Welcome To My Home Office

Today I am excited to show you how my home office/ craft room is coming along at our new home. 

You may remember how I was able to set up my office at the previous house for free!

Well this time it wasn't done for free but, it was done 

very inexpensively and I love it!  

So, please c'mon in.

This room sits to the right of the front door. It has double glass doors that keep the room bright and open.  A plus is that when I am working in here I don't feel closed off from the rest of the house. It is also a much larger room giving me more room to get my craft on!

One thing you may notice is the wall color.

In real life it is a pinkish lavender. The previous owners of the home did foster care and this room was used as a little girls bedroom.  The first thing I did was take down all of the Tinker Bell/ Butterfly/ Princess stickers that covered every wall. 

Not that there is anything wrong with Tinker Bell/ Butterfly/ Princess stickers, they just aren't my style.

I've just got to say, I love Ikea for office furniture!  The 4x4 Expedit bookcase is one of Ikea's best sellers for a good reason in my opinion! 

You will notice a couple of new pieces. We purchased two Malm 4-drawer dressers and put one on each side of the Expedit. 

This room does not have a closet so, I desperately needed more storage and these deep drawers are the perfect answer! 

On the right I have stored some decor items while the 

left one holds my craft supplies. 

I like the extra top surface space too for display or, to set my craft paper on as I work.

At the back of the office I have my craft table. Check out that sweet clock!

That was also a find at Ikea. Once we get the room painted a more neutral color I think the clock will really pop!

I kept my desk area pretty much the same as in the past house. 

The nicest part is, I can sit here and be able to look out into the dining room whereas before, I had to turn to be able to see out a window.  

It just feels so much more open and airy.

See what I mean? (oops, there's Max, heading to the kitchen LOL). 

Oh and that secretary in the entry will be replaced with something shorter at some point. 

And, if I want more privacy, I can just closed the doors but not feel like I am in a cell!

With as bright as this room is, isn't it surprising that there is only one window? The window looks out to the front door.  

The roller shade will be replaced with blinds,(update: blinds are now in!) hung using a level (I swear some people don't even try sometimes LOL).

Max has already come in and laid in his bed while I am working, which tells me, this room meets his high standards of comfort as it does mine!

So, there you have it, another room unpacked and set up!  

A new room for me to escape to and get my creativity on!

Now, I seriously mean it when I say I am getting the Fall decor set out and I will be sharing that in the next post!  

See you soon!

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Memorial Day BBQ Tablescape

Memorial Day is the day set aside to remember those that give us the freedoms we, as Americans, enjoy everyday.

It is also the official start of summer and Mr. B breaking out his
mad skills on the BBQ grill!

Since the weather was so nice and, the cottonwood trees haven't yet started to shed, I decided to set my very first tablescape out on the back patio table.

I purchased the vinyl tablecloth at Walmart. I thought the checks with the inset stars was perfect for the holiday.

I decided to keep the place settings simple.
A woven charger from Goodwill, plain white dinner plates from Ikea, flatware from Family Dollar and napkins from Walmart.

Walmart iced tea glasses sit on melamine stars from Target.

For the centerpiece I placed white petunias into a planter from Ikea.

Funky vintage style candles from the restaurant supply store
in case we stay out after it gets dark.

The hamburger and hot dog salt & pepper shakers were
a gift from Mr. B and add some fun and color to the otherwise formal table.

The final piece to the table, other than Mr. B's perfectly prepared steaks and my eggy mac salad, is a vintage condiment set for steak and bbq sauce.

A wonderful way to start summer!
Outside enjoying the sunshine and good food!

 

I always share my tables with

Kathleen at Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen

Susan at Between Naps On The Porch Tablescape Thursday

and

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life Table Top Tuesday

Click here to see where else I may be partying this week. 

AND
Don't forget to come by on Tuesday's

for my link party.

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Valentine China Cabinet

As you know, if you read this post, that I finally will be working again.
My first day is Monday Feb. 4th.
I am excited as well as nervous!
In order to expel some of that nervousness I decided to change out the 
china cabinet from winter to Valentine's Day.

 

 If you remember, I had used peacock scrapbook paper

in the back for the winter theme.

