new office is a bit unexpected

I finally completed the new office makeover. 

Well, its not actually complete but probably as complete as it will get.

Is any room ever really complete?

Let's revisit the "before."  

It was dark; dark green walls with dark furniture.

My husband loves green and cycling 

and our alma mater, the University of North Texas.

I wanted bright, clean, vintage, industrial.

So, I needed to figure out how to get a 

bright, clean, vintage, industrial, green, cycling, UNT 

office on a shoestring budget.

ugh

 The "after"

Well, it's light, bright, clean but it didn't turn out as I planned.

There were a couple of unexpected turns that I think worked out

better than I could have planned.

We spent less than $400 to redo this office.

Many of the things in here were shopped from our own home.

We spent about $50 on this desk from Ikea. 

It's clean, white, I guess some type of melamine top

with simple legs.  It's a bit modern.  I'm not a modern decor kind of person

but I like the look of it in this otherwise not modern room.

It is a big workspace and very easy to clean.

I tried to incorporate little touches to please my husband.

He is a "Dr. Pepper"aholic.  

I found this old vintage Dr. Pepper bottle to hold 

whatever these things are I put in it.

Let me point out at this point that the floors are not dirty.

They are painted concrete and a little worn.

They chip a bit and wear in places and sort of look

like the floor you might see in an old industrial loft.

I'm saying I like that look for right now

because I'm just too lazy busy to repaint.

These chairs were free.  Yep free.

They are 1950s original iron butterfly chairs that belonged to my godparents.

They originally had late 1950's turquoisy-aqua covers and sat

on the back deck of my godparents' midcentury modern tri-level house

my godfather designed.  I remember how cool I thought it was 

to sit in these as a young child.

I spent about $100 on new duck cotton covers.

This lamp was free as well.

This work lamp was attached to my father's old jeweler's workbench.

I took it off and attached it to this little stool as a lamp for the office.

Its so cool and swivels and adjusts to almost any position.

I didn't plan to have vintage midcentury modern butterfly chairs

in the office but I like them. 

With the exception of appliances, cars and my iphone,  

I just don't like anything really that's modern but these work.

I may warm them up a bit with a neutral throw when I find the right one.

These reproduction french maps on linen paper are perfect for my husband.

As a cyclist, he is a huge fan of the Tour de France so these maps fit right in.

This bookcase was already in the office.  I just painted it and 

removed some of the shelves to make it more interesting.

I still have lots of blank shelf space to fill 

when I find just the right things to put there.

Besides neutral colors of cream, white and light brown, 

I decorated with mostly green items.

I ordered the organizer above and basket below online.

I think they were on sale for about $35 for both.

Inside the basket are several vintage green chalkboards.

I may hang those on the wall.  I'm not sure yet.

These cute little things are perfect card or note holders.

We also spent about $60 on the neutral shag rug from Ikea.

Shag? Yep, shag. Its really comfy.

The huge green windmill in the corner was reworked into a floor lamp.

This room isn't perfect yet.  

This corner drives me nuts.

I'm waiting for my husband to hide those TV cords.  

I'm sure he'll get around to it someday.

My first 2012 project is ginormous

We have this huge blank wall in our main living area.

We've lived in our house for 10 years and that wall

has always been an unfinished project.

We've tried to decorate it but nothing looks right.

A few mid-sized pieces just don't work.

We added an old door but again, it just wasn't right.

I think it either needs a wall of framed prints or one huge statement piece.

What would be cool is a huge old chalkboard 

that looks like this smaller one in the entry.

Where would I find one of those?

How much would something that big cost?

I'm guessing not much...if you make it.

We bought a huge piece of plywood (I think it's 4'by8').

I sanded it down to make it smoother.  Plywood can be kind of rough

so it certainly wasn't a perfect surface but that works in my plan.

I used a black matte spray paint to give it a base coat.

Then I sprayed a coat of the chalkboard spray paint.

I switched to a can of chalkboard paint and used a brush 

to paint thick coats.

Then we added simple moulding.  I stained it with an uneven finish

so that it looks a bit worn with age.

There we have it!

It's one huge chalkboard.  

We attached it with screws, putting one in each corner which

adds to the industrial effect.

We hung the clock on it because I love that clock

and it covers a huge defect in the wood.

I added some of the lyrics from our family song.

Over time, we will find just right the things

to write on our chalkboard that will become 

permanent artwork.

In some of the pictures, you can see cracks and imperfections in the wood.

I love that. I think it makes it look older.

Isn't that cool?  Those cracks make it look like an old schoolhouse chalkboard.

Now, I know that little dresser underneath it is too small

sitting there all alone under that huge thing.

Either something longer will go there or

that dresser will get some company.

What do you think?

Do you like the "vintage" huge "schoolhouse" chalkboard?

a couple of quick projects inspired by blogs

Quick project #1

Did you see this clever chalkboard idea from Amy at WhisperWood Cottage?  

I just loved it and decided to whip one up myself.  It was so easy.

I had everything on hand so I didn't have to buy a thing. 

cheapo used corkboard...check

white craft paper....check 

(Amy used brown craft paper and it looks really good but I only had white on hand so that's what I used)

chalkboard paint...check

gray paint for bulletin board...check

clear bulletin board pushpins...check

Click on her link above to see how to make your own.

It's pretty simple; just tear the paper, paint, let dry, pin it up and write on it.

Pretty cool, huh?

Quick project #2

This is one of my favorite pictures in blogland.  It's from Tina at The Rubies' Place.

I had a tub but it wasn't white nor old nor chippy like hers.  No worries, I painted it white.

I also had a couple of small ladders.  So, I thought I was all set to recreate this on my porch.

I don't know if my ladders were too small or my tub too big, but mine just didn't work. 

While we were at Round Top a couple of weeks ago, 

we found a couple of these little plant stands.

It's white, chippy, rusted and just might work.

I put my newly painted tub on top and it looks pretty good.

I don't love it as much as Tina's but I do like it and it'll work for now.

I'm thinking I need to chip up the tub a bit and that might help or...

...paint something or write something on the front of the tub.

What do you think?  Don't you think it needs a little something?