The Big Office Re-do
I have been yammering away about all my time and effort fixing up my new office/studio/craft-room, and haven't quite been finished enough or ready enough to share pictures of the finished product...but, this week my new Massimo Vignelli calendar arrived in the mail and I finally got creative with merchandising my current stock of hoop.dee.do's...and then I did some cleaning and hiding of junk, and took some pictures. I even dug up the before and during photos of the work in progress.
Here is the "BEFORE" before...like, back when John and I shared this space- and it had a big desk and stuff. This was circa 2006/2007. I loved how it looked, but I had NO SPACE TO WORK- that desk was huge, but ineffective to work on, and my closet desk was teeny tiny- so a long time ago we planned on redoing this room- we sold the big desk, then I took over the dining room and turned it into my office, and this room just progressively filled up with junk. An old mattress, books, junk I picked up on my travels. Lots and lots of crap.
I started drowning in all the stuff. The clutter. I couldn't get away from it. I struggled to do anything creative because I didn't have a place in my home where my eyes could rest. I hit a breaking point this summer, after being away for so long, when I came home, it was like a house depression took over me and I couldn't do anything but purge...so purge I did...
I know this isn't what everyone would make their room to look like, and honestly there are things that work and don't work about it...but, the amount of money I spent on the office was barely anything...maybe $200 at most for a new office chair, the 5-drawer dresser in the corner, along with paint, a rug and a lamp or two. Everything else I already had, including the table- which was our dining room table, and the desk, which is a combo of an old metal sign from the office I used to work at, and an Ikea LACK console table (which they don't make anymore). The big dresser was also in our old dining room, it holds all my tools and stuff, and the Orange Chair I bought for $15 at my neighbors garage sale in the spring.
I have to tell you, I spent a lot of time on-line looking for ideas and general "you can do it!" inspiration, and 99% of my motivation was provided by regular visits to Making It Lovely...I can't wait until I can actually renovate a house, like tear out floors and kitchens...Nicole's blog is a DIY decorating dreamland. I found so many things I liked after "shopping" her room pictures...I fell in love with new stores, like www.cb2.com and www.westelm.com and re-visited places like www.pier1.comfor accessories and other fun stuff. My tastes have changed dramatically, and I likey.
Here are the dramatic before pictures, when "project: I hate this house" started in September:
This was just before I had the garage sale, you can see I had some shelves up where I made the hoop.dee.do's and a table for shipping. All that was on hold while we "moved."
and here are pictures of after the paint, while moving crap in and out.
oh, that carpet.
I have dreams at night of the carpet fairy coming and replacing it.
I continue to dream...
(we rent, and the owners so far will not work with us on replacing it, or allow us to replace it ourselves, so until we can work something out, we have to live with it. It wasn't like this when we moved in, but 5 years of walking on it have brought up some moisture and stain issues. It's like this in 3 major areas of the house. I could go on, and on, and on...)
anyway...
That's the "Big Reveal"...I am 100x happier in my new space- and it also is a HUGE bonus to have a new Dining/Living Room to go along with my office...but that is still in progress and will have to share those pics another day.
If you have any questions about anything I did, or anything you see, or anything at all- just pop it here in the comments, and I will answer in the comments as well.
Happy Weekending!
Beautiful new space Pebbles! Good for you on the purge. It looks super. (PS. My childhood neighbor used to collect owls and she had that exact owl cookie jar on your desk!)
Posted by: tracy | January 10, 2009 at 12:34 AM
Wow!
This is a super cool new space Jennifer! it's seems like it's the perfect place to get inspired :) I wish I have a place like yours!
Posted by: Séverine | January 10, 2009 at 01:55 AM
Looks amazing!! Love the table in the middle. So much nice space! Where did you get the white desk chair? Looks awesome and totally inspirational.. thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Heather | January 10, 2009 at 06:18 AM
I have been reading your blog for long time but usually I never comment :P But I have to tell you I love your style *A LOT*. After seeing your office pictures I just want to move out and have a big studio space to redecorate and work ;) Really beautiful!
Posted by: Valentina | January 10, 2009 at 07:32 AM
Just wanted to say that your space looks great! Love all the hoop.de.doos on the wall. LOVE the fabulous curtains, where did you find those?
Posted by: tamivik | January 10, 2009 at 08:06 AM
Looks so awesome!! I love that white chair - and that white drawer unit in the corner! Where did you find that piece of goodness??
Posted by: Tisha | January 10, 2009 at 08:31 AM
Your room looks awesome!! I love the orange chair!! And your desk chair.
In our last house/apartment(we live on a military base) I took over the diningroom, too, but when we moved and got an extra bedroom I set my stuff up in there!!
