Office update

As mentioned in this previous post, I was desperate for a small desk for incoming mail, bills, and all that other miscellanea that accumulates during the week...

Ta da!

I ended up ordering most of the stuff listed in that post. Still need a cute chair and possibly a lamp. Maybe a wastebasket as well? But at the least, we are in business.

In the meantime, I organized and reevaluated all the books on the book shelf. The trunk will stay in that spot or possibly will move upstairs to the guest room.

Just for fun... we've come a long way from this:

2 years ago

But...

The office still needs some major work - we have a gigantic gash in the ceiling where we had a leak. And by "gash", I mean half the plaster ceiling is hanging and needs to be replaced. The radiator needs a custom cover built. We need a new ceiling fan. The large desk needs an organizational overhaul as well as an aesthetic overhaul. We need to cozy it up with a rug. Check in with me next year to see where we stand.

Office corner

It has been a little crazy around here. Don't really have an excuse, it's just been hard to sit on the computer at night to do anything. So sorry for the lack of blog posts...

I've realized that the core of many of my problems lie (or lay?) in paperwork over-flowage. There is this steady stream of mail and garbage that takes over our dining room table. This is actually a tame pile:

This is only about 1/4 of the table - but it is not unusual for the pile to overtake the entire table. It makes me crazy!

I determined that we need a paperwork station to corral all this stuff...

1. Parsons Mini Desk from West Elm

2. Chartreuse Chair from CB2 - but I'll try to re-purpose a thrift-store chair or something...

3. Mirror lamp from West Elm - but I will try to find something smaller from TJMaxx or Target...

4. Pencil cup from the Container Store

5. Lacquer tray from West Elm

6. Letter Tray from Container Store

7. Succulent plant, just because it looks cute in this image...

This little corner mini-office will go in the corner of our office, right where the trunk currently sits:

 

 

I'm ordering some of the pieces now... will share photos soon!

If you type the word "desk" enough, it stops looking like a real word

I have been tossing ideas around in my head for a while now - what to do with the ol' desk. Right now it looks like this:

It's basically an old IKEA coffee-table-top resting on 2 wood file cabinets. Wires are askew. Waste basket is falling-apart ancient. Also radiator needs a custom-built cover.

On top of everything, the desk is visible from the couch. So instead of catching up on Housewives, I spend half my time glaring at the office.

Last week, two of my favorite blogs posted inspirational desk photos:

via

via

So I found a wooden top from IKEA in a size that would work nicely with our space.

I do not want to work with the existing one because it is too long, and it's warping slightly. Also just thinking about cutting a piece of wood sounds like an insurmountable task.

Anyway, we need something a little chunkier and straighter, like this:

Varde countertop
(Pretend the "a" in "Varde" has one of those double-dot Scandinavian symbols over it)

I was all proud of myself today. I had my new great idea. The top is $100. We could revamp the office for the price of the top plus paint and stain and supplies that we probably already owned. And IKEA delivers! Score!! Because also stepping into an IKEA seems like an even more insurmountable task than cutting a piece of wood.

Except that IKEA delivery costs $99.

Looks like somebody's takin' a trip to the big blue box sometime soon...

Office update

This is a small thing but it took us about 5 months to get to.

Installing the roman blinds behind the computer!

Dum dum dummmmmm... May i present to you...


I'm almost as relieved to not have to look at the shipping boxes as I am to see the final installation.

It is subtle, but it is much neater than before.

You can look here for photos of the original roman shades!
(Or don't - those things were pretty nasty!)

Now we're starting to think about a better desk and rug, and perhaps a little reading nook or drafting table in the opposite corner. Also we have to figure out a way to neaten up those wires.

We actually have no idea what we're doing now since all we seem to care about is who gets to sit on the couch with the iPad.

a WHITER SHADE of pale

How awful are these shades? Almost the most embarrassing, disgusting mess in our house:
Finally, FINALLY, I ordered new shades from JCPenney. They sell the cheapest and nicest shades to exact measurements. Don't judge. I had to buy 7 of them:
They are actually really nice. Especially for $20 each. You seriously could not get something like this for less. And they are supposed to be thermal, and cut down on our energy bill or some other such nonsense.

