Ikea |

Office Space

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Amy

A few months ago one of those exciting emails popped into our email shortly after I shared this post on my chair makeover(s). An editor from a magazine was asking for more pictures of my office and could she maybe submit it for possible inclusion in a specialty shelter publication?

I was stunned! Of course, I staged {and cleaned up!} the space and sent her some photographs. We did several iterations with color “pops” but sadly, the powers that be decided not to include this room.

I can’t admit to even being surprised. I don’t even have a rug in here yet so I kind of didn’t really ever think it would get picked. I can honestly say in this case, it was fun to be “nominated”. There are so many projects I would like to do for this space, I just can’t feel upset that at this stage it wasn’t selected.

I love working in this space. I have a gorgeous lake view out the window and a space where my daughter does her little art projects right next to my desk.

In addition to the workspace in here, we added this IKEA chair as another reading spot for our kids and they have a TV in here where they can watch or play video games away from the rest of the house. With kid at different ages, separation is often essential to my sanity!

Almost everything in here came from IKEA. I put this room together several years ago when I started my wedding invitation design business {now closed}. I wanted something similar to the Pottery Barn “project” desk so I made up my own with three Expedits and 2 long black desk tops. I have tons of storage for all the paper I use/used with my graphic design business.

The armoire where I store gift wrap and other craft supplies is tucked behind the doors, out of the way.

So even though you won’t see this room when you are flipping through a magazine in the grocery store check-out line, I still love working here each day.

Thanks for stopping by…

Stay in touch with us….

Pin It

Posted in Home Inspiration, Office, Real Spaces | Tagged black and white, home office, Ikea, office organization, workspace | 1 Comment

Workroom/Craft Room Reveal!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Amy

After another quick two day trip to my Mom’s, her birthday present workroom makeover (click to view the back story) is complete! Well, almost complete–the wrapping station was finished up after I headed home, as well as the installation of the ironing area, but its come a long way. I will photograph those final additions on my next trip and hopefully show you next week.

Here is the "in progress" picture

This is by far my favorite room makeover I have ever done, the hardest part was keeping my Mom away from the room the last few days so she could enjoy the surprise of the final reveal.

Seeing this look on her face was worth all the work that went into her room.

I could never have done this without Terry’s help, she was my partner in hauling bookcases from IKEA, figuring out furniture placement, and tirelessly stenciling the inset wall. Not to mention her cute photostyling ideas and photography. My Dad was a trooper through all this, I am not sure he expected this would be this elaborate of a makeover when my Mom and I started talking about it! While he managed to disappear during “Stage One” on a fishing trip, when he returned he built her the wrapping station, and hired an electrician to install a fixture and hang her new chandelier.

Just as a reminder, here are the BEFORE’s of the work/craft/storage/sewing/ironing room.

And…BIG DRUMROLL…. here are the AFTER’s….

These sillouettes were done when my brother and I were in preschool (they are just the “trace-the-shadow-on-the -paper” using an overhead projector kind!) and I found them in the room and had to use them. Terry helped me cover an artist’s canvas and just glued them on. Despite their age, I love that they have sentimental value to my Mom, and her grown kids are still on display!

The room is filled with repurposed favorites, the white chair was part of my grandmother’s dining set. With a little paint, new matching fabric and a vinyl monogram it took on a whole new life. The fabric covering on the table once was my daughter’s window treatment in her baby nursery.

Inexpensive IKEA storage boxes and baskets hide all the decor, sewing materials and other supplies she keeps in the room. My Mom has an entire collection (dating from the early 90′s) of Victoria Magazine, it’s now neatly organized in IKEA magazine holders.

The stenciled wall is probably my favorite thing. The DIY stencil {instructions HERE} cost $3.95 to make and was exactly the look I wanted in the niche.

Thanks for viewing this space, working on it was a ball and I just hope that my Mom feels happy every time she enters her room. Happy Birthday Mom!

