A Done-For-Now Office Reveal

Procrastination.  I am the queen of procrastination. If it were an Olympic sport I am sure that I would have already been award several gold medals in the event. I am not sure why I wait until the last minute. (I do find that some of my best work is done under the gun, though.) Why? I am not sure but I do know this….nothing can motivate me to clean my bathroom like knowing that we are going to be having guests coming (usually within 24 hours)!

Anthropolgy planter.

It is not a good or admirable trait. I am constantly pointing that fact out to my children as they scramble to get that last lab done or math assignment completed the night before it is due.  I guess to some extent we all do it.  I, however, seem to have perfected it to a form of art.

Having said all that I can now with a clear conscience say the office is, well, almost finished. How non-committal is that!  It did not turn out the way I had thought it would. What do they say about best laid plans and all?  I had measured out the room and measured the furniture that was to go into the room. I used graph paper to draw out my room size and used graph paper to cut shapes representing the pieces of furniture to be used in the room. There was room, according to my drawings, to incorporate most of what I wanted in there but in real life it did not look right. I did not take into account the positioning of the door and the fact that when I walked into I was looking at the back of a chair. Not appealing. It also left the area between the keyboard and the chairs a little tight- not too tight but enough to feel claustrophobic .  It wasn’t turning out the way I wanted it to so I drug my feet in finishing the project.

Everything got flipped. The chairs are now positioned in front of the windows. The old chest, that was a gift to us when we were first married, sits in front of them and houses countless photo albums and old year books. I love the chest. It has teeth marks from our youngest all around the edges. I don’t know why she liked teething on it. The filing cabinet sits between the two chairs. The hooks on the wall were perfect for a couple of throw blankets- great for curling up under and watching a movie or reading a book … or studying for that science or math test… I found the blankets at Home Goods. Love that store!

View entering the room.

The old music stand took up too much precious floor space. I found one that mounted to the wall allowing the keyboard to now sit closer to the wall.  Mister cut down the extender bar for me and mounted it to the wall.

I did not want a black “nothing” in the middle of the wall so I devised a plan to fix it. I ordered an enlarged print of a picture I took last summer on Cape Cod. It is a plover chick. It is the cutest little thing and it reminds me of summer. I used contact paper to cover it and made sure I left plenty around the edges to adhere it to the music holder.

There was a problem. It would not stick to the holder! So, I wrapped the edges under and thought maybe magnets would work. Nope. The music holder is not magnetic. So, I resorted to glue dots like the ones you use for scrap booking. They worked fabulously.

The girls named him Harold...Harold Puffington.

The wall the keyboard sits on was another compromise The dresser Mister and I had refinished when we were first married has to sit on the same wall.

I decided not to re-refinish it.

 I had only the area directly above the keyboard to work with. I am now glad that I had procrastinated in ordering the engineering print of a piece of piano music as there is no room for it. Mister had brought home two cd holders a while back.

We cut one up and used it in daughter #3’s bedroom. (here) The other I had Mister mount above the keyboard. I had two pieces of Scripture that I wrote out for Mister. He is the music minister for our church. He loves doing it and I love encouraging him to remember that his work is for the Lord. 

The stand in position for playing music.

I have to tell you that right after I ordered the print I was on Walgreens website and realized I could have made my picture a peel & stick kind of thing for about $10-15. I was kicking myself for not doing that but in hindsight maybe it would not have stuck the music holder any way but I am going to keep that info tucked away for later.

The room is multifunctional for our family. We can watch movies, study, read, and practice piano in that room. In addition it houses my closet. It would be nice to have a closet in my bedroom but in old houses like ours they were not built to hold the wardrobes we have today. The hooks on the wall are where people hung their clothes in the 1800’s when the house was built. Then, you had a set of work clothes, church clothes and a coat-3 hooks and done. No need for closets and shelves, cubbies and shoe racks. I imagine getting dressed didn’t take much thought in the morning. More time to get to what needed to be done and less time procrastinating.

