industrial office reveal: quetico in a 12 x 10

yeah, i know, i had to google it too. quetico is a national park in canada, and it is, in the words of my recent client, "how i want to feel every time i walk into my office." think blue lakes, tall mountains, open air, forests, and most likely lots of bears.

so my goal, along with my friend laura peacock, was to take a 12 x 10 office and make it feel like a mountain-top man lounge. to catch up on this project, you can start here. it's part of a greater industrial office overhaul that also included a meeting and lounge area. while the lounge was requested to be modern, industrial and colorful, this space was to be rustic and woodsy. with a dog bed.

the head pastor had the most specific wish list i've ever seen, and was so adorable, i immediately knew that his office was going to be my favorite part of the project. now that everything is done, i can almost hear the crackling of a fireplace and the soft fall of snow (or lapping of lake waves) out the windows. not too easy to pull off in an industrial office complex...but what can i say, we worked really hard at it. ;-)

as is common in my life (and one of my greatest frustrations of all time), i didn't get pictures that even come close to doing the space justice. the light was too bright, the walls were too washed out...but i promised i'd show you the results so i'm going to suck it up and post them. you just have to trust me that in real life it looked sooo much better. when he came in he was totally blown away. we even had the most manly scented fireside candle going, and i am sure that even camp wandawega itself wouldn't have felt more perfectly cool and cozy (ok, it probably does...but they've been working on that since 1925. i only had 22 days).

here's where we started:

and here is how it turned out!

speaking of camp wandawega, that was immediately where i turned for design inspiration after reading through our client's wishlist. the camp is just the right blend of cozy and masculine without being at all cheesy. and it's easy to get cheesy when your to-do list includes canoe pictures and fireside candles.

another before shot:

and after:

the first pieces we found were the campaign desk from world market, and this vintage table from craigslist. their light wood tones were perfect against the dark walls, and they both felt perfectly un-finished. after that, we chose taboret chairs in the vintage metal finish to break up all the wood, and an antique english bookcase from craigslist in a darker tone to mix things up. 

the desk chair was such an exciting find. i had fallen in love with the style of this restoration hardware chair, but at $495 there was no way. laura ended up finding the exact same thing- even better in a finish that matched our bookcase- for $30 on craigslist! i might have jumped up and down a little bit about that. and it was so sweet...the woman who sold it said it was her son's and he was a pastor too. meant to be. this chair cushion from ikea fit perfectly.

our original intent had been to get a freestanding bookcase for the nook to the left of the desk, but when we found this wall-mount antique instead, we just couldn't pass it up. it was such a unique piece, in great condition, with distressing in all the right ways. so laura suggested we grab a lounge chair they already had and use it to fill in the corner. the chair might not have been exactly the style we would have picked out, but it certainly offered a ton of coziness for its zero dollar price tag. i sewed a little pillow out of leftover fabric from the dog bed.

most of what is on the bookcase were personal items that we were asked to keep in the office. i tried to use mainly red and white books when i styled it to tie in with the rest of the color scheme in the room. my favorite thing is the antler, from heritage beam & board's october barn sale. it just so happened that laura's mom was there and was nice enough to be our personal shopper between hectic texts and instagram tagging. 

i also love the fern fronds i had left over from this project that i stuck in an empty maple syrup bottle. free accessories make me so happy when they're this cute.

the little bookshelf was from homegoods and the green lamp was another craigslist find. the large scale artwork (and a deer print between the windows that i don't have a good picture of) was another heritage beam & board score.

for inexpensive bookends, we turned to the local garden center. laura found these rocks- which have great heft and a shape perfect for propping books- for about $2.

our DIY painted dog portrait was a huge hit. i felt kind of bad that remi's picture made the desk and his family was relegated to the bookcase...but we can blame the frame. it just fit better! ;-)

one request was a covered whiteboard. those are so ridiculously expensive; what would we do?! well, we spotted some old pallets behind the church, and guess what? russ franceschina, the same guy who made the metal "10" out front, is making sliding barn-style doors out of the wood for us! i can't believe how cool his drawing is. unfortunately, handmade pieces this stellar take a little longer than 22 days, so it'll be installed at the end of the month. maybe that will give me a good excuse to go back and take my girl ellen so i can get some decent pictures.

this branch wall hanging was a DIY i did that popped into my head, probably thanks to my obsessions of late with woven wall hangings. i'll post how to do it very soon! i love how it turned out- and again, free accessory. yesss.

the hello adventure print is by lindsay letters, also found- this time by the pastor's wife- at the heritage barn sale). the "wander" print was yet another free DIY i did. you can see the tutorial and get a free printable copy of it here.

i made the dog bed using men's flannel shirt fabric from joann's. i just sewed the whole thing the same as you would a pillow, stuffed it with washable, hypoallergenic stuffing, and used a ladder stitch to seal it up. i couldn't stop smiling when i got a text with this sweet picture of remi lounging on it!

my one giant regret for this room is that we didn't have it in the budget to get a great rug. but sometimes you have to live with brown carpet. at least remi doesn't seem to mind!

i'd just like to say thanks to laura and the church staff for bringing me in on this project- i had such a complete blast and loved every minute, and i'm so happy that you're using it and loving it.

i'm kinda looking around at my navy nursery now that it's ready to become a big boy room, and wondering if it might need some flannel going on .... 