Linking up to:

Fox Hollow Cottage Pin the Tail on the Bloggy

Beneath My Heart’s Best DIY Projects of August

Pin It

Posted in Before and After, DIY, Home Inspiration, Real Spaces | Tagged Before and After, Craft Room, Ikea, organization, Pink, room makeover, workroom | 13 Comments

A Craft/Workroom in Progress

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Amy

I was beyond touched when my Mom asked me if I would makeover her craft/sewing/ironing/wrapping/decor storage {from here on out I will just call it her “workroom”, as she does!} room for a birthday present this year.

Here is the before…

The room, which is in their basement, was finished by the previous owners into an exercise room, which will explain the huge mirror on one wall. Its a nice size room, and how nice is it that she has a space that can be dedicated to these type of pursuits.

My challenge was the kind of thing I love, to figure out how to store all these assorted items, create a space for her to sew, wrap gifts and iron, plus of course, make the room beautiful so she would enjoy spending time in there.

{I should disclaim that the rest of my parents home is perfectly clean, organized and decorated. This is the basement space in the home where things that didn’t belong in the other perfectly clean and organized spaces just accumulated!}

I had visions of being a little further along with this project by the end of this week, but all in all, we came pretty far considering I had three kids in tow that required their fill of pool time and summer fun, I battled a virus and we started from complete scratch in the room on Monday morning.

First off Monday morning, we went out to pick paint. We already knew our color scheme (she wanted pale green and rose pink). Because the room has no windows (part of the reason that we left the mirror on the wall to reflect light, the other reason would be the drywall damage that would ensue from taking it down), I went straight to a Benjamin Moore Natura paint, which they promise is almost odorless. While it was expensive, it was amazing in its coverage, and truly had hardly any paint odor.

My Mom selected Apple Blossom as the color.

Next we went fabric shopping, unfortunately to no avail due to the small fabric selection in her area, so we came home and ordered fabric online. My plan is to head home and work on the fabric accents and bring them back in another week or so and hopefully finish the room up.

Finally, sweet Terry tagged along with me to IKEA and we came home with all this (and much more not shown) to tackle storage issues in the room.

Today, Terry and I knocked out assembling the Billy bookcases, and went over final plans and storage strategies for the room.

She also came up with the brilliant plan to use this table (which had just been sitting right outside the room being used for another purpose) instead of having to create a new built-in work table for the alcove.

So, we have to head back home (across the state) this weekend but I will be back to finish this room up, hopefully in the next week or two. Its hard to leave it half done, but my Mom is being patient and in the end, I am hopeful the result will be worth it.

Here is the current To-Do List:

Paint new worktable white
Decorative finish on the wall behind the bookcases
Hang Chandelier
Paint her sewing cabinet, and makeover chair
Make the fabric accents
Miscellaneous Items {since my Mom reads our Blog, everything else falls under this category so I can keep a few things I have planned for her a surprise}

Its been a great week, with lots of fun seeing old friends mixed in with the projects–the perfect summer week in my opinion! So, stay tuned for the full reveal, I can’t wait to see it done either.

XO,

Posted in Before and After, DIY, Home Inspiration, Organization, Real Spaces | Tagged Craft Room, Ikea, organization, paint, room makeover, room redo, sewing room | Leave a comment

Kids’ Learning Center Reveal

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Terry

I am so excited to reveal our Kids’ Learning Center as “Part 1″ of my Basement Office/Kids’ Learning Center/Craft Station Makeover. As some of you may recall, the gals at 11 Magnolia Lane listed out our 2012 Home Goals earlier this year and I am thrilled to mark this off the list. I guess I cannot mark it completely off my list at I am still working through the details on My Office (Part 2) and the Craft Station (Part 3) but that just gives us something to look forward to . We really have come so far, check out what our basement used to look like (you can see more here).

Basement prior to installation

My husband and I couldn’t be happier with how the built-in desks and shelving turned out. Our contractor went above and beyond our expectations with the fancy sliding drawers that even close on their own. What a treat to have such quiet (and distraction-free) cabinetry.

