[home office space]

desk refresh • day 20 #simplicitychallenge2019 @simplified 

Even though I mostly use my Mac I still can’t part with my desktop 🖥 

• I keep my most-used office supplies in a kitchen drawer that I’m going to scale down on and start storing in these 2 desk drawers instead 

• I swapped out the three mirrors for the farmhouse clock (@hobbylobby) 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BOARD & BATTEN:

The board and batten is actually thin strips of wood nailed directly to the drywall. Thicker strips were used at the top. This was a super easy (and CHEAP) project Dad and I did a few years ago. I still love it! I painted the top a dark color and the "board & batten" white. 

#organization #desk #vintagedesk#deskrefresh #simple #organize #declutter#asimplifiedlife #clean #deskdecor #storage#office #officespace #homeoffice#declutteryourlife #deskspace#creativespace #mydesk#simplystyleyourspace #minimalism#keepitsimple

laundry room / home office obsession

A few days ago, I stumbled upon Mix & Match Mama's blog and was immediately hooked!! One of my favorite posts so far...read HERE. Shay shares pics from her laundry room / home office and I am absolutely in love with it!!

First of all, I love that she has her own personal space - it's just hers. I love that it is pretty - that wallpaper - LOVE!!! and I love how she keeps her cookbook collection, special personal items, special framed  photos, etc. displayed on the open shelves. 

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and this desk - what an awesome space!! 
The perfect spot for morning quiet time, or to do your bills, or of course, work on blog posts!!

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oh, and of course, the most gorgeous place to do laundry!!

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So, while this will obviously never happen in our home, a girl can dream about pretty laundry rooms and having your own little get-away space!! :O)

Here are a few more laundry room/home offices that I love....

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I guess you really don't need a huge room to do this, especially if you stack your washer/dryer. I would also opt for open shelving instead of closed cabinets just so I could display pretty stuff like cookbooks, photos, keepsakes, like Shay did. 

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love the wallpaper and the french door in this one!!

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and this one....what a pretty, happy space!!

top ten + pin it tuesday

My latest favorite way to cut back on clutter is to get rid of all the magazines/catalogs that pile up. Before tossing or donating, I go through each one and jot down things I like. Then, I take my list and search Pinterest for links and pictures. Here are 10 of my most recent pins- things that just sparked my interest.

[one] framed burlap covered cork board - I'm hoping to jazz up my desk area and I think something like this would be a great start.

[two] I already downloaded this app from Sherman Williams. Just snap a picture with your phone and it matches up paint colors. LIKE!

[three] more freezer recipes - ready to try this again! :0)

[four]  stuff'n mallows! (chocolate in the marshmallow-now that's a great idea!)

[five] Flea Market Fabulous by Lara Spencer 

[six] gift idea for Logan: map of US (he mentioned wanting a map to pin all the places he's been). Would look nice in his someday office!

Bulletin Board with map.....

I really like the canvas idea!!

[seven]  while pinning maps, I came across this map of the perfect road trip.....I need to start a new bucket list!

[eight] Love these Japanese Lanterns...perfect for FALL decorating!

[nine] linen closet organizing idea-great for small spaces....just might try this- at least for wash cloths and hand towels!

[ten] more linen closet storage-jute covered coffee cans

new curtains

So, it's December and guess who still has summer-y white curtains hanging in several rooms? I've been trying to decide on new curtains forever, and finally found them! I am VERY happy with my choices!

For the living room, I chose Henna Paisley Jute Curtain from World Market. Mom had a 10% off coupon in her BH& G magazine, but I went on Retail Me Not and got a little better discount. They are very well made and came with attached wooden rings for hanging.

Click on the link above to get a better look!
They arrived yesterday and the picture doesn't do them justice! They are even more gorgeous in person. I've hung them for now, but will post pictures once the re-do is complete.
I'm getting excited about that, now that we've made a few more decisions, which I'll share in a future post. In the meantime , I have pretty curtains hanging in my living room! :O)

For the front room, {craft room/office/den...my room}, I've changed the color scheme a bit, with moving our "brand new" brown sofa in there and repainting the walls "gr-eige". Deciding on curtains has been so hard {making decisions is always hard for me anyway}. FINALLY, I found the perfect curtains online @ JCPenney yesterday. Plus, they were on clearance, and JCP had 30% off on orders over $100! So, here's what I chose for that room:

Studio Hudson Grommet-Topped Curtain
Click on the link to get a better look! I got them in Charcoal Smoke, which looks like a good mix between brown and grey, so they should blend in well with my walls and sofa. I got an awesome deal on these. Original price: $90 clearance price: $22 plus 30% off!!
Hopefully, I can take those white curtains down before Christmas! :O)

25 days of christmas movie mania

I'll be taking a little break from the movie abc's challenge..... I'll be busy this month watching lots of Christmas movies! On Sunday, while decorating the tree, I started the season off right with Polar Express then Miracle on 34th Street.

One of my most favorite movies to watch this time of year is The Family Man.