 This room is done....for now. I am supposed to paint the book cubby-thing next to Mister's keyboard and I have a few tweaks here and that hideous file cabinet needs a paint job. That will have to wait for warmer weather and my new spray gun!  I still have to commit to some sort of window treatment. Each window has a room darkening shade so I only want a valance of some sort. I do not want a fabric valance. What I would like is some texture and am toying with the idea of weathered wood. I wonder how long I will procrastinate before getting that done? I will be sure to keep you posted.

Partying here:
Shabby Art Boutique, French Country Cottage, Chic On A Shoestring, Just Us Four, Craft Dictator, The Girl Creative, Craft-O-Maniac, The Cottage Market,  The DIY Village, DIY Vintage Chic, A Tray Of Bliss, Olives-n-Okra, McCall Manor, DIY Crush, I Heart Naptime, Pieced Pastimes, One More Time Events, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Diana Rambles, How Sweet The Sound, DIY Show Off, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When, Create With Joy, Inside the Fox Den, I Should Be Mopping the Floors, Plucky's Second Thought, Karen's Up On The Hill, Coastal Charm, Skip To My Lou, Creatively Living, Mad In Crafts, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth
Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Sand and Sisal, The Dedicated House, The Lou Lou Girls, Elizabeth & Co, The DIY Dreamer, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ladybug Blessings, Our Home Away From Home, Cozy Little House, Crafty Allie, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Simply Designing, Gingersnap Crafts, DIY By Design, Handy Man Craft Woman, McCall Manor, The Curator's Collection, Imparting Grace, Lambert's Lately, My Repurposed Life, The Charm of Home, The Vintage Nest, Joyful Homemaking, A Cup of Mrs. Olson, Must Love Home, The Pin Junkie, A Delightsome Life, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember

A Yard Sale Night Stand

A few years ago Mister and I were spending an early summer Saturday morning perusing local yard sales. I get happy just thinking about the warm weather coming! I know it means beckoning driveways and open garage doors filled with someone's cast-offs waiting to be my must have treasures. Oh, yeah. Anyway, in one particular yard sale we found a woman whose husband must have said "Enough!" and she had a gold mine of stuffs for sale!

I purchased an all white, Pfaltgraff butter dish in perfect condition for $1-oh yes, I did! I can't remember all the stuff she had except a cute little night stand perfect for a child's room. It was freshly painted white with a glass pull on it. The only problem with it was that someone had made a messy hole in it to pass through a wire of some sort. "We can fix that!", I declared to Mister. If you're new here- "we" means Mister; Mister can fix that. For $5, yup, $5 I took that little beauty home!

The little table was well used and we did find a solution to the hole. Fast forward to the recent redo of daughter #3's bedroom. There is no room for the little night stand anymore and it needs some refreshing and love.

First, I removed the drawer pull. I lightly sanded the stand just to scuff up the semi-gloss surface. I wiped the dust off with a damp paper towel. I let the surface completely dry. Using leftover paint from the recent redo of daughter #2's bedroom I mixed up a batch my favorite POP Paint! It took two coats.

1st coat of paint.

2nd coat.

The whole piece got a coat of Annie Sloan wax and once dry was buffed to a nice finish. I replaced the hardware.

I measured a piece of foam core board to fit the back space. I covered the foam board with left over peel and stick paper I used in the kitchen cabinets and slid it into place.

The foam core was left over from another project and the bright yellow showed through so I just flipped it over.

Next I lined the drawer and the sides with the peel and stick.

And ta-da! Isn't it sweet? Now, I still have no room for it but at least now I can sell it without being ashamed of it. Mister will be happy that another piece of furniture is leaving our home and hopefully, this little piece will be a treasure in someone else's home for many years.

Partying here this week:
French Country Cottage, Chic On A Shoestring, Remodelaholic, Craft Dictator, Just Us Four, Shabby Art Boutique, The Cottage Market, The DIY Village , DIY Vintage Chic, A Tray of Bliss, Patina Paradise, Crafty Allie, Blooming Homestead, The Girl Creative, Pieced Pastimes, Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, DIY Showoff, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When, Create With Joy, Inside the Fox Den, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Plucky's Second Thought, Coastal Charm, Skip To My Lou, Sand and Sisal, Creatively Living, Karen's Up On The Hill, Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, Flamingo Toes, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth & Co, Ladybug Blessings, Our Home Away From Home, Cozy Little House, The DIY Dreamer, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Simply Designing, Gingersnap Crafts, The Dedicated House, DIY By Design, Crafty Allie, Handy Man Crafty Woman, Lambert's Lately, Imparting Grace, The Charm of Home, A Cup of Mrs. Olson, Blesser House, From My Front Porch To Yours, My Repurposed Life, Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, Must Love Home, Too Much Time On  My Hands, AKA Design, Craftberry Bush, Joyful Homemaking, The Pin Junkie, The Chelsea Project, Blogdacious, The Curators Collection

A Craiglist Hutch Tutorial

I love when the days turn warmer because it means that people start spring-cleaning! (Not me, of course, but other people.) They want to get rid of the old and freshen things up. What do you do with all the stuff then? You have a yard sale, naturally. The trouble is it is not warm weather here in Massachusetts and waiting through the cold months used to be torture. With the advent of the internet we now have access to year round yard sales, estate sales, ect.  I love Craiglist, Freecycle and local yard sale facebook sites!

Since we bought our home in 2003 I have had a love/hate relationship with the old steam radiators in our home. Some of them are gorgeous and because of that I do not mind terribly that they take up space in a corner of a room. At times I have placed a piece of marble or tray on top and made them into make shift tables.

U G L Y!

Neither of the two radiators in my living room are beautiful. They are short, squatty little things with no decoration at all. They weigh a ton so to try to bring them outside for a good cleaning and spray paint is impossible. They stick out from the wall about a foot and they are both placed in stupid locations. The one that caused me most trouble was between the two front windows. So this is the maybe-too-detailed story of what I did to deal with them. I have alluded to parts of this account in other posts but thought maybe I should just put it all out there.

My solution was to build display shelves of some sort to house collectibles, table lamps and whatever else I feel like. So the brain started thinking. It had to have an open bottom because Mister is insistent that we not block the heat in any way. Pedal back about a year or so before when I spied, with my little eye, two porch pillars being thrown out by my neighbor. After she left for work and before the garbage man came I, with cat-like maneuvers, made my way to her garbage pile and snatched the pillars stealing them away to the safety of my back porch. In hindsight they were in no danger from the garbage man as they would never have fit into little compressor thing but no doubt some crazed DIY nut would have snatched them up for some cockamamie idea! ....What?

Yes, you know when Mister saw them he rolled his eyes and asked about them. At the time I had no plans other than to hoard them like they were water and it was Y2K! Okay back to the present time. So now, I had a plan for those pillars. They were going to be the front legs to my shelving. But, what about the shelves? That is when I became obsessed with checking Craigslist in three different areas for like a week. One day, boom! There it was a top to an Ethan Allen hutch that some woman did not want anymore. I immediately emailed her. She forwarded the measurements and I was thrilled that it would fit into my SUV. Off I went with my $40 (either $30 or $40 I forget which).

A little too country rustic for me.\

My daughter was with me. In theory the top would fit into my car....if I could get it through the opening which is smaller than the inside cabin area! I was not letting it go. My daughter and I put it on top of the luggage rack but had only a few bungee cords to try to keep it in place. I drove back roads home 10 miles or so with the sun roof open, our hands sticking up through it holding tightly the top of the hutch. That my friends is determination! Once home I took it quickly to the basement until I could draw up a plan. Mister does so much better with things he can see.

Mister caught the vision and the whole family got involved. The girls washed the cut down pillars readying them for paint.