{in case you missed it, see how part 1 of this project, the lounge & meeting space, turned out here!}

industrial office reveal: lounge & meeting space

just a couple weeks ago i introduced you to this office redesign project that my friend laura peacock and i were beginning to tackle for her wonderful church. well, 22 days after our initial meeting, it was done! we mainly worked on two spaces: a meeting & lounge area and the head pastor's office.

today i'll show you the results of the meeting space. here's a reminder of where we started:

above was the view as you walked in the front door of the offices. since then, the walls were completed and painted, flooring was switched out, and that giant crazy reception desk was removed. here is the view that greets you today:

isn't it a crazy difference?! we were so excited. we kept the results a surprise until the day of the installation, and the staff was really excited when they got to see it too. it was so fun to watch them come in and freak out.

as i mentioned before, the budget for this project was tiny, so we kept the existing sofa. in the new space, the light grey color fit perfectly. after that, we turned to some retail shopping secrets to get the major pieces at major discounts. the chairs, laptop tables, and rug were all from world market, where we were able to take advantage of their friends & family sale and score some floor samples. the table and pillows are from the crate & barrel outlet. in the end, we actually came in well under our budget, which i initially thought would be impossible.

we knew in order to stay in budget, we would have to get creative with accessories. clearly, that huge stretch of wall needed a collection of gallery frames. but even at inexpensive soures like etsy or minted, that many pieces would add up. that's when i started stalking their instagram, and realized the church had a huge library of personal artwork already at our disposal. every time they do a new sermon series, they have a graphic to go along with it, and those were a perfect jumping off point.

i collected our favorites and laura asked their graphic designers for these and some other prints of their favorite moments. this way, we had free artwork that also told the church's personal stories.

for frames, laura bought an assortment at good will and spray painted them all the same color white. that is such a great resource for frames- they're only usually around $2 - $6 each.

we also used some other personal elements. these rocks had been part of a special service, so we found some shadowbox frames (with a trusty hobby lobby coupon of course) and laura used tacky glue to mount them.

the number 10 represents the ten communities surrounding the church that they are specifically committed to ministering to. it was made out of galvanized sheet metal by an architect, russel franceschina, who also makes really cool custom furniture on the side. they are my favorite part of the whole wall because of the way they tie in to the metal finish of the ceiling. i also love the way they break up all the rectangular shapes on the wall with something different.

our map was a DIY that also showed "the 10" communities. we bought a map and had it blown up on a large format printer, then used mod podge to adhere it to a canvas. i wouldn't necessarily recommend that method on canvas because we had a lot of bubbling to deal with, but some sand paper helped get the bubbles out and gave it a distressed finish.

here's another look at the before:

the paint we chose was benjamin moore kendall charcoal. we thought that painting the two walls that wrap around the lounge in this dark shade would feel more enveloping than just the standard one accent wall. (and since an all-white space had been vetoed, haha). i love the effect and how it separates the lounge from the rest of the office and makes it feel cozy in spite of the huge ceilings and open floor plan.

the floor was added by the builder at laura's request, since he had to replace it anyways after construction. it ended up being about the same cost to him as the carpet would have, and it was so key...this room just wouldn't be the same with commercial brown carpeting!

it was called delaware bay driftwood from lumber liquidators. here's how it looked when it first went down (and when i got this picture from laura i freaked out because it was so pretty!):

when we arrived the night before the installation to drop off furniture and get started on prep, this is the empty shell that greeted us:

let me tell you, i was so excited to get started and just absolutely loved how the floor and paint came together, and that all the furniture finishes worked so well too. whew!

the tv hadn't been installed by the time i left so i didn't get a good picture of the media wall, but this locker-style cabinet from ikea was one of my favorite finds. we salvaged this "finished" sign from a wood pile behind the church. it was left over from their easter service and is a reference to john 19:30. to give it a weathered grey finish, i washed over it with a solution of white wall paint & water, then when that was dry went over it with a little antique glaze.

my favorite thing about all of this was this picture that the pastor sent us the next morning:

the staff had installed two tv's (surprise!) and was loving it for their morning creative meeting. i love the coffee and snacks on the table...the starbucks, the comfy chairs...it just looks like a perfect space to work. and the pastor's text said, "it's happening." hahaha...making people happy like this could keep me on a cloud for weeks! oh, and a quick note about that white board. it turns out that home depot sells white board sheets in 4 x 8 and will cut them to any size you need at the store. you can just use screws with washers to drill them straight into the wall. if you've ever looked into the cost of giant white boards, you know how expensive they can be, so this is a great trick to get them cheap! looks like they have a lot of notes...we might have to add one to the other side!

well thanks guys for being so supportive and encouraging and sharing in the fun of this project with me!! the staff is already calling laura and me "laura & laura incorporated"....hahahha....ya never know what might happen someday. 

{update // check out part 2 of this project: the pastor's woodsy man-lounge of an office here}

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}