Our office revamp

Revamp stations!

Hmm not sure whether you could call this office revamp a REVAMP because it was a total change from what was Cecily’s old bedroom which became our ‘Room of Doom’. We’ve all got one of those haven’t we? HAVEN’T WE???

The ‘Room of Doom’

Ours was bad. The room is a slightly-bigger-than-normal small box room [if that makes any sense at all?!] Big enough to fit a single bed and a wardrobe in it before it becomes claustrophobic.

Once we moved Cecily and Rufus into a room together, this third bedroom became a dumping ground. Full of all the shit that you have in your home and stuff you need to trawl through but cannot face doing so. We closed the door on this and forgot about it until people came to stay over – then we moved all the shit to the side in order to pump up a blow up bed!

The time came when we needed to do something about it. We run two businesses from home so [for tax purposes] needed somewhere to actually work from rather than the dining room table.

Deadline

Kris and I need deadlines in place in order to get things done. We are not long term planners by any stretch of the imagination and need some imminent pressure for us to act. Jeez – Kris completed a full university dissertation two days before the deadline and I only came to terms with having a baby a couple of months before she popped out. THAT’S what we are dealing with here! [Disclaimer: Kris wants it known that he does not agree with what I have put here ha!]

MADE.com

In order to have this pressure, I made an order with MADE for one of their beautiful velvet sofa beds. I have a weakness for velvet so this needed to be in the room. The order was made back in September and the pressure came from the 8-10 week delivery slot, which would have brought us up to the beginning of December. Plenty of time!!!

Or so we thought…

That time frame was too long for us. Life gets in the way. At the beginning of November we still hadn’t done anything to that room – not even sorted through one box and I then received an email to say that the item was ahead of schedule and it would be delivered within two weeks. Crap.

Action stations!

The room has an alcove and I wanted to make a feature of this wall. I scouted online for wallpaper because I really wanted to try wallpapering rather than just paint. I had read Lisa Dawson’s blog post about her wallpapering the downstairs loo and it seemed quite easy [ha!] and given that it was a small room I’d do just that.

Wallpaper and paint

I love Muck & Brass and had my eye on her wallpaper for a while. That was purchased! Once this arrived I went to B&Q to stock up on the wallpapering essentials. Obviously I had to ask someone because I am a total novice and they were more than happy to help. Phew!

I used the wallpaper to colour match some paint using B&Q’s Valspar range. I was hoping for a more muted grey/green tone but I am really happy with the results – the colour is really calming which I think is needed in a workspace – well, it is for me anyway! Plus it goes really well with the dark green velvet sofabed. The only issue that I have with Valspar paint is that it smells of cat pee. Seriously it does. It goes after a few weeks but during that time I was sniffing around like a mad woman thinking that the bloody cat had been making dirty protests!

Furniture

Kris and I live in a new build so we don’t have any traditional features to play with so we make sure the stuff we fill our home with is quirky and eclectic. We love sourcing old furniture and giving it a new lease of life and we did just that for my desk.

Bureau

This was bought from a second hand furniture shop in Chorlton a good few years ago. It was a two piece with a glass cabinet on top but the glass had broken. We decided to just use it as a bureau. Kris sanded the whole thing down, we changed the handles which were a bit dated and I decorated the front using Frogtape and a metallic paint from Craig & Rose [gorgeous!] There’s still a bit to be done to it – I need to wax the wood on the outside and I am thinking of using my leftover wallpaper to line the inside. We shall see!

Wardrobe

We got a gentleman’s wardrobe from a friend three years ago. It is the most delightful piece inside with lovely little spaces for shirts, hats, etc but it was bloody ugly on the outside! We painted it a grey and added some beading to the front but it is in need of an update – plus I broke the handle from one of the doors when we were moving it into a different room – oops!

I want to tie it in with the bureau so a lick of paint and some lines on the front within the beading should do the trick. I need new handles too and have been eyeing up the below from Dowsing & Reynolds.

Office decor

Kris knocked up [sound right?] a shelf for me BUT he now wants to change it. Currently it is a single shelf but a double shelf is needed and he loves copper so might be using that as brackets.

I added some rugs on the floor to make it a bit more cosy – and to cover up some suspect stains!

We are hoping to get rid of our current filing cabinet – it’s ugly and a bit knackered now after a few moves. I am lusting after a beautiful olive green locker from Mustard Made which I think will fit in perfectly! A few box files and Bob is your favourite uncle!

I’ve added a few bits to the walls but more is needed. Currently we have some mirrors bought in the Anthropologie sale and a rabbit head from a cute shop in a village near where I am from. Pictures will eventually go up!

I love my new office!!!

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