Mister cut the top from a piece of pre-packaged wood at Home Depot. He built the skirt out of 1x6 and used the corners of the posts to tie the skirt in,

Mister mounted the base onto the wainscoting using it as a sort of cleat. Then the top was placed onto that. Everything got a fresh coat of December Starlight from Lowes to match the trim in the living room.

I painted the top using paint from around the house. Now, please don't fuss that I painted a piece of Ethan Allen furniture. I did not pay $2000 for it and in order for me to have it the way I wanted it the color was going to have to change a bit.

And, done for about $80 in materials, including the hutch top and wood. The decor changes seasonally and it has become one of my favorite diy's.

Kinda makes me want to go see what I can find on Craigslist....and no, I have gotten no farther on the office.
                                           Thanks for spending time with me today!

Linking up:
DIY Vintage Chic, The Pin Junkie, AKA Design, My Flagstaff Home, Life With Lorelai, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Art Boutique, My Romantic Home, The Cottage Market, The DIY Village, Blooming Homestead, A Tray of Bliss, Pieced Pastimes, Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, Reasons To Skip The Housework, DIY Crush, Tornadough Alli, DIY Show Off, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When , Inside the Fox Den, Coastal Charm, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Stone Gable, Flamingo Toes, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Sand & Sisal, Lou Lou Girls, A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth & Co, The DIY Dreamer, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ladybug Blessings, Our Home Away From Home, Cozy Little House, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Simply Designing, Gingersnap Crafts, The Dedicated House, DIY By Design, Crafty Allie, Lambert's Lately. Blogdacious, The Curator's Collection, Imparting Grace, Too Much Time On My Hands, My Repurposed Life, The Charm of Home, Craftberry Bush, From My Front Porch To Yours, My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, A Cup of Mrs. Olson, Blesser House, Must Love Home,Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, The Pin Junkie. Life With Lorelai, Remodelaholic, Patina Paradise, My Repurposed Life, Shoestring Elegance, The Chelsea Project

Office Reno in Progress

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions. It is not that I am against resolutions or attempting to do things that will improve one's character, health or lifestyle. I do not like to disappoint people, least of all myself. If I make a resolution and do not follow through then I will have to come up with excuses why I did not keep the commitment. I will feel the regret and guilt of not having accomplished what I set out to do. Honestly,  I do not even want to put the required energy into whole-heartedly pursuing some lofty goal after all "I am too busy", I lie to convince myself. Yikes! Way too much pressure! And (seeing as we are three weeks into the new year) I obviously procrastinate on just about everything.

The day I took down the Christmas tree was the day that Mister (who does not procrastinate about anything, ever) decided it was time to finish up the three bedroom shuffle that we had started in October. It all started with the desire to clean up my youngest's room but that led to shuffling around my middle child to the office...blah, blah, blah... you can read about the work here, here, here and here.

Ugh!

That left us with a dumping ground of an "office". The room is where Mister works on music for our church and where the girls practice at the piano. Copy machines for homeschooling reside in that room as does the family filing cabinet. An old chest holds photo albums. The room also serves as my dressing room. My clothes are housed in the new closet Mister built for me and the chest of drawers holds clothing that for the past 19 years lived in a trunk Mister had built when we were first married. This room has a lot of different functions. To say it is multi-functional would be a gross understatement! To add to that we want to put a tv screen and dvd player for the girls and we want it to be a place for studying. Whew! Did I mention the room is like 11x13?

So, here is where we stand as of today; the closet is done.

Add caption

Mister installed track lighting that is set to highlight the closet, the keyboard, and the third light illuminates the far corner. It is close to the ceiling, imperative for ceilings 81 inches tall!

Purchased at Lowes. 

This weekend we (meaning Mister) will paint. After asking for suggestions on my favorite decorating page on facebook we have chosen Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams. It reads like a mix between beige and gray.

The carpet and chairs are staying put. We have not decided on window treatments yet.

I have drawn up a plan for the wall that houses the keyboard. I love the look of a gallery wall but have not yet pulled one off successfully. I want a curated look, not one you purchase all done for you and want to use some things I already have.  This is what I am thinking...

