I'm baaaack!

I know it's been a long time since I've been around this place, but I've had a bunch of projects in the air and I hate posting things that are halfway done.  And then I came to the realization that things are never going to be completely 100% done around this place, so I'd better suck it up and starting posting!

The majority of my time has been spent updating my office.  Just off of our master bedroom is a 10' X 13' room separated by double swinging doors.  Originally it was set up as a nursery or a workout room, neither of which I have use for, ha!  Here's how it was set up when we first moved in.....and for two years after that, lol.

The room was kind of functional but not very pretty AT ALL!  That corner desk was left over from my condo and it was a piece of junk.  The file cabinet was a yard sale purchase and it did the job but that color was terrible.  The whole room just wasn't meeting our needs.


I had an entire gallon of paint leftover from painting our bedroom and since the two rooms are adjoining I decided to use it in here too.   Plus then I wouldn't waste the non-refundable paint I already had!


I also tackled the file cabinet.  I just painted it in a white semi-gloss paint that I had kicking around.


Here's the end result:

Ahhh, that's better.  You can see the the file cabinet to the right, all white and glossy.  Oh and I also painted out the wood trim around the windows.  The raw wood was clashing with the new grey paint.  It wasn't a good look.


Now the big transformations start.  I loved this faux built-in idea from Centsational Girl.  She basically used off the shelf Ikea bookcases to create a custom built-in look.  And it turns out that space above would fit three shelves perfectly.  My husband and I tackled it in about three days, from putting the shelves together, painting the back of the shelves, and then attaching crown moulding and trim to the bookcases.  We also put up crown moulding around the room.


As a preface to the pictures......I am nowhere near done filling up the shelves.  In fact I will go over all of the projects that I have remaining at the end of this post.  Okay, here we go.........

There's still a done I want to accomplish. Here's a sneak peak at what I have in mind for in front of the shelves:

Please try to imagine that the chairs aren't orange and mauve.  I want a little seating area there with a rug and an end table.


Alright, that's the initial office makeover.  As promised here's a to-do list:

-Find, refinish and reupholster two chairs
-Find or DIY a 4x6 rug
-Paint the desk
-Switch out the hideous ceiling fan
-Build a console table for next to the window (actually, that's in progress, pics to come)
-Manage the tangle of cords around the desk (also being worked on)
-Find more accessories for the bookcases and soon-to-come console table
-Find or take pictures for all of the empty frames (I currently have either empty Ikea frames or random pictures of strangers that came with the Wal-Mart frames.)

Whewffff, that's a lot of things to cross off.  And I just found out the date I'm returning to work (a little earlier this year).  Time's a ticking.....

There are a bunch of DIY projects I did in the room so I'll highlight them individually in the next few days.

Lindsay.

I linked up to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick