Thursday, October 30, 2014

ORC: Week 5 - Home Office Dash To The Finish Line


So this is what happens when it's week 5 of the One Room Challenge! Absolute chaos to get to the finish line....
If you're new to this online reality madness, brainchild of Linda of Calling it Home, I decided to do my home office so we could finally have at least one room completed in our new home.
Five weeks later, my office still looks a hot mess, mainly because we have yet to stucco the new window (oh, last week we decided to install hurricane impact windows) add a window sill, finish the molding on the bookcase unit we rescued from the trash heap etc...blah, blah, blah
But how about we celebrate the little things?
Like the fact that my lil man clearly LOVES the new loveseat. Was all over it today when he came home and saw it all assembled. 


Then our amazing intern, Amanda, continues to kick ass and spray painted the loveseat legs and cabinet pulls for the bookcase in gold.


Gold, does a heart good.
She also tried to make sense of the mountain of books we'll have to organize this weekend to style the bookcase. 


 

Have I mentioned that the hubby and I love real books? I have never read an E-book? Don't judge. Anyway, here's our styling test run.


So loving the blue on those shelves for sure. Kinda makes the books and accessories sing a special note no? 
So peeps, all this means it'll be down to the wire to finish this weekend to repaint the stuccoed wall, hang art, style, shoot then write an award-winning blog post loaded with all the details and fabulous pics. Sounds insane right? It reminds me of my days of being a reporter on a deadline when ya simply had to hit the send key at the 11th hour, regardless of how poetic or not so poetic the prose.
In addition to this and a bounty of projects to install before the holidays, my little man turns three next Tuesday!
He's kinda obsessed with bowling so methinks a bowling soiree is in order. Planning his birthday soiree and finishing this challenge = a crazy weekend ahead. Wish me luck. Anyway, excited to see this office get completed and equally excited to see what all the other peeps have accomplished - insert side eye glare here because I know a few who are already done, done and done.
See ya next week for the big reveal. Have a great weekend everyone.


Thursday, October 23, 2014

ORC Week 4: The Home Office


It's Week 4 of the One Room Challenge Linking Party, the soiree created and hosted by Linda of Calling it Home.
The Good news? Lots of goodies arrived this week including that sexy navy love seat, and a rug so colorful and fun, it made my heart sing. I finally pulled the trigger on a desk and chair and they have both shipped and should arrive by the end of this week. 
I was blown away by the insane art selections and suggestions of Albertina over at Mimosa Lane for her One Room Challenge so I'll get cracking and finalize all the artwork for the office as well by the weekend.


Oh but wait. What's that gaping hole in my office? The not so good news? We finally decided to replace our windows for new impact ones and oh yeah, totally had no clue the removal and replacement of windows could lead to so much dust!!!! The ish was everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Lets just say this poor office currently looks like a war zone.



 But a war zone with shiny new windows. Loving the new windows of course, but I gotta admit that my head is spinning from the mess and the fact that it all needs to be cleaned and styled with under two weeks to go!





Me? Panicked? Of course not. I'll figure it out. I think. I hope! 
Now let's go see how the other folks are doing.  Hopefully no one else has a hole or two in their rooms.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

ORC: Week 3. The Home Office Bookcase Tales

Linda was right. The halfway mark of the One Room Challenge - the online design challenge created by Linda of Calling It Home - is a rough place to be.
I came rolling out with loads of steam on Week 1 and Week 2.
Then kinda sputtered a bit by Week 3.
I mean, I got major things done:
Loveseat ordered and arrived! Yippeee
Rug ordered.
Curtain panels ordered
Desk ordered 
Cabinet pulls purchased. Need to be spray painted.
Throw pillows?In progress. 
Art: In progress
Chandelier. Yikes
Desk chair. Yikes.
*Side note: have I mentioned that I am my worst client ever? Agonized over every single one of those purchases. It was something manic. Seriously. Someone please fire me from myself.
Anyway, I'll need to order the chandelier and a desk chair by this weekend. The latter is the hardest because
A. Should you simply choose a fab chair that will be cute but not very comfy?



Or 
B. Choose comfort over style? 


Decisions, decisions. I struggle with this one often with design clients. In the real world, function usually wins.
So the major thing that happened around here this past week, is the making of a much needed drawer/filing cabinet to fill the gaping hole in the existing shelving unit. 
 
Remember, while we scored this for free from the previous owner of our home, we failed to realize that there would be a gaping hole if we rested the bookcase atop the media system.
I entrusted the help of carpenter Earl aka Mr. Barbados, aka the man who backed his truck over my mailbox. You read right. He was forgiven because the drawers, though unpainted, look great and because my mailman has apparently hated the old mailbox for over 15 years. He in fact knocked on our door to thank us for the new shiny mailbox. Thank you, brother Earl, for that small blessing.
So, back to the lecture at hand.
The new drawers are in place and then I noticed the unthinkable: in my haste to finalize the bookshelf system with Earl, the second drawer we added is now smack dab against my window and very much in the way of my already ordered curtains.
Lord Jesus it's a fire!

What to do? What's a girl to do people? Ditch the extra drawer or turn my fab curtains into a roman shade? IDK. Lemme sip some wine and think it through. Or holla at me and tell me how you'd solve this conundrum. 
Til then, lemme go see what the other ORC participants are up to. Please. Go check em out. The talent is kinda bananas.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

ORC Week 2: Hello Home Office Design Plan.

