I normally work from my home office, but not as much as I have been during COVID since my court hearings are happening in my office via zoom, and I'm teaching from my computer. At some point in April, I decided I could NOT take it anymore. The office was jam-packed with too much furniture, odds and ends, and mismatched stuff. I decided to redecorate and use a blush, navy, and gold color pallet. Redecorating was a bit of a challenge given shipping delays, inability to shop in stores, and what I have ended up calling COVID Depot (that's Home Depot, but it is so crowded and none of the idiots there wear masks, so you are just asking for it if you go there).
I wasn't exaggerating. Too much stuff. It was a mess. Now, my law partner used to live several towns over, and at one point we both worked out of here (thus the two desks), but that hasn't been the case in forever, so it was time to get rid of stuff and rearrange.
First here are the before pics...
I started by getting rid of that extra computer desk in the corner of the room, the extra office chair, and that storage chest thing in front of the window. It used to be Lola's neighborhood watch perch, but she can't jump up there anymore, so other than storing stuff that I could put elsewhere, it served zero purpose. I almost got rid of that little white book shelf, but as you will see in a minute, it got to stay.
After I got rid of stuff, I rearranged the furniture. Honestly, I could have stopped right here and it would have been a HUGE improvement. I found a way to rearrange the office that is much more user friendly. I can get to my files so much easier now!
The next step was paint. I went with a Magnolia Home color called Ella Rose.
Here it is after I cut in around the edges. Not a huge change, I know, but I like this tone a bit better and the walls were a little scuffed up since it had been almost 15 years since I painted them.
Then I started painting the furniture. It was suggested that I strip the black paint from the armoire before painting it navy. This was the worst. I don't know if I should have put more stripper on and tried to remove more paint, but I ended up having to move it to the garage and use MANY cans of stripper wash to get all the gunky, sticky mess off. It was just a much bigger project than I anticipated, and I used up the world's supply of curse words the second day of it.
I don't have any pics of the "during" phase of the next projects, but I painted the armoire navy blue, and then I spray painted the filing cabinets navy blue as well. Here are the finished products...
I spray painted just about anything that didn't run from me in gold spray paint. Here I painted the nobs of the armoire and the handles for that filing cabinet. This technique worked perfectly. I just poked holes in a box, stuck the screw up from underneath and then screwed the pulls on so that they were secure. I could move the box around while painting and get all the edges sprayed easily and then they could dry just like that.
Then I just had to hurry up and wait. I had finally settled on a new desk that I ordered from Ballard Designs, but it was backordered.
I ordered a new rug from my rug place, and I usually get my orders from there in 48 hours, but this one sat for 21 days waiting on FedEx to pick it up from the company (due to COVID delays in that area).
Then I looked at every chair for sale on the internet. No that is a lie, I actually looked at every chair for sale on the internet at least 5 times. My space for a chair is very small, so it's hard to find a chair small enough, that doesn't look like a dining chair or cost $1000.
As for art on the walls, I decided to re-mat my diplomas and law license since I hadn't had them hanging up since 2005. Those take up a couple of walls. Then I had to sort out the other art I wanted to use, and other decor items for the room.
Like I said, that all took some time, but I think it finally came together well, and I am enjoying my newly re-decorated office!
I finally found a chair. Last Sunday, I ran to Target to return some curtains that I had ordered and didn't want, and found this one on clearance. Score!
The big cork board also got some gold paint. Spray painted the office chair and that trash can too (I told you, I spray painted EVERYTHING).
Moving the file cabinets from behind my desk to the side has been life changing. I've struggled to get files for YEARS. This is just such an improvement.
Yep, spray painted that picture frame that Lola's pic is in too.
My new desk from Ballard was the last piece of the puzzle to come in. It finally came yesterday. It's only a smidge larger, but much nicer than the old one I had been using for 15 years. It has at least double the drawer space so that's nice too.
and I love the gold detail on the legs
I decided to print out and frame a few pictures I have taken on my trips for this wall. I didn't want to crop my pics so I had to select an odd size which has very few frame options. These were black, and yes, I spray painted them gold.
I got a little navy and gold lamp for this book shelf, spray painted the little organizer on top navy blue, and ordered these blush bins from Target to help organize some things and make the shelves look less junky.
After looking online for lots of painting options, I finally found this painting at Kirklands. I like that it had blush and navy, but also brought in some other colors. It's what you see when you walk down the hall and look in the room.
This armoire pic is a repeat, but I wanted to mention a couple of things...
I found the orchid at TJ Maxx. I didn't like the pot it was in, and already owned this gold one from Anthropologie. The pot it came in wouldn't fit down in this gold one, so I just put the orchid and pot down in a paper bag, got my hammer and broke the pot off, so that I could "re-pot" the orchid in this gold one. The gold geometric shape came from Walmart! Walmart of all places! Also, I used a little cheating trick when I painted the door hinges... I didn't want to take them off, so I sprayed some of the gold spray paint on a paper plate and used a tiny watercolor brush to paint them. A lazy, but effective technique!
Also, Lola did get to keep a dog bed in here, I just removed it for photos!
And that's a wrap on my pandemic decorating project!
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