Tampilkan postingan dengan label Office. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label Office. Tampilkan semua postingan
My Desk
With all this talk about work schedules and approaches, I thought it would be fun to share some photos of my home office in progress.
(See here for the story on my vintage office chairs.)
Our loft has two long banks of windows. One is in our living area and the other is in our office/guest space (both these rooms are open to each other). I wanted the desk to basically run the length of the windows so an assistant could work there during the day and my husband at night. I wanted a shallow desktop. Also I needed something with legs that were or could be pushed forward so the desk could sort of sit over the top of the radiator vents. Sounds like a custom job, right? No good for me ($$$$$), so I figured I'd have to build something myself (like this).
Then I remembered that IKEA sells interchangable table tops and legs at really reasonable prices. I was hoping for something on the more modern/streamlined side anyway. I was able to buy two of the VIKA pine wooden tops and three of these metal legs for about $90 total (the pricing is/was a little less in-store -- I bought the legs for $10 each and the tops for $30 each).
The legs attached very easily with the use of a drill and the provided screws. Just make sure to measure where you want the legs to sit, so that the legs line up together.
We were a little nervous that putting a single leg under the seam of the table tops (in the middle) was a bad idea, but it has been really fine - no problems here. I really just didn't want the added bulk of a fourth leg. Then it would just look like two desks pushed together. I'm so glad it worked to just use three legs. The result was exactly what I wanted.
Once I had everything put together, I whipped up a quick pickling paint concoction with a little bit of white paint, some gray primer (because that's what I had around in the dark gray department) and water. I would say I ended up with four parts water to one part paint. I wanted it on the watery side.
I wanted a brass look on the legs, so I broke out my quart of Ralph Lauren Regency Metallic Parlor Gold and brushed it on the legs with a foam brush (no primer first, because I was feeling a little lazy - it was after bedtime. See me in my jimjams?). I did two or three coats and then sealed the gold painted with Polycrylic.
I made this desk a couple months ago and it has held up beautifully. No chipping on the legs and the tabletop has withstood it's fair share of rogue crayon/marker scribbles.
I'm happy with the look of mixing the pickled wood with the modern brassy legs. And I really love how much surface space we have in that room now. It's great for a second work station, but I also use it a lot for laying out fabrics and samples. Two thumbs up for this great IKEA product.
More on my office next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xx
READ MORE - My Desk
(See here for the story on my vintage office chairs.)
Our loft has two long banks of windows. One is in our living area and the other is in our office/guest space (both these rooms are open to each other). I wanted the desk to basically run the length of the windows so an assistant could work there during the day and my husband at night. I wanted a shallow desktop. Also I needed something with legs that were or could be pushed forward so the desk could sort of sit over the top of the radiator vents. Sounds like a custom job, right? No good for me ($$$$$), so I figured I'd have to build something myself (like this).
Then I remembered that IKEA sells interchangable table tops and legs at really reasonable prices. I was hoping for something on the more modern/streamlined side anyway. I was able to buy two of the VIKA pine wooden tops and three of these metal legs for about $90 total (the pricing is/was a little less in-store -- I bought the legs for $10 each and the tops for $30 each).
The legs attached very easily with the use of a drill and the provided screws. Just make sure to measure where you want the legs to sit, so that the legs line up together.
We were a little nervous that putting a single leg under the seam of the table tops (in the middle) was a bad idea, but it has been really fine - no problems here. I really just didn't want the added bulk of a fourth leg. Then it would just look like two desks pushed together. I'm so glad it worked to just use three legs. The result was exactly what I wanted.
I love the modern shape of the legs.
Once I had everything put together, I whipped up a quick pickling paint concoction with a little bit of white paint, some gray primer (because that's what I had around in the dark gray department) and water. I would say I ended up with four parts water to one part paint. I wanted it on the watery side.
I wanted to be able to see the knots and some of the grain in the wood through the paint job.
Pickling the tabletop was about the easiest paint project I've ever done. It took about 10 minutes to brush on all 100" of table length!
I wanted a brass look on the legs, so I broke out my quart of Ralph Lauren Regency Metallic Parlor Gold and brushed it on the legs with a foam brush (no primer first, because I was feeling a little lazy - it was after bedtime. See me in my jimjams?). I did two or three coats and then sealed the gold painted with Polycrylic.
I made this desk a couple months ago and it has held up beautifully. No chipping on the legs and the tabletop has withstood it's fair share of rogue crayon/marker scribbles.
I'm happy with the look of mixing the pickled wood with the modern brassy legs. And I really love how much surface space we have in that room now. It's great for a second work station, but I also use it a lot for laying out fabrics and samples. Two thumbs up for this great IKEA product.