The frame in the middle above the keyboard will be a wall-mounted sheet music stand to save space and a shelf underneath, the length of the keyboard. I plan on doing a piece of sheet music for artwork in the large frame above the chest.

I have screens that belonged to my grandmother and great-grandmother. I was thinking of taking one panel and attaching it to the outside closet wall, facing you when you walk in the door.

As I proof read this post it is really depressing me! There is nothing pretty to see here!

This is a close-up picture of Mister's and my first furniture makeover 19+ years ago. It was a chest found in the attic of a home I used to own. I didn't ever think to get a good "before" photo.

We stripped it down, replaced the hardware as some was missing. It was also missing some molding that Mister was able to match up. We stained it and then, in true 90's fashion, I stenciled it. I do wish I had not done that now but here it is. We will be using it in the new office.

Whew. That's a little better. Now I can publish this post. Next week will be  a lot better, I promise.

Linking up to the parties:
Shabby Art Boutique, Imparting Grace, Too Much Time On My Hands, Lambert's Lately, AKA Design, The Charm of Home, Craftberry Bush, My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson, Blesser House, Must Love Home, The Pin Junkie, A Delightsome Life, Shoestring Elegance, Up To Date Interiors, French Country Cottage, Life With Lorelai, Chic On A Shoestring, Remodelaholic, Just Us Four, My Romantic Home, The Cottage Market, DIY Vintage Chic, A Tray of Bliss, The DIY Village, Blooming Homestead, The Girl Creative, Pieced Pastimes, One More Time Events, Funky Junk Interiors, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When. DIY Showoff, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Coastal Charm, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Skip To My Lou, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Stone Gable, A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth and Co. A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ladybug Blessings, Our Home Away From Home, Cozy Little House, Crafty Allie, The DIY Dreamer, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Simply Designing , The Dedicated House, Handy Man Crafty Woman, DIY By Design, DIY Crush

Normalcy?

Just piddling around the house. We have been trying to get back into the routine though I am keenly aware that the word 'routine' is a lot like the word 'normal'. They are both fluid and subjective depending on who is using them and depending on the week, day, or moment.

I took the Christmas tree down this past weekend. It had been un-decorated for a week sitting naked in the corner. When we put it up this Christmas there were lights that did not work. It is a pre-lit tree and I couldn't figure out which bulbs were keeping entire sections dark. We worked around it this year but when it was over I cut all the lights out of the tree.

 I am too cheap to want to buy a new one and after cutting out all the lights I will never again buy one pre-lit! I hope when we set that puppy up next year that it doesn't look like something that should have been tossed.

While I was working on the lights Mister decided it was a good time to start working in what will be the office, lounge and music room. It also houses my closet. Remember, I lost my closet when we switched rooms around and I was left with a small 3 foot closet.

Fancy flooring found under the carpet in the new, enlarged closet.

 My stuff was scattered everywhere! Mister set out to make me a bigger closet and wire the room for an overhead light and switch.

Yes, there is a door inside my closet. It is a door that accesses the small closet in the master bedroom. One closet, two doors connecting the two front bedrooms. My girls had a blast with that when they were little!

I must say I am stuck when it comes to this room. I know it needs to be done, Mister wants to get it over with.

I am feeling that pressure and still trying to get things back to some sense of order and normalcy. (A term coined by Warren G. Harding after World War I-home schooling rocks!) Picking paint colors and figuring out how to configure things in the room to give us maximum function in a small space is taxing my pea-brain.

While I work that out I am turning my attention to much smaller matters. I put together this arrangement for the living room coffee table after seeing something similar at Stone Gable. I've tweaked it a bit to my liking.

Painted and glittered pinecones

I elected to use plain ones instead.

Small steps and sense of accomplishment! It really is all I can handle right now but I am conscious that Mister is ready to work and I can't take that for granted.


It's Party Time:
Remodelaholic,