Office Update/ I'm a Flake

  I'm such a flake.  Its only taken almost two years, but my office is done.
I know your thinking "Yeah, yeah... shut your face. You always say that."
Really. I WANT to be done.  I've tweaked and changed so many things along the way, and I finally have it how I like it.  Remember, this room started off almost 6 years ago as a nursery.

Its been about 4-5 different colors, but I kept going back to the pale pink. So pale pink stays.

I painted a chinoiserie mural on my closet/whiteboard wall

(there is a flip down queen size bed inside that closet so this doubles as a guest room).  Behind the doors there is yellow and white stripes and a leopard headboard.
I'll take some photos next time a guest comes.

 The bookcases (actually my entire office) are all IKEA pieces that have been trimmed out with crown molding or hacked in some way.
Lots of storage for all my junk.

The base cabinets are IKEA Sektional kitchen cabinets that 

I added homemade faux bamboo trim to. (see last post)

My I made the giant cork board over my desk from high density 3/4" thick foam insulation board wrapped with fabric and nailheads. It was a cheap fix, costing me under $25.
It herds my all my visual crazy to one area.

Starburst light tutorial is here.

 My white boards are made out of a 4x8' sheet of tile board ($13 a sheet) that I cut down into 4 pieces and framed with flat stock molding.  I will do a post on these.. really easy and they clean up great.  The trick is using a rag dampened with Windex.
Look how clean they are! They are usually jammed up with jibberish and to-do lists.

I made some more bamboo trim for these babies, and painted a yellow lattice background...

I change shit around here so much that I forgot how many looks this room had.
Here's a little memory lane montage...

Starting back in 2010 when I starburst the crap out of it and made it the guest room with a tiny desk jammed in it.  It was always a mess- note the laundry basket and printer on the bed!

 Then I got crafty and put my office in the big closet, and painted out the sunbursts with a dark charcoal brown:

 I really loved this set up, but the bed still hogged the room and collected crap like a magnet...

 I tested out a sofa bed option, it just wasn't comfortable.  I had a vision that I would lounge on it and read mags.  Never happened...

 I also built a work station, but the height was weird and I constantly had back problems from craning at the computer:

Then the room went coral for about a month:

And finally about a year ago I built a work area using a giant laminate counter and two IKEA Malms:

 The Malms started to buckle under the weight, not good! So that lead to where I am today.

I think this situation is going to stick around for a while.  I'm too tired to change it, and I think I have finally found a layout that is functionally pleasing.  The only thing I still need to do is make a new slipcover for my desk chair. That thing is pretty tired.

Happy weekend peeps!

(First 4 photos by Tabitha Sherrell- thanks lady!)

How To: Upgrade a Bookcase with Crown Molding

I've been busy getting my office pulled together!  Please join me over at True Value for an easy DIY tutorial showing how to add molding to basic bookshelves to create a more custom built-in look (and a peek at how things are shaping up).  Have a great weekend!

My Desk

Today I want to share a family story with you.
It's the story of my desk.

There is a lot more behind this desk than just function.
  There are memories of my grandfather, the man whom it used to belong to.

There are memories of hanging out in my grandparent's basement with my cousins
during holiday get-togethers.

After my grandfather retired he moved his office to his basement- an early man cave.
He was a practical man, so he took an existing table and used that as his desk.  He kept it meticulous, with neatly arranged pads of paper and a mug full of pens and pencils.  A television was set into the wall above the desk, and he would watch ballgames while simultaneously listening to another on his transistor radio.  We kids would sneak down there after family dinners and watch very vintage MTV (think young Kurt Loder), doodle on the endless pads of paper
or play the piano that was right next to the desk.

When my grandparents passed away,  I asked for their basement furniture.  

It was an entire matching set that had a retro flair I adored, and it was full of childhood memories.  

In our last house I used it on our sunporch...

 Upon moving to our current house I set it up in our basement,
but I brought the table upstairs to use as my desk.
My office has undergone many incarnations, but I keep going back to this table.
It has a ton of surface area to spread out on and is the perfect height.