More on my office next week. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xx
Organizing a Desk with No Drawers
Some of you asked if it was tricky to keep a desk organized without any built in storage. I actually love that my IKEA desk is leggy and open, but I discovered pretty quick that some drawer storage was going to be necessary. I use my old aqua lacquered drawers for smaller office supplies (tape, stapler, paper clips, etc).
I looked for a while for a decently priced filing cabinet that wasn't completely offensive looking. Finally this little filing cabinet showed up at the Chelsea Flea Market for only $20. Sold!
It looks like four drawers, but it's actually just two deep drawers for hanging files and it fits perfectly under the IKEA desk. I thought about painting it, but I'm sort of digging the wood. (and you can't tell that the top is scratched when it's under the desk)
On the other end of the desk, I keep two seagrass baskets for corralling trims and loose fabrics I pulled from the shelves of fabrics on wall behind this desk. I keep another acrylic tray here too for my husband's magazines. Isn't that glass ball so cool? It was another flea market find and wish I knew more about it so I could buy more!
It looks like four drawers, but it's actually just two deep drawers for hanging files and it fits perfectly under the IKEA desk. I thought about painting it, but I'm sort of digging the wood. (and you can't tell that the top is scratched when it's under the desk)
You can also see in the photo above that I use an antique wire basket for magazine storage. I get a lot of magazines and catalogs, so I like having a place to keep them that's off my desk top. They sit here safely until I have a chance to read them and then I recycle most or pass them on to friends. I also have a couple acrylic folder trays from the Container Store for rounding up loose files and papers at the end of the day.
On the other end of the desk, I keep two seagrass baskets for corralling trims and loose fabrics I pulled from the shelves of fabrics on wall behind this desk. I keep another acrylic tray here too for my husband's magazines. Isn't that glass ball so cool? It was another flea market find and wish I knew more about it so I could buy more!
I'm finding it's pretty easy to keep this desk clean. If I can't fit all the loose paperwork in my tray at the end of the day, then it's time to file. There are no 'black hole' drawers here. It forces me to be more organized and then my desk stays tidy. Kind of necessary when my work space is approx. 5 feet from the living room.
Happy Friday and More Bookshelves...
Guess what? It's the weekend!!
Thank you so much for your kind words about yesterday's post. That was a fun project, mostly because I have a serious soft spot for bookshelves. I've been so surprised at how much I LOVE having all our books in one place. The wall of books is functionally very nice (to keep them all together), but it also packs a big, graphic, visual punch. It's no wonder some of my favorite home inspiration images are of huge bookshelves.
Here are a few that I love and haven't shared here before:
design by Veere Grenney via House and Home
Sunset Magazine
design by Selldorf Architects via CocoCozy
Jan Showers
Also, thanks for your support with my first week of posting on Babble! Today I shared my favorite tool for quickly, cleanly painting the backs of bookshelves. Even though I had to do SIX (!!) coats of primer and paint on my arched bookshelves, this tool made the effort minimal. Hint: no taping or brushes are involved!
Happy Friday, friends! xoxoxo
READ MORE - Happy Friday and More Bookshelves...
Thank you so much for your kind words about yesterday's post. That was a fun project, mostly because I have a serious soft spot for bookshelves. I've been so surprised at how much I LOVE having all our books in one place. The wall of books is functionally very nice (to keep them all together), but it also packs a big, graphic, visual punch. It's no wonder some of my favorite home inspiration images are of huge bookshelves.
Here are a few that I love and haven't shared here before:
design by Veere Grenney via House and Home
Sunset Magazine
design by Selldorf Architects via CocoCozy
Jan Showers
Happy Friday, friends! xoxoxo
DIY Arched Bookshelves
Update: Welcome, D*S readers! If this is your first time visiting my site, you can read a little bit about me here. I hope you look around and decide to stay a while! By way of a quick introduction, here are a few of my recent projects:
- DIY Sputnik chandelier
- Antique dresser as a kitchen island
- Heirloom Button Art
--------------------------------------------
Remember this post where I shared my love for arched bookshelves?
We decided to put a wall of bookshelves in my office, so it would sort of feel like a library. We already had two white Billy bookshelves from IKEA, so we bought two more for $50 each, and then eight $10 extender shelves, so that the shelves would go up really high. I wish we could have gone all the way up to the ceiling for the true 'built-in' look, but the rafters in our loft made it tricky.
This is the super sad before photo from the week we moved in:
And now:
It was a crazy-easy project! (I know I always say that, but it's true!) Here's the break down:
I went to Home Depot and had four pieces of 1/4" thick MDF cut in to 14" x 32" rectangles. While I was there I also picked up three 8' lengths of 1/4" thick x 2" wide and two lengths of 1/4" thick x 1" wide flat trim moulding.