It's nice to have a whole room,though, isn't it?
Posted by: Robyn :) | January 10, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I love it! Although I did really love the blue walls too :)
Posted by: Justlulu | January 10, 2009 at 10:38 AM
This totally inspires me to redo my scraproom. My husband and I rent, but we can't repaint or take up our nasty carpet. Thanks for the inspiration.
Posted by: Jennifer Monroe | January 10, 2009 at 10:50 AM
I love your space and I am boo-hooing that my lockers are doors and not baskets like you have. I love that look so much!
P.S. I think I've decided to paint it red! Wish me luck! It's still sitting outside, lol.
Posted by: Davinie | January 10, 2009 at 11:03 AM
cute space!! when me & my husband had issues with the carpet (while renting), we purchased a huge area rug, and put it right over the carpet...just thought i'd share!
Posted by: Jung A | January 10, 2009 at 12:07 PM
Looks great, Pebbs! Hey, I'm worried my emails have not been reaching you--check your junk box, kiddo! ;^)
Posted by: JulieHRR (Her Royal Rubberness) | January 10, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Love the new room. SO inspiring.
Posted by: Melonie | January 10, 2009 at 03:00 PM
Very nice! I like that chair! It looks like one of those Eames Shell chairs from officedesigns.com. I really want one! I'll probably get it from that website too because they have the best price I've seen thus far and they give free shipping.
Posted by: Jackson E | January 10, 2009 at 05:45 PM
it's divine, jennifer! so totally lovin' it! :)
Posted by: jan | January 11, 2009 at 01:47 AM
The new space rocks! I love your redo. Gives me inspiration to clean out that spare room and make it into a workspace. You are so brave to get rid of all clutter. That's the hardest part - deciding what to throw out. You overcame that bigtime and it's beautiful!
Posted by: Karen M. | January 11, 2009 at 08:32 AM
wow you did an amazing job! and i love your blog :)
Posted by: alycia | January 11, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Love your new office space....good job! Jen, hope the carpet fairy comes true for you one day!
Love your hoop.dee.do's on your wall...you're so creative....lovin it!
Posted by: Jeanette | January 11, 2009 at 11:12 AM
wahoo! looks amazing. so comfy.
Posted by: alb52 | January 11, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Fabulous room! I would also like to know where you got the white drawer unit in the corner. Thanks!
Posted by: Chantel Arnett | January 11, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Thanks for the compliments on the space!!
The lockers, these were a lucky find at www.seconduse.com in Seattle. They were originaly lavendar and tan, and hubby painted them for white for me. If you like these, try looking at Salvage Yards in your town. Mine were from a school in Seattle.
The office chair is from IKEA- I picked mine up in the As Is section- which is my favorite section of IKEA.
The curtains (the harlequin pattern) were a garage sale buy from an old friend and co-worker.
Getting rid of the clutter has been hard at times, because I love me some home accessories- but I have a shelf unit in the garage where I stash the stuff I don't want to sell or donate. I need to clean it out soon and maybe Ebay or Etsy some of the goodies. I keep collecting, so I need to keep purging.
Posted by: Jennifer Pebbles | January 12, 2009 at 12:27 AM
looks beautiful! Thanks for sharing your pics :)
Posted by: Jen | January 12, 2009 at 09:20 AM
Love it! Where did you get that huge white thing in the corner with all the pull-out drawers? (sorry if I missed you posting it)
Posted by: slammie | January 12, 2009 at 01:54 PM
WOW. i love your HUGE HUGE CALENDAR!
Posted by: marlene | January 12, 2009 at 07:10 PM
What a fabulous transformation!
Posted by: mrslimestone | January 13, 2009 at 08:20 AM
totally awesome! you need your own decorating show on HGTV! tell me, please. where did you find the hand holding the mail on the dresser? loooooove that!
Posted by: tania | January 14, 2009 at 10:48 PM
Tania- I got the hand at Barnes & Noble last Christmas I think? You know how they have a gift section with fun stuff- they might still have them!
Posted by: Jennifer Pebbles | January 15, 2009 at 01:21 AM
LOVE it Jen!! Love the chair!! i need that! lol!!
seriously it rocks... you did a fantastic job girl!
Posted by: maggie holmes | January 16, 2009 at 08:19 AM
what an amazing transformation. it looks fabulous! thanks for sharing. :)
Posted by: julie k | January 24, 2009 at 06:33 PM
I love this! I have been looking at getting that calender for a while. ok, I am totally sold! I just found your blog and love it. i love your stuff on 2 Peas!
Posted by: Courtney | January 30, 2009 at 10:46 PM