I dvr'd it earlier and watched it last night. It is one of those movies I can watch over & over again. I'm really enjoying watching holiday movies on my "new" tv {Peter's hand me down...LOL}.
I'm not a big tv junkie like Peter, but I must admit, movie watching is even better on a big tv!! :O)

The whole house has been rearranged until we re-d0 the living room, for now, I put the tv on my filing cabinet bench. Once we get the built-ins, we'll put the new tv on the wall and move the console tv stand in here to put this tv on.

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Catching up with Movie ABC's---on to the letter L: Life of PI


What a great movie!!! Next up: the letter M......
A- Anna Karenina
B- The Bone Collector
C- Cold Mountain
D- Duplex
E- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
F- The Five-Year Engagement
G- G.I. Jane
H- Hide & Seek
I- I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
J- The Juror
K- Killing Kennedy
L- Life of Pi

design on a dime....

While I loved the bright and airy look of the paint color I chose when redoing the craft room/office/den a few years ago, it never really fit in with the rest of the house. {It also was a very hard color to decorate around at Christmas.} I finally decided to give that room a new look, but wasn't sure what color to go with. Since it only takes less than a quart of paint to paint the room,  I decided to use the (3) FREE coupons for Valspar paint samples at Lowes that Mom gave me.

I ended up buying (1) extra can to make sure I had enough paint, making the total cost of repainting the room= $2.98. Peter thinks I'm ridiculously cheap, but I love getting a bargain! :O) The color choices were limited, but I ended up going with Cathedral Stone and I love it!!!

It's a combination of grey and beige, kinda taupe-y kinda grey....perfect! It covered in one coat, and I even had half of a container left over for future touch-ups. Peter ended up loving it too, and is starting to think that my budget projects aren't that bad after all! Here's an after pic, plus a few before pictures.
after:

***pardon the white summery curtains that I still have hanging, I'm working on buying some new ones!!:O)

Here are a few before pictures:

I loved these curtains, but changed to white curtains last summer.


I ended up painting the cabinet white a few months ago. It looks much better!!!



I love doing little re-do projects and I love doing them even more when I design on a dime!! 
*BTW.....the free Valspar paint samples came from magazines like Better Homes & Gardens. Thanks Mom!!

The Simple Woman's Day Book: November

November 2013

Outside my window..... It's feelin' very fall-y! Looks like some blustery weather headed our way according to this mornings forecast. Brrrrrr!!!

I am thinking.... that I really need to start making plans for Christmas and also need to start ordering for the re-do {living room/our bedroom}. The carpenter plans to start the Monday after Christmas!

I am thankful....for  my wonderful family!!


In the kitchen....I've been doing a little more freezer cooking this week!! I'll be doing a separate post on this. For today, we are having steaks on the grill.

I am wearing....jeans, a green Aeropostale tee, & my grey slippers.

I am creating....lots of plans for the little re-do project. Peter and I had a chance to look around Lowes and we finally agreed decided on a few things. Wide, flat moulding and board & batten! :O) The board & batten will go all the way to the ceiling in the living room {with the strips farther apart than in this picture}, but will be 3/4 of the way up in the bedroom, and an entire wall of b&b behind the bed. We are still working on ideas for the built-ins for the tv, bookcases., which I'll post about soon.



I am looking forward to....Thanksgiving!!!!


Around the house....getting rid of the blue walls in the den! I'm going DARK! I chose a {greige}color this time. The picture doesn't look like it but, it turned out great....post to follow!


A favorite quote of the day....


One of my favorite things....I love lanterns so I just had to buy this one! Only $1.99 @ Kohl's. I'm thinking about painting it bright red to add to my Christmas mantel.


Upcoming plans....Sunday: church & football...Monday & Tuesday: cleaning, organizing, deciding on and ordering curtains, etc., mani appt., then away for Thanksgiving on Wednesday p.m. until Friday a.m.....

Chevron & Shelves

My latest DIY project involves more chevron and yet another monogram....two of my favorite things!


This was a super easy project that turned great....all you need is a frame {I used a 5x7}, a piece of fabric, and a painted letter {and a hot glue gun, of course!}.
I finally got around to putting the shelves up in the kitchen, and this was a perfect addition to one of the shelves.
I saw this idea on Pinterest awhile back:

and decided to do a copy cat on a corner wall in our kitchen.
Here is the space I was working with:

While I really love the look of the inspiration corner shelves, I only had room for small single shelves.

My $1.78 ea. Target deal!!
I must admit this project took longer than I had expected. Peter put 3 of them up, but the perfectionist in me, kind of took them down and rehung them {they were not perfectly level and it would bug me every time I looked at them}. I really love how it turned out!










BEFORE:


AFTER:


I really love grey chevron, and have managed to add a little of it in several rooms in the house. I recently de-did this tray....

which looks so good with the aqua blue and white in my craft room/office/den {{{{still looking for a shorter name for this room}}}}.
 :O)

30 Day Blog Challenge: my next DIY/craft project and decorating