When I got home I sketched out my first arch one of the MDF pieces. If you're not comfortable with measuring out and eyeballing this step like I did, you can use a flexible curve
to give you a more exact curve.
To get arches that look like mine, the top of the curve should be about two inches from the top of the MDF rectangle. No matter how high your arch is though, you'll need the bottom edges to be 1" wide.
If you are new to the world of electric wood cutting tools, I think the jig saw is a good place to start. I have this $30 model
and it works great. My advice here is to go slow and cut carefully. If you start to move off your line while cutting, slowly readjust back to your line. The goal is as smooth a curve as possible, so try not to jerk back to your line.
I used that first cut out arch as a template for drawing my other three arches. It was an easy way to make all the arches identical.
After all the arches were cut out, I hand-sanded the arches a little, just to smooth out some imperfections. I love those big double wide sanding blocks! They last forever.
Michael helped me hold up the arches while I drilled in a few pilot holes and some dry wall screws. It's a good idea to really get those screws in flush with the MDF or even counter-sunk so you can't see them later. We installed the flat trim in the same way.
The idea is that the 2" wide flat trim covers where the bookshelves butt up to one another. The 1" wide flat trim is for the too far ends of the bookshelf walls.
We've had two of these Billy bookshelves for like six years or something (you can see when I first painted them peacock blue here), but the other two shelves and all of the extenders needed to be primed and painted.
READ MORE - DIY Arched Bookshelves
- DIY Sputnik chandelier
- Antique dresser as a kitchen island
- Heirloom Button Art
--------------------------------------------
Remember this post where I shared my love for arched bookshelves?
This is the super sad before photo from the week we moved in:
And now:
It was a crazy-easy project! (I know I always say that, but it's true!) Here's the break down:
I went to Home Depot and had four pieces of 1/4" thick MDF cut in to 14" x 32" rectangles. While I was there I also picked up three 8' lengths of 1/4" thick x 2" wide and two lengths of 1/4" thick x 1" wide flat trim moulding.
When I got home I sketched out my first arch one of the MDF pieces. If you're not comfortable with measuring out and eyeballing this step like I did, you can use a flexible curve
to give you a more exact curve.To get arches that look like mine, the top of the curve should be about two inches from the top of the MDF rectangle. No matter how high your arch is though, you'll need the bottom edges to be 1" wide.
If you are new to the world of electric wood cutting tools, I think the jig saw is a good place to start. I have this $30 model
and it works great. My advice here is to go slow and cut carefully. If you start to move off your line while cutting, slowly readjust back to your line. The goal is as smooth a curve as possible, so try not to jerk back to your line.I used that first cut out arch as a template for drawing my other three arches. It was an easy way to make all the arches identical.
After all the arches were cut out, I hand-sanded the arches a little, just to smooth out some imperfections. I love those big double wide sanding blocks! They last forever.
Michael helped me hold up the arches while I drilled in a few pilot holes and some dry wall screws. It's a good idea to really get those screws in flush with the MDF or even counter-sunk so you can't see them later. We installed the flat trim in the same way.
The idea is that the 2" wide flat trim covers where the bookshelves butt up to one another. The 1" wide flat trim is for the too far ends of the bookshelf walls.
I used white latex caulk to fill in the holes from the screws and to fill in the cracks.
We've had two of these Billy bookshelves for like six years or something (you can see when I first painted them peacock blue here), but the other two shelves and all of the extenders needed to be primed and painted.
IKEA laminate is HORRIBLE to paint. It's seriously like paint-repellant. It took me three coats of primer and three coats of paint+primer to get full coverage on just the backs of the shelves.
It was worth it though. I love the contrast! The dark green, almost black, paint really makes the crisp white arches pop.
It was worth it though. I love the contrast! The dark green, almost black, paint really makes the crisp white arches pop.
We let the paint dry for a day or two and then started filling the shelves with books.
It's all pretty loosely arranged right now, but I'm cool with a work in process.
My husband loves books more than just about anything and I have a pretty big collection of books myself. So this was a really fun project for us to work on together. He's a big fan of the arches and it's fun to finally have a wall of shelves big enough to store all of our books.
P.S. If you're curious how I hung the art on the fronts of my shelves (without damaging the wood!) check out my post on Babble today.
PPS In yesterday's Babble post I shared my secret weapon for productivity: Teux Deux!
PPS In yesterday's Babble post I shared my secret weapon for productivity: Teux Deux!
New Office Chairs
I'm working on getting pictures of my office to share, but I thought you might like to see the desk chairs we decided on in the meantime?
