Ariane's office

Recently, I decided that I wanted a cozier, more comfortable place to relax/work in my office. I am using what the former owners used as their son's nursery as my office. When we moved in, I really liked the color it was painted (a soft blue) and the size seemed right for my office. I usually don't do lots of "work" in the office, but it is a good place to look online, reply to emails (rather than on my phone) and do the checkbook. The closet is large and I imagine, someday, of having a really great organizational system that will hold all our paperwork on one side and all of our linens on the other (the house is lacking a dedicated linen closet, so this seems to be the best place for extra sheets and large blankets.)



Since one of the first things we did in this house was replace the front three upstairs windows, I lucked out that the office was the recipient of one of the new windows. That means nice, new trim and a bright, white window frame to work with! That also means we had to decide if we were going to stain or paint the trim. Part of why we liked this house was the rich, dark stain on the wood trim, which was a departure from the all white trim that we painted in our last house. After about a month of thinking and talking about it, as well as looking at LOTS of pictures online of how we could do both white and stained trim in the same space, we decided to go for the paint. There is nothing quite like a beautiful wall color against bright, white trim!

First coat of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Semi Gloss White

We bought one quart of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Semi Gloss White paint from Home Depot and gave it a go. I decided on the off-the-shelf paint because it's 1) a relatively inexpensive option 2) easy to match in the future. After painting all of the trim in our old house from almond to white with various leftovers of white paint, I wanted to ensure continuity between the trim as we move through this house.

I ended up painting four coats of paint in order to get good coverage. I probably should have done a primer coat, but I really dislike using primer when I feel like I almost always need to do three or four coats of paint anyway! Also, I was very thankful for the new windows because it was a VERY hot day when I painted and I appreciated the new UV protection from the window! I did notice that I had to constantly stir the paint or it would separate. I am guessing that this is probably because of the heat of the day and that I should have kept the paint off the windowsill and in the shade. Oh well, it still worked out in the end!

Messy desk

The next step in the office was deciding on the furniture. I have an old desk that my mom found at a garage sale 35 years ago and ended up re-finishing, then my dad used in his office for the past 20 years or so, so that is the starting point of my office. Off to American Furniture Warehouse!

Chair and ottoman at AFW

Since there are not many affordable furniture stores in our area, we really only shop at AFW, and they really only have items that are sturdy, our style, and in-stock every once in awhile. After sitting in every linen-y chair and ottoman in their showroom, we both decided that this was the perfect fit! Both John and I zoned out for a few minutes while sitting in the chair with our feet propped up, which we took as a good sign. Thing was, we're trying to stick to our budget, so we decided not to buy the chair right away, but save up for it. I starting putting some money aside every paycheck and finally the day came to go get it! I walked into the store and asked for both the chair and ottoman, but they told me that they were out of stock and that they would be discontinuing the items after the next shipment. I could pre-buy both, but it wouldn't be available for the next month. Not very fun for instant gratification! I decided to walk away, but I couldn't stop thinking that that was the magic combo. Finally, after much debate and sitting in every single chair again, we pre-purchased the chair and the long wait started.

In the meantime, I worked on a lighting project I had seen on Young House Love, my absolute favorite blog. There was a "boob" light in the office that really needed to be changed out, so we found a round light shade to create this cute light!

Light fixture

The other thing that we did was the window coverings (pictured above.) John and I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and found this cute fabric for the windows. I thought I'd try my hand at sewing the curtains (since it was only four straight lines, right?!) I also thought it might be nice to add a blackout liner, so we got some of that at the store too. Young House Love had written about using curtain ring clips instead of making a curtain pocket, so I thought I'd give it a try as well.

Well, it was much more difficult that I had imagined. The amount of fabric was huge. Trying to keep everything lined up, wrinkle-free, and going through the sewing machine was really difficult! I thought the project would only take an afternoon, and it ended up taking me 3 days to finish it! I talked to a woman at work who was previously a professional seamstress and she suggested that I leave the bottom hem open and that made all the difference!

Window curtains and Kitty's bed

I really like how they turned out and I LOVE that the curtains match the wall color, which wasn't even part of the reason we bought the fabric (I thought I'd for sure have to re-paint the walls.)

The last, most important part of the room, came together when John surprised me and brought the chair home when I didn't even know it was in-stock again!

Chair and ottoman at home

I came home from work and walked upstairs, and there he was, sitting in the chair! It has been a favorite place for all three of us ever since!

Kitty in the chair

I really like how the entire room is coming together. It is a soothing space where I can do work, but also relax. There are still lots of finishing touches that I would like to add, but for now, I am very pleased with the tranquility is has created! Just like all of our projects, it was step-intensive and took a lot of thought and time, but we are pleased with the end result!