Monday, December 1, 2014

office reveal part 1


i feel like this is a little anti-climactic, because it's so long overdue, and because i've been showing it to you in bits and pieces (like here and here and here) for the last 5 months.

we finished construction on my office in july and i set out to filling it with pretty stuff right away. it didn't come together immediately, but it was definitely functioning within a month or so. aaaand since then i've been procrastinating on getting pictures of it and posting a proper "reveal" here on the blog.

i had these grandiose visions of ellen, my sweet and wonderful friend & photographer, coming to take "real" pictures of it, which i would then submit to the every girl, who would of course swoon over it and publish it on their site immediately. heh. i got busy, and ellen got busy having beautiful babies, and we never even made it to phase one of my master plan.

well, as part of my thanksgiving weekend to-do list, i finally took the time to get some pictures (iphone attempts are better than no attempts i've decided) and to put away all the crafty junk piles i have been amassing in the meantime. and now i'll be one room closer to that "house tour" tab all bloggers are supposed to have on their sites!

so here's the reveal!! (well, the first half anyway)!

starting here, you've just come in the front door of my house, and you're standing in my entryway. you'll turn to your right, look through the newly narrowed (and trimmed!) doorway, and you'll see this:


just to refresh your memory, here is what the view looked like through that door when we first began this project:


and now here's the photo explosion of "after" pictures:



i shopped my basement, primarily, to fill the tops of the built-in bookcases. i had all this pretty stuff down there and family heirlooms that was just collecting dust, and it's so nice to be able to display it. i don't have very many shelves or surfaces in the rest of the house, so this is really the only place i've got this kind of display happening. i love that it's so personal.



ryan and i found this rock at pebble beach when we lived in california. i have several vintage books from my parents' collection.


i DIY'd a few baskets with a bright woven pattern to provide hidden storage (they're mostly hiding craft supplies like yarn and fabric paint) and the "easy as pie" appetizer plate from target is a new addition. at $1.99 how could i pass it up?! (looks like it's in stores only).








i have my grandma's bible on the shelves, and i found my grandparent's wedding announcement in the basement. the dollar store had a gold frame that was just right.



this is one of my favorite pairings on the shelves. the vintage video camera is from a garage sale and it's sitting next to a picture of the iphone (the hand and the phone belong to kyla, my house of hipsters blog buddy, which i had to photograph in front of a pink brick wall on our renegade outing. i mean, come on, how perfect is that picture?) anyway, just looking at these two together sure makes you think about how fast things change.





everyone should have a well-worn copy of c.s. lewis' mere christianity. what a read.

moving around the room...


i placed a work table in front of the bookcases. it is from target, but we got it almost ten years ago. i've intentionally kept the walls on this side of the room white and blank, as they are the backdrop for photographing blog projects. i like to think of it as my mini studio. i also turned it into a portrait studio the other day to take pictures of the kids, and it worked perfectly!






the top of it has been destroyed by years of kids and abuse, which is wonderful, because i don't have to worry at all if my hot glue gun goes a little bonkers during crafting sessions.


so that's my bookcase styling and work table/ studio space. it's been so wonderfully functional. after all the months of having the house torn up and our stuff displaced, i've just loved using this room and having it work so well.

i'm going to pause here because this post is never going to load with all the pictures, and thursday i'll show you my desk area on the other side of the room. we've waited five months, so what's a couple more days right?

see you thursday. i can't wait!

{update: lucky you! it's like you dvr'd this post and you can fast forward three days to part 2 right here!}

24 comments :

  1. Good morning, Laura! I am so glad you visited my blog that I might return the call. I'm having office envy - in a good way - we just don't have enough rooms in our home! Yours is perfect! LOVE the wall of cabinets - like a library and your white walls - inspired! I checked out the book 'Mere Christianity' among others by C. S. Lewis recently - I should have a copy of my own! I hope you have a blessed first day of December!
    Blessings,
    Kathy

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    1. Kathy, thanks so much for visiting!!! It was so fun to spend some time on your blog the other day. And thank you!!! It feels great to have a space of my own to be creative. :) And yay Lewis! He's so amazing. The kids and I are on book 2 of Narnia and I just adore everything he writes. Have a great week!

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  2. I love the stools and the carpet! Everything looks so great. Can't wait to see the rest of it :)

    26 and Not Counting

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  3. Laura! I love, love, love it. Seriously. You are such a genius. It looks beautiful. I would never, ever, ever get my built ins to look like that. (Unless I call you and make you do it...that's an option, right?)

    Congrats on a gorgeous space!

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  4. Wow! What an amazing combination of old and new! You've captured a slice of my life story and made it yours! I could not be more proud of you, honey! Love, mom

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  5. Holy cow! Those shelves are amazing and you styled them perfectly!! Can't wait to see the rest of it :)

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  6. The rug looks great ;) I absolutely am envious of the amount of storage you have, I would die for that....my house....especially my office lacks storage....I miss storage! Looking forward to seeing the rest.

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  7. The picture frame with Kyla's picture looks antique!

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  8. Wow! Totally love the bookcases and styling. Can you come to my house and decorate for me?!

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  9. I would do anything to have an office just like this... oh, it is BEAUTIFUL! That table, rug... all that storage and how you decorated. Total perfection!!!

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  10. Wow, what a great office! You made me laugh when you wrote "I had grandiose visions…" Your office looks so beautiful and the pictures turned out great! Have you thought of submitting it to "apartment therapy?" Great job!

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    1. ursula, thank you so much! maybe i will try! :)

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  11. This is AMAZING!! I totally love how it turned out! You guys really have got great vision! My problem is I have great vision but my follow through is lacking ;) I agree with Ursual Rosien, you should submit to Apartment therapy!!
    -Shonee
    www.hawthorneandmain.com

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  12. Your office is even better than in the reveal post! Oh my goodness, I do love me some white cabinets (have you seen my kitchen?) and yours are making me swoon. Love it, love it, love it!

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  13. This space is perfect. I love the clean, fresh feel, and all your personal touches. I think keeping the walls blank is not only great for photography, but to have a creative "blank slate" as well. I'm on to part 2...!

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  14. That bookcase wall is incredible! Pinning to make someday!

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  15. Love the final look but what about all the wasted space behind the shelves? Why not push the shelves back to the original wall? Looks in the pictures as though the space is at least twice as deep as the shelving system you installed.

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    1. Hey there! Yes, that was intentional. We made this room smaller so that we could steal the space on the other side of the bookcases to expand our mudroom and build a first floor powder room (which we currently do not have). It's still unfinished for now, but we are SO glad to have the extra space ready when we are!

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    2. Hey there! Yes, that was intentional. We made this room smaller so that we could steal the space on the other side of the bookcases to expand our mudroom and build a first floor powder room (which we currently do not have). It's still unfinished for now, but we are SO glad to have the extra space ready when we are!

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  16. We are looking to make some low shelves with glass doors with the 42" IKEA Billy bookcases. Did you use IKEA Billy bookcases for this project? What doors did you use?

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    1. Hi Jill! We used the Borgsjo bookcases for this project, which I am told have since been discontinued. It sounds like they expanded the Billy line instead, so it will be comparable. However, I am not sure which exact doors you would use. Best of luck!

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  17. Love love your cabinet design! Where did you find the lights? They look amazing!

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    1. Hi Jill! The lights are from IKEA. We modified them from a plug-in style to a hardwired style. Thanks so much!

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