Well, I liked how much the scrapbook paper 

really added to it so,

and this pattern really caught my eye.

 Nice and bright and I just loved all of the different hearts.

On the top shelf I used 3 lavender chargers from Michael's in the back.

 I then layered my pink Churchill dinner plates in front.

I used a pair of Ikea lace look planters to add some dimension.

On the lower shelf, Churchill salad plates and

a pair of pink vases, with heart cutouts, I purchased from Target

last year, on clearance, for $1.29 each!

In the back I placed my favorite red stick wreath from Ikea.

Now, I just have to show off the top of the cabinet.

A few weeks ago I went to an estate sale

and found a couple of items I just love!

The enameled pot was just $4.00.

 And the enameled coffee pot was $10.00.

Both have the perfect amount of wear and rust!

 I think they work perfectly with the printers tray

and the sign I found at Hobby Lobby last year.

Putting this all together really did help me

calm my jitters.

Wish me luck as I start my newest adventure!

I always share my tables with 

Kathleen at Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen

Susan at Between Naps On The Porch Tablescape Thursday

and
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life Table Top Tuesday

 Don't forget to come by on Tuesdays

for my link party. 

Laundry Room Reveal

As you know, we had to replace our washer and dryer recently. I was able to get rid off our very old set on Craigslist. While waiting for the new set to be delivered, I figured this would be the perfect time to tackle one of my to-do's, paint and clean up the laundry room. It's not a big room, only 6'x6', and was looking tired and worn out. It was past time to treat this room like every other room in the house and shine it up!

That doesn't mean it can't be cute, right?? But, it had to be cheap too!

We had almost a full gallon of Lowes Olympic paint, color camel, so I used that to lighten up the room somewhat.

You can see here, in this very fuzzy photo, where I did a couple of test patches before committing to doing the whole room.

I had painted the cabinets and baseboards white several years ago so that saved me that task!

And this is the fugly brown door leading out to the garage.

Once the machines were in place, Mr. B and I had discussed taking out one of the cabinets and stacking the washer and dryer but after some thought, we decided not to.

We did know that we would not purchase the pedestals and thought about building our own but, because of the bulkhead, there wasn't much room to work with so, we decided to just have a countertop span them. After pricing out materials we were kind of stumped until Mr. B had the genius idea to use an Ikea tabletop as a countertop.

$24.99! The 59" length is just perfect! And I now have a space to fold clothes!

I bought 2.25 yards of springy floral material, on sale, at Hobby Lobby for $11.00 and made a curtain to hide the water hoses and electrical and to give the room a little bit of whimsy. 

A $10.00 shower curtain rod from WalMart holds it in place.

Whenever we go to Ikea I always check out the As-Is section. This trip there was a stack of white cabinet doors, for get this, 99 cents each! Perfect for making signs! I just used some drywall spackle to plug up the hole for a knob. I then purchased some wooden letters from Hobby Lobby, painted them a color that coordinated with the fabric and hot glued them onto the door. 

On the wall opposite the washer and dryer, I used another of the cabinet doors to hang our jackets on when we come home. The cute checkered knobs were a clearance find at Hobby Lobby for $1.02 each!  Perfect! Instead of wooden letters, I stenciled the letters on using a nice bright pink.

I used up some white trim paint we had on hand to paint the fugly brown door.  Sooo much brighter and cleaner looking, yes?

Using a picture frame I already had, I created a whiteboard to hang on the door. The dry erase ink wipes right off the glass.  I can now leave Mr. B little notes that he will see as he leaves in the morning. Or, reminders of things we might need to pick up, like dog food or light bulbs.

On the wall leading into the house I still have all of my cleaning tools. I need to figure out how to camouflage the recharging cord for my Swiffer vacuum.  Any ideas?

Max's dog food bin, a trash can and some dusters are nicely hidden away.

So, for around $50.00 (not including the new machines of course) I was able to create a fun little space. And, to be honest, as much as I really hated doing laundry, I am actually enjoying it a bit more now! That's worth more than $50.00 right there!

Click here to see where I may be partying this week.
AND
Don't forget to come by on Tuesday's

for the link party.