Our office is a corner room on our main living floor. It is small on space, but big on character. It has a sloped ceiling, some rustic shelving, simple painted wood floors, and the original farmhouse windows. We think that it was a porch that was enclosed to make a room. I painted the walls a pretty grayish blue a couple of years ago that I really like and the ceiling and trim are a "delicate white". There is no heat in the room and because of the inefficient windows, it is really cold in winter. However, it gets great afternoon sunlight and I really enjoy the room. As a lot of offices tend to be, it is the dumping ground for mail, stuff that I don't have time to put away at the moment, old cell phones and chargers that we haven't taken the time to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner, and now craft items that I don't have a place for yet.
I have been wanting to give it a face lift for a while now and so figured that the week after Christmas when my husband was home was a good time to start. We started by clearing out the room and painting the floor a pretty light green color. My wonderful husband painted three coats, one of which he did by headlamp at 8pm.
(Before.)
(After.)
We needed more filing space and can't afford anything fancy. We had one ugly filing cabinet and then happened to see one perfectly good one during bulk waste day this year. It is just ridiculous what people throw away as junk. We saw it on our morning run and by the time we got home and my husband drove back, the scrap metal man had it in the back of his truck already. My husband had to chase him down and ask if we could have it instead. When we got it in the office, we realized that it was not as high as the other one. Oh well, doesn't matter, it works just the same. My husband had this awesome piece of live edge cherry that we had been saving for "something". I thought it would work nice as a shelf, so he put a clear finish on it and we laid it on top of the filing cabinets.
I wanted to make some curtains (my first attempt) to add some bright color to the room. Since we are trying our best to be more frugal, I didn't want to buy curtain rods. So we just bought some cheap wood dowels at the hardware store for $1 each and I cut them so they just fit between the window frame. Might not win any home decorating awards, but it works fine.
The room stayed clean and clutter free for about one week, then my husband's paperwork started piling up. I really enjoy sitting there in the afternoon while my little babe is napping. With the sun shining, a warm blanket on my lap, and a cup of tea (and perhaps something sweet), life is good.
I already have another project lined up for my husband. I need a cabinet to store my growing stash of fabric and craft supplies. Do you have any creative ways of organizing your office or craft supplies?