ORC: Week 6 - Home Office Reveal

It's reveal day for the One Room Challenge Linking Soiree, brainchild of blogger Linda of Calling it Home and your girl is over here doing the happy dance!
I drank a lot of wine people, a lot. And with good reason! Who knew a 6 week deadline would cause so much pressure, so many sleepless nights, sheer panic as the thought of not finishing the room seemed very, very real. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I was painting this very space into the wee hours of the night on Sunday. But the truth is I needed this deadline in the worst way to finally, finally complete a room in our new home. Living in a renovation zone for the past five months has been a tad stressful (*no comment please from clients who know this pain all too well!)
Anywho, here's what this office looked like when we purchased our home in May. It was a dining room, but who uses a dining room anyway? So we framed it in and added the pocket doors so it could be completely closed when we needed to work, or open wide if we're entertaining and using it more as a den.
 
If you're new to this whole soiree, here's how to recap all the moments along this 6 week journey.

Week 5

Week 4

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1

Here's my inspiration photo and design board:

I always knew I wanted a deep blue to anchor the office, but chose to do so on the bookcase instead of the walls. I also wanted a fun and playful chandelier and settled on the Mobile chandelier from West Elm since it was more affordable than any urchin light we sourced.
Okay, I'm done talking. 
Let's just take it all in shall we?

It is seriously the office of my dreams. Loads of color cause y'all know I'm a bit of a color addict. Playful enough to remind me to laugh a little at what can sometimes be a very stressful biz, and inviting enough for Xavier to hang out without feeling like he can't get his hands all up in the mix.  

That bookcase was a labor of love. It's the one thing the previous owner left behind and it was headed for the trash pile. I thanked heavens I popped by the house the morning of the closing, and rescued it before it was hauled away. A little paint, a new filing drawer to fill a gaping hole we dished about here, some gold handles and I gotta say she is now the star of the show. I am a lover of real books, and definitely wanted a room where some of my favorite books (yes, we've read most of them) could be celebrated and this book case has definitely allowed that to happen. 



Styling this bookcase was a BEAST. Amanda our intern, tackled the hardest part i.e. loading all them books in place and layering in the accessories. I then edited (yes, lots of books were removed) and tweaked. I think we found a way to balance our love of reading while showcasing little mementos that we love like that Bob Marley figurine, the typewriter gifted to me by my mother in law, plus some new faves like the pink hippo (hooray to Amanda for spotting that at Home Goods) and a globe for Xavier and I to plot our travels around the world (this week he's obsessed with Japan!)

I filled this space next to the bookcase with acrylic wine racks sitting atop floating shelves, a great place to store loads of design magazines.  
 

 

Next up, the rug and love seat, arguably the most difficult choices made in this

office transformation. We sourced a gazillion options before crazy moi went gaga for this rug - scored at Walmart.com! I know. Stop the freaking presses right? And this love seat. If you've been following along, you know I wanted this pink love seat but the hubby balked so this stunning tufted blue love seat was the winning choice. I love it to pieces and Xavier happily jumps on it all the time. 

And hello gallery wall! Searched through the rubbles of my renovation to find them lovable lips from Jessica at The Aestate, sprinkled in some of Xavier's artwork and a few favorite quotes that keep me motivated.

 

This gold dipped little stool from Target was just the little table we needed and will be used as a resting place for sure for a glass of wine or some tea.

I chose a white desk and chair to temper all the colors in the space, a bit of calm in a sea of bold colors. The desk is wide enough to seat two if needed. 

Gotta have a photo of the munchkin close by. And yes, that's a tray! Y'all know I love me some trays to anchor things. 

 These gold wire magazine holders were a great find at Target and have been keeping me organized. Well, at least somewhat organized.

I'm kinda manic about the time. Being late drives me bananas, which is so very non Caribbean like of me!  So a clock in my office is kinda mandatory. And this pin board was another great steal from Target. Such a stylish place to finally pin all my notes, fabric samples and so much more.

Here's a final tidbit. Poor Amanda had to take charge of this photo shoot! We shot photos on Tuesday aka, Xavier's birthday and double aka, election day. Translation: my afternoon was insane! Zipping back and forth to this job site, styling the room, picking up treats for Xavier's party and voting! I called her incessantly to tweak images as she sent em via text, which kinda drove our photographer and jack of all trades, Shaggy, bat shit crazy, so I eventually stopped and left them be to handle it. Methinks it was a great success so hats off to them both for capturing the spirit of this space so well. Eternally grateful.

 

It's good to now walk through my front door, and peek at this space through these frosted doors, and to sit here now each morning getting a jump start on my day. Thanks a million to Linda for organizing this design fest and for allowing so many of us to participate via the linking soiree. Thanks even more to the NWD team - Debbie, Amanda, Roy and Shaggy, who all chipped in to help to make sure I didn't embarrass the team by not finishing on time. Eternally grateful. A huge thanks as well to all of you for cheering us along these past 6 weeks. It meant the world! Let's go see how everyone else fared.

Source Guide
Nate Settee, Navy Velvet: Houzz I Office Chair: Wayfair | Rug: Walmart I Artwork: The Aestate Xavier Q original, Target, HomeGoods, Etsy | Desk  Eurostyle Gilow Backert Writing Desk : Similar desk option Wayfair | Throw Pillows: Nate Berkus for Target, HomeGoods, custom leopard print I Lighting: Mobile Chanderlier West Elm I Gold-tipped end table: Target I Desk Lamp: Target I Floor Lamp: Ikea