industrial office project

{this post contains spoilers; mission staff stop reading now!}

so i know i'm not supposed to be doing any professional interior design work. i'm supposed to be staying home with the babes, homeschooling, keeping on top of my laundry, making gourmet meals every night...you know, priorities. but sometimes it's just too tempting to resist. i've decided just this one time it's ok, and that it doesn't count because technically i'm simply volunteering my time for a good cause. (but in case you're wondering, yes, this has given my laundry the upper hand. whatever, it'll keep).

my friend laura peacock (remember her, of house crush fame?) was recently asked to design her church's new offices and asked if i'd like to do it with her. the space is this awesome industrial building...and i just couldn't say no. who wouldn't want to work on a project that started with these ceilings??

here's the floor plan:

here are a few pictures of the space when i first saw it. the steel see-through walls are getting drywall and turning into two small offices. the main bulk of the rest will be a meeting/ lounge area up by the front windows.

we are right in the thick of it, and i'm so excited to be able to show you the results after we do the installation. construction is underway right now...the counter above and carpet have been ripped out. drywall is up, enclosing the offices, and a lovely distressed wood floor should be going in as we speak!

there have been a few unique things about this project, the most interesting of which was the budget. it's a church, so no one should be surprised they'd rather spend their money serving their community than on fancy furniture. i support that, of course, but when i found out we'd only have less than $100 per piece to spend, i had more than a couple moments of panic about our ability to pull that off. and i'm not talking about pieces of silverware or accessories; i'm talking about pieces of furniture. (if that sounds like a lot to you, go to the cheapest store you know of and see if you can find a sofa for less than $100 and get back to me).

secondly, it was a massively short turnaround time. i first saw the space two fridays ago and if all goes to plan, we'll be installing this wednesday...meaning 20 days total and meaning that stuff i ordered on ebay better hurry already!

and thirdly, the head pastor had the most specific wish list i've ever seen. his initial email was so adorable...i don't even know how to describe the smile i had when i read it. i'm just going to paste it for you so you can enjoy this:

I really want the feel to be Northwoodsy...like I'm in Quetico. One of my fav companies is Duluth Trading Co. Check out their site for feel and look. So cool! 

Wants:

-Old rugged desk, smaller the better. Nothing too huge... 

-Old rugged table to sit around...for 4 people if possible. 

-Keurig Coffee Maker w/ some cool mugs hanging up

-Northwoods art work. A canoe painting would be cool! 

-White board that is enclosed. 

-Fireside candle

-Stack of Boundary Waters Journal magazines. I'll bring those :)

-Some cool book shelves that fit the look/feel

-Dog bed for Remi :)

how cute is he?! his northwoods vibe is definitely going to be a departure from the modern space requested by the rest of the staff, but i'm already sure it's my favorite part of the project.

laura and i decided to start with a deep navy wall color for his office. (you know my first inclination is always to paint everything white, but since we need to work with the burnt red steel beams in this space, an all black-and-white scheme wasn't going to fly. that, and when i showed them inspiration spaces, they said, "we definitely don't like the all-white ones. hahahaha).

here's a peek at some of the things we have going in here:

back in the main space, we'll be sticking to the requested modern/ industrial feel with some charcoal grey on the walls (that'll go up tomorrow, hopefully), but more reds & blues will tie the two spaces together. 

i am so excited to tell you that we have completed our entire purchase list and, as of now, are well under budget! we have been scouring craigslist and thrift stores, doing a few DIY's, and working really hard to round up personalized accessories that won't break the bank.

stay tuned and i'll let you know how it all comes together!

{update // the installation is complete! visit the lounge & meeting area here, and the see how we checked off the pastor's quetico-inspired wish list here}

lakeside, ohio

remember that post where i was dreaming about an ohio lake house? my mom pointed out to me that it reminded her of lakeside, ohio, a tiny community on lake erie where my family vacationed yearly when i was a kid. no wonder that cabin was so appealing! i have such fond memories of lakeside, i had to look it up to see if the town was still there and-- yay-- it is!

lakeside always seemed to exist out of time. the entire town is actually gated, which means you have to purchase passes in order to be allowed in for the week, and which also means it is ridiculously safe.

147 jasmine avenue

the view at the end of jasmine avenue is exactly how the street ended that we used to stay on. it feels like the lake is everywhere.

116 west 2nd avenue

208 sycamore avenue

i remember renting vintage bicycles with my brother and riding them around town. i remember reading in my room and listening to madonna. i remember being a little bit bored there. and i think that's a great thing. we live in a world where all some kids know of vacation is the disney world fast pass. 

lakeside was about slowing down. i used to be happy with bikes and donuts and skipping rocks. no one played video games in the downtime. in fact, there was no tv at all in our cabin. (except the one year the bulls were in the finals and it coincided with our vacation. that year my mom brought a fuzzy 5" black and white tv and we were all crowded around it having heart attacks, superstitiously throwing our socks on the floor and praying michael and scottie would pull it off again). 

416 poplar avenue

most of the cottages are quaint and tiny, with terribly outdated decor (or worse, newly updated decor). our cabin had original wood floors and wonderful plank ceilings and walls. as a kid, i thought my room was huge.

433 jasmine avenue

huge screened front porches abound. i hope i don't get in trouble for saying this, but all i see when i look at a porch like this are my mom and my aunt, in housecoats, in twin chaise lounge chairs, reading books. i chuckle to think about it.

702 east second street

my grandmother did all the cooking for us in a kitchen about as big as her thumb. i remember a lot of BLT's and her making corn beef hash for my aunt's side of the family. i was informed by my mom that we (meaning her and her kids) would never eat such a thing, and to this day i have never had it. the things you accept as normal when you're a kid!

170 lynne avenue 

207 cedar street

the absolute most gloriously wonderful thing about lakeside was the donuts. truly. every single morning, rain or shine, someone in our family would trek down to the patio restaurant, and bring home a box of piping hot fresh fried donuts. those are worth the price of a week's admission right there. i've been on a quest to find donuts as good ever since, and i'm telling you, they just don't exist but for that little spot in the world. 

302 east 2nd street

705 east 5th street

{the keystone guest house}

my mom actually did some digging and found the exact cabin we used to stay at:

{all photos courtesy of sotheby's realty and lakeside chautauqua realty}

i can perfectly picture our car parked on that front "lawn" and our bikes dumped by the door. it would be fun to lounge on that porch with a donut again someday. i think we need more vacations that are about unplugging, slowing down, and enjoying a view of the lake. thanks for walking memory lane with me a little bit!