Where to even begin? Having an office for the first time is weird enough on its own, not to mention one that is pretty bland. I want my space to be warm and inviting. I want it to be a place for great conversation and comfort. I want my office to have some life!
Probably like many of you, THIS is what I walked in to:
The desk is GIANT and was angled in the middle of the room. There is a large, blue BEAST table. Empty shelves. And who could miss the one, random, baby blue wall?? When I walked in, it certainly didn't scream "Wow! Let's hang out here!"
My first order of business was getting rid of the baby blue wall. Coincidentally, we had painters in the building painting some other rooms that had been remodeled. A can of paint later, and we now had THIS:
(Don't mind the PILES of things EVERYWHERE!) I am in love with this new color! It is "Peacock Plume" by Sherwin Williams. The opposite walls were done in a soft cream called "Apple Peel." Already the room was starting to feel different.
Next came the furniture. I don't know about you, but I have A LOT of books! I also still wanted to be surrounded by kid books. Reading with children is one of my favorite things in the entire world, and I wanted that to be apparent when people walked in to this room. The one bookshelf that was in there just wasn't going to cut it :) So, off to Target I went! I found 3 beauties! I think I also earned some bonus points from my new custodial crew, because I moved them in and put them together without their help :) My amazing secretary jumped in, and she even learned how to use a power drill!
I also wanted my "golden rule" visible for everyone. This took me to Michael's for some amazing letters and metallic spray paint.
I found out that my furniture options for the office were pretty limited. There were no other tables for in there other than the "blue beast." It definitely didn't match the new colors, so I took the top off, took it home, and got to work. I decided that I wanted to turn it into a white board table. Kate and I had done this to many tables in our classroom, and they were awesome for kiddos! I envisioned littles that might be having a rough day, hanging out with me and doodling on it. The process is fairly simple. The paint is under $20 at Home Depot, and you can usually get about 3 tables out of the can. I only had one to paint this time, so unfortunately, some of the paint was wasted.
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| Click to see product at Home Depot |
I sanded off the blue, chipped paint, washed it/let it dry, then primed it with a white primer. You definitely need to use a foam roller. It makes the coats really smooth. Once that was dry, I did 3 coats of the rust-oleum. You need to let it "cure" for 3 days before writing on it. The results...MAGIC! I love it! I do recommend keeping a "magic eraser" on hand, as when some shadowing appears, it takes it right off!
Finally, I put it all together. Here are the end results:
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| I'm hoping to fill the blank space with kid art during the year! |
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| One of my favorite books from my childhood. |
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| My favorite chapter book! |
It really does feel like "home" now. My favorite part has been seeing my staff members' faces when they have been coming in for meet and greets. Their eyes are as wide as saucers, and their words are usually something like "It feels so different in here! It is so cozy!" Yes, that is exactly what I was going for.
Have you done an office/room makeover recently? Any "must have's" or "must do's" to share? Would love to learn from you!
Yours in decorating,