Both our children have their own desk space for homework and projects. I personalized their space with their initials, photos and artwork. I love using their art to decorate my home. I think it is so important for kids to see their creative works on display, plus it adds some much needed color in this particular space.

I love the touch of green and the personalize art to add some color to our kids educational center

Pretty open shelving and I just love the work station sconces I found at Lowes.

We were on a serious budget with our remodel as we have two other expensive projects that we are trying to finalize prior to 2013 (check out our 2012 goals here). One of the main reasons we decided to do open shelving was to save money, with the hope of upgrading to cabinets next year. I have to say, I LOVE the open shelving and I cannot imagine changing them out now. These were custom-made by our contractor and I adore the style and design.

Pretty open shelving with work station sconces from Lowes.

I love the touch of green and how the personalized art adds some color to our kids educational center

My hubby’s main concern with open shelving was organization and clutter, which I can understand. It is hard to keep open shelving looking tidy without the proper storage containers and bins. I had to be very budget conscious with the project, so IKEA was my first stop, and I was lucky enough to have Amy shopping by my side for all my decorating dilemmas

The chairs and the storage boxes are all from IKEA. I am loving the chairs, even though it is not the dreamy designer chair I initially wanted. These are functional, adjustable, reasonably priced at $39 per chair, and simply perfect for our space. The storage boxes are also reasonable in cost, but they do take a bit of time to assemble. Once I figured out the instructions, it went pretty quickly. I love the black and white color scheme and IKEA really had lot of storage pieces to choose from. The black boxes are my favorite as they are heavy duty and have a fabric-like texture. I definitely feel so organized and tidy in our new space, which gives me such peace.

IKEA storage boxes, and tin containers for paint brushes and pencils

They jars were actually sprinkle containers that I repurposed for supplies

Kitchen utensil holders and jars are the perfet solution for color pencils and crayons, a must have in any kid space

I loved the idea of having a message board for each station so I found these great pieces of art from the local Salvation Army. I simply covered up the shoe & purse design with chalkboard paint and I love the final result–especially the green chalk initial. I ended up loving the black and white newspaper border and decided to keep as I thought it made the overall design more interesting.

Art I found at the local Salvation Army

Here is the final product…

Repurposed art turned into a chalkboard for our kids educational center

This is my favorite picture because my boys really love their new learning center. My youngest is heading to kindergarten next year which is breaking my heart but look at him work… I think he will be ready, don’t you?

Here is “L” hard at work writing his first and last name. Kindergarten here we come!!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for your sweet comments about my son’s 7th camping themed birthday celebration. I am excited to announce the two winners for our Simone Made It Party Printables Giveway:

The winner is comment #4

Nicolle J. (who said)

“What a great party, Terry! Love all the details!
I would love some printables for my daughter’s November, election day, birthday. School is out that day and she has already decided that she’d like to have a Patriotic/Election themed party complete with a mock election.”

AND

The other winner is comment #8

Judiq (who said)

“I love that you even had logs around to have cut into cake stands.
Just celebrated my youngest son’s 18th birthday… no party…we treated him and a friend to a concert he really wanted to go that fell on his birthday. Now 18 is one that really takes your breath away and sets the waterworks flowing! Beautiful party..cupcakes look great!”

Thank you both for the kind words and I do hope you swing back and share how your next event(s) turn out.

Click below to follow us on Facebook~

Sharing this post at~

Best DIY Projects of 2012 Party at Southern Hospitality

Posted in Before and After, Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Office, Organization | Tagged area, basement, homework, Ikea, Kids, Office, open shelving, redo, room, study, work | 18 Comments

I {heart} IKEA…

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Amy

Last week Terry and I got ourselves a babysitter and went off on a field trip to IKEA. I was in search of new family room curtains (you can read about my Ballard failure HERE) and some more storage to make my soon-to-be “for sale” house less cluttered. Terry is creating a fabulous kid/art/storage/learning center in her basement (maybe that was still a secret?) Anyway…its going to be AMAZING, but I will let her tell you more on that soon.

