my husband and his friend Chris put in recessed lighting. Now this was not an easy job because there is no attic access and we couldn't find any tutorials online to show how it's done (you have to somehow get the wires through the joists in the ceiling). Luckily, Chris had done this before and was able to come on really short notice to help Nate with it. Our plan was to put 3 lights on one side of the room, and two on the other side. We got the three in on one side, but when we went to put the 2nd one in on the other side, we discovered that we had duct work in that whole corner of the ceiling and it wasn't going to be possible to put the light there. Dang! Come up with plan b! I ended up putting in a really cute hanging Japanese-style paper lantern that we got at Ikea. The only problem with it is that it has to be plugged in everytime which is slightly inconvenient. But, I do love how it looks!
(Recessed Lighting)
After the lighting, I was able to paint. I used Valspar Crystal Aqua (from Lowes). Then of course I had to refinish several pieces in the room, including the bookshelves, the filing cabinet, the chair, etc.
Okay, so here is a reminder of the before:
And here is the after (notice the paper lantern!):
Another before:
And after of my sewing table and the medicine cabinet. I plan to put some cute decorations on the shelves. Maybe some jars of buttons or some other cutsie thing:
My scrapbooking/project table with my new organizing shelves. Also, my fabric in mini-bolts. I got that idea from Smashed Peas and Carrots. (I thought I had a lot more fabric than that. It looks a lot smaller stacked this way).
More before shots:
And after:
A close-up of my medicine cabinet and decorations. I decided to use photos of Nate's ancestors as decorations in the room. Some of the frames I purchased at Ikea, and the others I had, but painted white. Then I glazed all of the frames, following the instructions from All Things Thrifty.
Nate's great-grandparents wedding photo (Great-Grandma Lillie whose photo is shown below):
This is a photo of his great-grandma Bessie when she was a little girl with her brother. This was taken in the 1890s. I love the look of these old photos with their sepia coloring and the scalloped edges!
The top photo is Nate's great-uncle and aunt who met and married during WWII in France. They never had any children, so I have many of their papers. Finding this photo and learning their story is what motivated me to do some family history a few years ago. (I need to start again). I like to have these photos hanging to remind me. The bottom photo is of Nate's grandparents when they were a young couple.
These photos are of Nate's great-grandmothers, Lillie and Bessie:
This chair belonged to Nate's grandma Leah, who we are naming our baby after. Here it is before:
And after, using tips from--yes again!--All Things Thrifty (I LOVE that blog!):
This painting was done by my artist brother, Brett. He gave it to one of my kids on their birthday, but I've never framed it or put it up (what a shame!) until now.
Ta-da!! Now that that is done, I can take a big sigh of relief and then start the next project!
You are amazing!! I love it. You have been busy... and so has Nate! The paint is perfect. I love all the new decor and pictures. I LOVE the mini bolts of fabric. I am so copying that. Grandma's chair turned out awesome. I LOVE the green filing cabinet. YEAH. Have I mentioned I am dying over how much you accomplish pregnant?
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