So it's only Week 2 of the One Room Challenge Linking Party and I am kinda hungover. I'm seriously in a daze, tipsy from just how freaking intense this ORC has been. I mean the pressure is real people.
To be honest, I have been my worst client. Hands down. Just ask my assistants. They'll spin the beans. Just offer them some of that squash soup from Panera Bread and they will sing a song in every tune.
So where are we since last week when we first showed you before pictures of my raggedy home office and this inspiration pic?

OK, love, love this room but as I caution most clients, these photos are for inspiration not duplication. I love the dark walls, but chose to do a dark blue/grey on my bookshelves not my wall. Love the etageres but have chosen to re-purpose an old bookshelf that will be styled just as exquisitely as these etageres. Love the urchin light fixture but they ain't cheap and I think it'd scare Xavier at night. Maybe even moi. *side note, there are 11 decorative urchins scattered throughout these two etageres. hmmm. strange?
While I love the sexy grown up vibe of this office, and even though I fancy myself as grown and sexy, I also have a toddler and want there to be a bit of fun and playfulness in this office, especially since he comes charging in there the minute he walks through the door from daycare. 
So the bold geometric rug will be an ode to my love of color, the need to make a bold statement in a room layered with shades of blue and grey and a nod that the space should not take itself so seriously.
Since the hubby will also use this office, the desk will need to seat two comfortably. 
Speaking of desks, that pretty little piece of white and gold hotness has been stalking my dreams, but it has a price tag that is kinda steep so the jury is still out on that decision. Yes, I clearly need to pull the trigger by next week if I plan to finish this challenge in 6 weeks. Duh.
But let me spill the beans about the biggest scandal to date of this ORC: The Battle of the Loveseats.


 Jeezus weez, who know we would agonize so much over a freaking loveseat (clients, I now forgive you for all the times you dragged your feet, agonizing over the options I sent your way. I truly, truly had no clue how gut wrenching these decisions can be. 
I definitely wanted extra seating in the office but can only fit a love seat no wider than 68" and only 31" deep. That was the main problem. Most loveseats are a standard 34" to 36" deep. Debbie and Amanda voted for the brown tweed with the white piping (too deep and too bulky). I voted for the pink loveseat from CB2 because I'm the only girl in this house and wanted a girly moment in the office. Sigh, the hubby balked. Well, let me be more clear, he gave me the silent glare/zero words. Translation: NO
Aarrgh
Now, I've vetoed that stare before, but I sensed over-riding him on this one would have led to some serious marital woes so I kissed my pink dreams goodbye (OK, truthfully it was the perfect depth but at 68" wide, it would have been a tad cramped in the space). Sigh. Sigh. 
In the end, the navy tufted sofa won the battle of the loveseats. It was a super steal at half the price of all the others I'd considered, but I'll likely change the legs to something more fun. That's it folks. A LOT went down this week for sure. Hope everyone else is hanging in there. Lemme go poke around and see how y'all are doing.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Jumping In: The ORC

 

Yikes!
After years of sitting on the sidelines and being riveted to the manic pace of One Room Challenge, the genius brainchild of Linda at Calling it Home, I've decided to dive in head first this time around and participate.
That means, I'll have a deadline people. A dedicated date and time to complete a room in my home and it's about damn time. We moved into our home in July amid a major renovation and you guessed it, simply ran out of steam. Sure the major renovation work is complete - Amen to that - but there isn't a single room in this house that is done, finito, complete and it's time to do something about it or face the continued wrath and disdain of the hubs. 
So with much shame, trepidation and some excitement, I've decided to finally complete our home office. Why? Well, cause we both work from home and it would be nice to work in a space that's I dunno, finished? Not to mention a space that deserves to be kinda fab. 
Here's what the office looked like when we purchased our home back in May.

Arrgh right? Nothing sexy at all. It was in fact the dining room, but we have another space that works much better as such and so it made sense to make this the office/den/chill zone.
To do so we framed it in, added some pocket doors so the space could be private when needed but open up to the rest of the house to chat with friends and family.


The one gem the previous owner left behind was this book shelf system. It was destined for the junk yard. I balked, seeing visions of a beautiful home for my dizzying collection of books (yes, tangible books people, no E-reading for moi) and a dedicated hiding space for our printer and office supplies.   
Since then we've installed hardwood floors, framed in the walls to create the office, added the frosted sliding doors and even painted the bookshelves. 


See that hole underneath that cabinet? yep, there's a piece missing for this shelving system something we never realized til now! we'll be figuring out a creative solution for that hole during this challenge as well as making the piece look as custom as possible.
So here's my inspiration:




Next week we'll reveal the design plan and share any progress, which should entail my fabulous intern Amanda at The Home Body Interiors, cracking the whip and helping to get the office somewhat organized so it won't be a hot beaughetto mess once it's all dolled up. See y'all next week.



Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Hooray, The ORC is Back!



The One Room Challenge, my favorite online design show addiction, starring non other than design bloggers, is back in full force today. 
Yes, the ORC, the brainchild of blogger Linda of Calling it Home, is my official design drug of choice.
This time around I'm not only staying riveted each week to see how these 20 designers transform their spaces, I'll be jumping in via the Linking party every Thursday.
Daunting? Hell yeah. I barely got time to scratch my extra large booty, but I'm a sucker for the pressure of a deadline, and a deadline is what I needs to get me cracking on designing each room in our new purchased and heavily renovated house.
Stay tuned for all the details tomorrow as I dive right in. 
It will be nothing short of nail-biting, if not hilarious as I try to juggle a jampacked roster of clients and tackle my own home. I guess I won't be sleeping for the next 6 weeks. 
Coffee? Yes. Please.

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