It has been a crazy year and my blogging has suffered. In the last year, I've had two books published, co-directed a high school play, redecorated two rooms of my home, and made or altered four prom dresses. Like everyone else, I'm too busy.
Last September I
talked about the office makeover my husband and I started and I promised pictures - which I never got around to taking or posting. So here they are for the few people who asked to see the finished project.
I didn't take "before" pictures. I'm new to the redecorating thing, so it didn't occur to me to document the process. I also forget to take pictures of my kids most of the time, so it only makes sense that I would forget a mere room.
So the first picture is approximately the original colour of the room. My name for it was "blah" and I didn't find it inspiring at all. The room was a standard bedroom that held two tables which my husband and I used as desks. A previous owner built in bunk beds on one wall. The room has always functioned as an office/guest bedroom. I would make the beds with whatever quilts the kids weren't using on their beds and hope the guests didn't think it too odd that the wood on the beds had never been painted or finished in any way.
The whole makeover began when my uncle offered me a desk. It was one of those huge, old, wooden desks that all the teachers had in their classrooms and came with a large piece of glass to cover the top of the desk. The light coloured wood didn't appeal to me, but the size of the desk did and besides that, it had drawers (remember, I was using an old office table.) I decided to paint it white and replace the old gold pulls with new silver ones. Of course once the painting was done, I just couldn't put my shiny new desk in my old blah office. What better colour to show off the white desk than a deep blue? So I picked this colour, then crossed my fingers and held my breath. I've always lived with neutral walls and knew even if I hated it we wouldn't be repainting the room any time soon. We painted the unfinished wood on the bed white to match the desk and found some bright fabric to make into quilts.
The finished room ended up being much darker then I had initially pictured, but once I put everything in place, it was perfect. The blue is calming and shows off the desk and quilts on the bed. It took me quite a while to figure out what I wanted on the walls. I ended up making a wreath out of an old dictionary I picked up at the thrift store. There is also a family tree and some framed prints of Celtic knots and hummingbirds that I love. I've also framed one of my favorite quotes. The room does have a little bit of a split personality. My husband's half of the office still has his old office table for a desk, but we put two narrow white shelves on the wall and put some of his mission memorabilia from Japan. I just need to finish sewing the quilts and put some curtains up.
Here is my little corner of the world.
Guests beds or the perfect place to shut my eyes for fifteen minutes when I just can't keep them open any longer.
So that's it. I don't think I have a talent for decorating or even a real desire to do too much of it, but in the end, I'm pleased with my peaceful corner of the world. Now if I could just figure out what to do with the rest of the house.