Our new desk is really long (long enough for two large work stations), so I wanted to buy a pair of matching desk chairs. I wanted them to be good looking and super comfortable, so I figured I needed to buy vintage. I scoured craigslist and eBay for a month or two looking for a pair of reasonably priced Miller/Eames aluminum group management chairs. But since I needed two, and I didn't want to buy a new knock-off version, I struck out a lot in my pretty specific search. Most pairs were going to cost at least $1000 or more (no bueno).
Then I saw this gorgeous chair on the One Kings Lane Windsor Smith sale.
It was about $1000 I think, but it had been newly reupholstered (I LOVE the lavender linen!!).
Anyway, it got me to broaden my search parameters to just simply 'vintage office chairs' and that same day I found the perfect chairs for my office space.
They were made mid-century by company called Jansko. They are super comfortable (though I'm sure not as comfortable as the Eames chairs would have been) .
And the price? Only $135 for the pair! I got them from this great eBay seller, who has lots of fun retro/vintage furniture. He shipped them well and fast.
I love the bright blue color! Sort of reminds me of Kate Spade's (much more beautiful) blue leather desk chair.
READ MORE - New Office Chairs
Our new desk is really long (long enough for two large work stations), so I wanted to buy a pair of matching desk chairs. I wanted them to be good looking and super comfortable, so I figured I needed to buy vintage. I scoured craigslist and eBay for a month or two looking for a pair of reasonably priced Miller/Eames aluminum group management chairs. But since I needed two, and I didn't want to buy a new knock-off version, I struck out a lot in my pretty specific search. Most pairs were going to cost at least $1000 or more (no bueno).
Then I saw this gorgeous chair on the One Kings Lane Windsor Smith sale.
It was about $1000 I think, but it had been newly reupholstered (I LOVE the lavender linen!!).
Anyway, it got me to broaden my search parameters to just simply 'vintage office chairs' and that same day I found the perfect chairs for my office space.
They were made mid-century by company called Jansko. They are super comfortable (though I'm sure not as comfortable as the Eames chairs would have been) .
And the price? Only $135 for the pair! I got them from this great eBay seller, who has lots of fun retro/vintage furniture. He shipped them well and fast.
I love the bright blue color! Sort of reminds me of Kate Spade's (much more beautiful) blue leather desk chair.
Happy Memorial Day!! See you next week. xx
Vintage Phones
Do you use a land line still? They are a bit of a dying breed it seems. For years my husband and I used our cell phones as our primary numbers and we didn't have a land line phone at all. Then when I opened up my decorating business a couple years ago, I had to get a fax machine (ridiculous in and of itself), which requires a land line. I surprised myself with how much I actually enjoy using the house phone. Crystal clear calls that never drop and it makes me feel all business-y and professional. :) The sad news is our phone is ugly, as seen here:
I really really want a vintage phone. They are just so dang cute. I know the cord situation is not all that practical, but I make 95% of the calls at my desk anyway. And when I say vintage, I mean vintage looking with modern wiring and parts. Something refurbished would be ideal for me, but if you're up for a challenge, check eBay, etsy or local thrifts for inexpensive and truly vintage phones.
If there were no limitations, I'd spring for one of these pretties from Old Phone Works, favorite of big budget decorators like Miles Redd (in House Beautiful) and Nate Turner (in Domino).
These run between $200 and $300.
I am so crazy over this blue one. Is it possible for a phone cord to be chic? This one is.
Lindsey Coral Harper used a cute red phone in her bathroom.
This one ($50) looks nearly identical:
This red phone is pretty great (also available in black and chrome for around $50). I like that there are push buttons in the shape of a rotary. All that slow turning would get old. In fact, one of my earliest memories is watching my grandmother use the old ivory-colored rotary phone in her kitchen. I remember thinking it took a long time to get all those numbers dialed. Sure looked cool though!
READ MORE - Vintage Phones
I really really want a vintage phone. They are just so dang cute. I know the cord situation is not all that practical, but I make 95% of the calls at my desk anyway. And when I say vintage, I mean vintage looking with modern wiring and parts. Something refurbished would be ideal for me, but if you're up for a challenge, check eBay, etsy or local thrifts for inexpensive and truly vintage phones.
If there were no limitations, I'd spring for one of these pretties from Old Phone Works, favorite of big budget decorators like Miles Redd (in House Beautiful) and Nate Turner (in Domino).
These run between $200 and $300.
I am so crazy over this blue one. Is it possible for a phone cord to be chic? This one is.
Lindsey Coral Harper used a cute red phone in her bathroom.
This one ($50) looks nearly identical:
This red phone is pretty great (also available in black and chrome for around $50). I like that there are push buttons in the shape of a rotary. All that slow turning would get old. In fact, one of my earliest memories is watching my grandmother use the old ivory-colored rotary phone in her kitchen. I remember thinking it took a long time to get all those numbers dialed. Sure looked cool though!
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