We had a great time. IKEA can be so very overwhelming, so we didn’t linger too long in the areas that didn’t have what we were trying to focus on. This is, to me, the only way to deal with the place –when you suffer from Design ADD like I do– unless you want to never accomplish anything and feel overwhelmed at the end of the day. Of course when this happens I am also strangely inspired by all the cheap creative design ideas that run around in my head upon leaving the place!

Here are some of the quick snaps I took of what I was impressed with this trip. (sorry for I-phone photos in the strange IKEA lighting)

I LOVE this new white furniture…I really would like this glassed in Armoire in my daughter’s room. Its really an adaptable piece that will work as she grows, and I think it was only around $300? And it has a matching dresser too.

And this bookcase wall could work anywhere, what great storage. And I have always loved these chaise lounges…my bedroom really needs one, I think…

In the kitchen section, I loved both of these …the gray subway tile was so fresh paired with their white cabinets. I could also see this in a yellow/white/gray kitchen, which is so popular right now.

And…for those that don’t like the idea (or work involved) of painting older cabinets, new IKEA cabinets are a great option. These black cabinets were really nice looking, and they would work great in an office space too. (like my black and beige office space, maybe?)

I did find curtains, they have a great selection…I will be back with a post on my family room update, we are two weeks and counting on listing the house for sale. I have a TON to do!

More info on these products can be found here:

http://www.ikea.com/

Posted in General & About Us, Home Inspiration, Shopping | Tagged cabinets, Decorating, Ikea, inspiration, shopping, white | Leave a comment

A Space of my Own

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Amy

I have been hard at work polishing up several areas of my home, including my Office (or as some would say, my “Mom Cave”). We converted this space from a playroom (this would be a great before and after, you wouldn’t believe it! I will have to dig for a picture) into my home office two years ago as I have a graphic design business specializing in wedding and event invitations. I was SO happy when it was finally done, as I said this is the only space in the house that is ALL MINE! MINE! MINE!

The majority of my working, crafting and blogging is done here. I honestly spend most of my time in here. Almost everything is from IKEA. I really liked the similar craft desk from Pottery Barn, but didn’t have the budget for it so I made my own from IKEA with 3 Expedit shelves and 2 IKEA table tops–it was probably less then $250 when it was all said and done. I have a TON of work space on the top which comes in handy when I am cutting, taping and assembling invitations. I also have a ton of storage for all my papers and supplies below.

The armoire behind the desk came into our marriage with my husband (he used it to store his clothes in his closet-less city bachelor apartment), and I couldn’t wait to make it pretty with some new white paint. Its now my gift wrap (and business packaging) storage. My favorite part is the chalkboard door where I can keep a running list of what I need to work on so I don’t get too sidetracked reading blogs! (which happens all too regularly!)

I am in the process of redoing a chair for the space…right now I have a very large (very comfortable) chair from our living room but its not exactly the right scale, is it? I will post on my new desk chair as soon as I finish pulling out the 5000 staples from the old upholstery–it might be awhile. {I do know its going to have leopard fabric though, as I truly believe every room needs at least one touch of an animal print, and it works with the beige and black color scheme}

And, don’t you love the houndstooth curtains? (Sorry, I don’t have a great picture I just realized) but anyway, my girlfriend Tracey got them from a model home, and they were so wide we were able to cut them in half and each get a pair out of them. Nice friend!

I use these little buckets and towel bar (from the kitchen section in IKEA) to keep all sorts of things that pile up on the desk at arm’s reach.

As a Designer, I am BIG on words and letters…these letters are my favorite part of the room. I just some sprayed Hobby Lobby letters and I covered a cheap bulletin board with fabric for an inspiration board. I think the “word” makes the room a lot more interesting.

I am still tweaking this space, but its come a long way in a few weeks. I went ahead and shared it today to join Delightful Order’s Craft Room link up. I find DaNita’s organizational skills to be awe inspiring! Here is “my space” again…