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