Sure it took me an hour of wrangling with the power drill just to hang one but after I figured out what I was doing, the rest came very easy.

But wait! And this is the most annoying thing...
The three side windows (one on the left and two on the right and hidden from view) are a few inches wider than the front windows. And JCPenney has that particular size on back-order until April.

Fahrvergndoodles!!!

The one thing I hate is when I finally work up the energy to place an order for something (I know, reaching into that wallet to grab my credit card and type in the numbers on the screen is an agonizingly horrifying task) it ends up being back-ordered, and now my office is half done and I'm starting to downwardly spiral into JCPenney.com hell*.

Also, if you notice the sad face on the radiator it's because he's next up on the to-dos. I hired a contractor to build something like this for that spot:
Can you imagine how awesome that will look? When I have a nice cover for the radiator and 7 matching shades?

* checking every freaking day and stalking the catalog people

Calling tech support

Our computer is dead and about to be buried.

We're trying to retrieve our files and also trying not to panic.

Will update soon with hopefully a new computer and everything restored!

Keeping cool, keeping warm

We really need better window coverage and insulation in our front office/sunroom.

These shades have seen better days

(Also ignore the naked radiator and ugly fan, both on my to-do list)

Seven gigantic, 84 year-old, single-paned windows really start to wear you down in the winter time. Yes I'm crazy to be thinking about freezing temperatures when it's been about 100 degrees Fahrenheit the past 2 weeks, but I think better insulation might even give us an edge over the sweltering heat.

I'm considering these from JCPenney. I'm usually not a JCPenney kind of gal. But... the prices are just so great! And all I really need is something that insulates better and looks neater than the existing tattered shades.

Photo from JCPenney website. I would get the white version, because it's more sun-roomy

The downside is that the reviews range from "these are the most awesome window shades in the universe" to "I hope these window shades burn in hell". Yeah, like most things on the internet.

Anybody have any luck out there with JCPenney window shades? Should I buy one and see how it works out before committing to seven of them?

The Office

One of the reasons we fell in love with our house was the sun room. Since it sits right next to the living room we knew right away it would make a nice office.

It was painted a lovely shade of Kraft-Macaroni-and-Cheese by the previous owners. Interesting. But for a sunroom it looked so dark and dreary! This should be a place filled with light!

Way back when, I thought I could tackle this room, in addition to a few others, in a day - HA! Of all the rooms in the house this one is probably the hardest to paint because of the number of windows - 7 (yep). It took me hours just to tape off the window panes - plus adding to the fact that this wood does not want to be painted. The dark color just leeches through so it needs primer, multiple coats of paint - ergh! It still needs touch ups. But it's halfway decent for now:

FYI:

Floor: Minwax Jacobean

Ceiling: Benjamin Moore - Decorators White (Matte)

Trim: Benjamin Moore Ben - Decorators White (Semi-Gloss)

Walls: BM Aura - Stonington Grey (Matte)

_______________

What still needs to be done? The fun part! Office furniture and accessory inspiration board:

Clockwise from top left:

- New desk chair, preferably one that doesn't fall apart every 5 seconds - this one is from Pottery Barn.

- Add desk accessories like these lacquer white organizers from West Elm.

- Radiator cover - have to call in the experts for this!.

- Tripod floor lamp - like this beauty from Visual Comfort.

- I'd love to curl up with a book on this cushy Ikea chaise on a nice sunny day.

- Cute ikat pillows and a cozy striped rug, like these from Madeline Weinrib

Plus lots of other things:

- New roman shades - they look ok in these pictures, but in reality they are yellow and gross!

- Original windows = drafts = I'm freezing right now as I type this. We have to figure it out.

- Do something to the fan to make it look less fan-ish, or remove it and put up something more awesome.

- Paint file cabinets white, add a new wood desk top, maybe glass on top of that?

- Neaten up those wires.