I know several people would choose to keep an object exactly as it was,
but as a serial 'repurposer'  I decided to make it my own.
I began by spraying the legs gold and painting the wood top white.

I embellished the top with a simple zigzag stripe using painter's tape.

 I had a "happy accident" when I applied a coat of polyurethane before my stripes were fully dried, causing the stripe to crack and pull.  

I really like the result.  

It feels weathered, and the fact is this desk is about 60 years old.

  I don't think my grandfather would mind that I painted his desk,

 instead I think he would be glad to know it is getting well used.

And that it constantly reminds me of where I came from...

and of the man that taught me not to be afraid of hard work...

and that anything is possible because he was proof of that.  

My grandfather left his family's farm in Rhode Island at the young age of 15 

because he saw his future was sealed with a job at the local mill.   

He had a natural inclination for fixing things and he moved to Passaic, NJ where he got a job working as a mechanic.  He saved his money and in a few years bought his own shop.  A true workaholic, he would sleep in the bathtub of his shop after putting in a long day. 

He loved airplanes.  

He was very determined and he got his pilot's license 

and then eventually his own plane.  

He met my grandmother and they started a family.  

They instilled strong values in us and you knew you were loved.  

I have so many good stories and traditions that I will to pass on to my own children, 

this desk being part of it.

As part of  True Value's DIY Squad I am so pleased to share a video

that really resonates the importance of heirlooms.

  It had me tearing up a bit, thinking of how special the family pieces I own are, and how glad I am that I can incorporate them into my family's life.

  

Please watch this video and let me know about your own favorite heirloom.

What is it?

How have you kept it in the family?  

I would love to know if you made any DIY changes to it or left it just as it was.  

Please leave me a comment below telling me your story.  I'm looking forward to hearing them! 

 I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

For more DIY inspiration, take a look at True Value’s Pinterest boards and Facebook page.

What I look at while I blog...

I have been re-doing my office the past couple weeks.  It, like my family room, was a dark wood paneled hole and was super depressing to hang out in.  While working on it I realized (well actually just confirmed) a few things about myself in the process.  My office is MY space and I found that the objects I placed in there were much more personal than those I'd place in my living room.  The space is a bit brighter and "crazy" than the rest of the house, but it  is a reflection of me and what I find inspiring.
Here are some things I realized...

 No matter how badly I want an all white space I am a color obsessed person and need to be surrounded by it.  I will change my paint color with my mood or season.  It makes me happy.  Wildly patterned objects do too. I painted my office coral.  I love it, and I'm OK with the fact that it will be a different color by this time next year. 

(My yellow pineapple lamp w/ some added "flair", and some other things that make me happy)

 I am a retro girl at heart and I need something vintage around me.  I'm quirky and I like quirky things. 
I also love sentimental things that remind me of my childhood or loved ones.

(My Grandfather's sign from his business and my Grandma's color wheel/ chart remind me that hard work and creativity is key.  They were a big part of my life and I also have a few of my Grandma's painting hanging too.)

 I love shiny, sparkly objects... hence the name of my blog.  I must have been a crow in a past life.  I am always picking up vintage baubles in my travels and I
keep a plate of them out for inspiration on my work table. 

 I have issues.  Who doesn't?  Mine is that I REALLY want to be one of the organized people, but my A.D.D. brain will not allow it.  I do my best work when I have 5 projects to complete by tomorrow. I love when my office is neat and clean, but I thrive in chaos even though it drives me nuts.   My office is already a mess and that is why I'm only offering snippets at the moment.  Regardless it still looks better than it's before shot...

So, what do you like to surround yourself with to feel creative?

P.S. Don't forget to enter my chevron pillow giveaway here.

a fave

Just needed to post one of my all time faves, Celerie Kembel's office. Just smitten with the teal and yellow combo. For a great post about fabulous offices check of Paloma's at La Dolce Vita here.