Monday, March 3, 2008

House Renovation {part 2: the office}

As I begin to type this post my mind is still lingering over on Erika's (my twin sister) post from today... and what better timing for me to link to her (once again). She just finished a beautiful post on my parents and I can't believe I didn't give them any credit in my first renovation post. As you will see from her post that I have inherited the gift of being a hard core renovator from them. They can take any & all things "old" and make them "new"! So be sure to read up on them on her post!


Moving right along to the next room in our house: the office. I'd have to say this room is close to the top of my list of favorite rooms in the house. It's a very small room and "L" shaped. It only has enough room for what it's intended purpose is. Sometimes I think we think we need a "huge" office space with all kinds of tables, etc. (like what you might see in Pottery Barn) but truthfully, if you have some cabinets & closets to hide your junk then the rest of the space is somewhat wasted! Our house was built by a plumbing contractor and I assume he used this space as his home office. We definitely considered it an added bonus! Especially since it has two different work stations; one for Justin and one for me (and all my sewing goodies!). If you look back to the pictures of the den you enter the office through the first of 3 pocket doors off of the den.

Here it is before in all it's brown glory:













We kept all the cabinets, closet doors and all the counter tops (it's amazing what a coat (or 3) of paint can do). I absolutely loved the cornice boards but didn't love the brown & gold fringe tape the bordered them. A great upholsterer had the idea of banding them in the same fabric as my "new" chair, and when he told me he'd charge $35 to do it... how could I say no to that!? The "new" chair came from the same antique mall that all my living room furniture came from. In fact it all came from the same booth... I'm hoping to meet that booth owner one day and thank him for his low prices & his willingness to come DOWN on everything by at least 20%!! The chair pictured below was a whopping $25. Thank you sister for the fabric.
Here are the after pictures:

































The walls are Abington Putty by Benjamin Moore (a color that you can't go wrong with... it's in the den too) and the counter tops are a semi-gloss of a color called JAVA that I found at Lowe's. It might be an Eddie Bauer color. It's a chocolate brown with a hint of mossy green in it.

The old school house pendant came from my sister. She found 5 of them at an antique store in Apalachicola... she bought all 5 for $45. I spent a few hours cleaning and rewiring them with the help of my husband... who you can see by the pictures below was delighted to help me! She gave us 3 of the 5 and the other 2 hang over the bar in the kitchen. They were a cinch to rewire and thanks to the Lamp Man (who carries odd & old parts) everything I needed was just 5 minutes away... and the total to rewire them was about $15. The photos below were taken by a 2 year old in our rental house prior to moving in.... she's such a good helper! The pictures are lovely of not only our faces but also our house... which looks as though a small tornado had just swept through! Oh well... here are those school house pendants in the process of becoming "new"!









post signature



26 comments:

Abby Maddox said...

Will you decorate and organize my house??!!! It is beautiful, and I now have office envy and playroom envy AND pool envy. Can I just move in with you guys? Maybe I could set a little guard house for me to live in by the pool, and then I can throw water balloons at the neighbors when they get too rowdy at night. Just think about it...

Anonymous said...

OHMYGOSH! Yall are freakin hilarious. i'm going to send you some pictures of our light adventures. We must be twins.
peace out lamp woman,
emcP

Dena said...

wow - y'all are fast! Who knew some paint and cute fabric could do SOOOO much! I LOVE it - it looks sooo great!

Tegan said...

I'm with Abby! You are so creative and everything looks so beautiful! I see who got the bigger work space!!!! Do you smock? Random quesion, but I know that you sew, but wondered if you smocked too? My mom smocked all my clothes growing up....I wish I knew how! My brother's wife smocks her girl's dresses and they are beautiful. You just strike me as someone who smocks...just to add to the list of ALL of the other AMAZING things you do. Rub off on me...please!!!!!

mrchrishill said...

Please, please stop sending these amazing home upgrades that my wife will add to my list.

If she asked you to post sewing station pictures with great thread organization and machine placement you couldn't have placed a better picture of her dream online. Thanks. I'll send you the bill.

Robin said...

Darby,
It is looking so good. I can't believe how organized you are. A girl after my own heart. Thanks for your sweet words about Ken's post. Robin

The Pavliches said...

WOW! A LOT of hard work...great job, beautiful.

anna and geoffrey said...

Love Love the chair in your office! I am so jealous - I want to change everything in my house :)

{amy k.} said...

so i just came across your blog- not quite sure how I got here but I love your renovations! Where did you find that fabulous chair in your office? I've been looking for something similar to that but have yet to find anything. Any tips?!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, that is just stunning! It looks so much better with the beautiful paint colors you used.

Anna Whiston-Donaldson said...

This is just gorgeous. I love seeing the dark move to light!

Linda Wise said...

The transformation of your office is amazing! The closets look more spacious and better ventilated. And it goes along well with the sewing machine, haha! =) Aside from making the room clearer, it emphasizes a more classic Victorian theme, thanks to the chair cover and the yellowish wall around the window.


Linda Wise

William Gulliver said...

Nice! I admire your skills. Your windows look absolutely perfect. I like the patterned lining you made for your window. It added flair into the room. Now, it looks cozier and more comfortable. Great job!

William Gulliver

Unknown said...

That looks so great! Really fantastic blog. In order to keep my house tidy I use Maid Complete who are absolutely great!

Nikhi Kashab said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nikhi Kashab said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nikhi Kashab said...

Hey, I'm a long time fan and reader of your blog, first time commenter. Just wanted to say this post really hit home with the stuff I've been looking into. Thanks man
http://ceomaids.com

Unknown said...

This is a pretty great post. I've been thinking of starting a blog on this subject myself. Any tips or anything you would recommend me to avoid?
Alpine Maids

Unknown said...

Well, that was a pretty fascinating read, not going to lie. I really hope you continue to write. Probably one of the more informative pieces I've read on this subject. Thanks!

Gleem

Unknown said...

Wel... consider yourself added to my blogroll. I have like six other blogs I read on a weekly basis, guess that number just increased to seven! Keep writing!
Long Island Maids

Mia Johnson said...

I love this post but just a tip... you should really write longer articles. I hear it helps a lot with getting new visitors. And I think your writing style would keep people really interested in what you had to say about all of this
Smile Maids

Unknown said...

Hey man! Great post but I really wanted to just drop a comment on your blog. Your blog has a super cool design. Is this wordpress by chance?
Wilmington Maids

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or does this blog post need to be longer? Though I somehow thirst for more information about your renovation, it really did inspire me to do one in my home/office as well!
Spekless Home Cleaning

Dominick said...

When you need the best maid service for your house at that time if you can hire cleaners from housekeeper Ajax then it will be the best option for all of us because from there we can easily hire all professional maids just at a simple cost. So, if you want then you can visit there without anykind of hesitation to hire expert maids.

lcrenovation said...

Your room remodeling is Damn. I also done my house remodeling from Home accessories Leicestershire and they did their work very well.

House Renovations in Brixton,

Speedy Decor said...

I am very impress from your article! Thanks for sharing this valuable information regarding interior design. Also find best Office Renovation Singapore.
BTO Renovation,demolition contractor,custom made study table,Shower screen,tiling contractor,resale hdb renovation,HDB Renovation,Condo Renovation