Renovation Series: An ORGANIZED Office, ahhhhh

Our office, otherwise known as the “collect all” room, had become so out of control that we couldn’t see the floor anymore! So, my husband and I pulled the trigger and decided to have the professionals come in and install some cabinets, shelves, and a workspace. The trouble, finding a way to fit ALL of this crap we unloaded from it back into it! (Or to at least find that stuff a new home. I’ll admit, the trash and donations collected much of it, other stuff I was able to sell on the many Facebook yard sale sites, thank goodness!)

We hired Closets By Design through Home Depot in Downingtown. The appeal, a designer came out to help us visualize the new layout. Our designer was Lisa J. Fox, who is a Senior level designer.  You can contact her directly at 484-680-1035 or just contact Closets by Design and see if Lisa is available to give you a consultation.  Another plus that Lisa told us about, the products have a lifetime guarantee and are very sturdy. And if by some chance we decided to move, they’ll remove the products and reinstall them in our new home.

Here’s a look at the cleared out office prior to the start of installation on February 4th. And yes, those are still holiday photo cards hung on my glass doors to the office. I had to do something to distract visitors from looking into my embarrassing “collect-all” room!

The date of installation may ring a bell to you. This was in the midst of our winter storm and power outage. Still, the installers returned on Wednesday, generator in tow, and continued work! The two gentlemen were always respectful, timely, kind, clean, great at communicating, and best of all, loved my crazy pug and his multiple visits to check out their handy work.

Upon completion, it was time to move back in to the new office. So step one, come up with a “theme” for the new room! Get rid of those builder-white walls and create a pallet. I found the fabric I loved at Joann’s. Then I bought 4 burlap baskets from AC Moore for all of the arts and crafts my children use. One for paper/coloring, one for painting supplies, one for craftiness fun (odds and ends like glitter, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, etc) and one for craft kits. Then I realized I needed the paper and craftiness fun on their level, so I bought a small yellow shelf (my accent color) from Target. This is where I housed the two bins, freeing up coveted shelf space on the wall.

For the walls, I went with the lighter grey from the fabric. The painter I hired, Bob from Priceless Painting, was quick and so reasonably priced! Once there was color on the walls, everything was in full speed, I was so excited to see the finished product of this new room!

The fabric I bought became the valances. Thanks to an awesome friend, Meryl, and her husband, I learned how to upholster my own box valance with the frames her husband built for me! It was so so simple. Hanging it was another story, but a neighbor, Sean, came over to show me how to hang the box valance and blinds I bought into the window frame. Thankful for handy friends!!!

Next I bought 2 canvas style cork boards at Joann’s and upholstered those in the same fabric as the valance. The chairs, well, those were a tough decision. I was shooting for “pretty”, my husband wanted the total opposite. He was insisting on something with wheels, arm rests, and a “lean back” feature. Ew! So I had to compromise and got these white chairs from Amazon. I’m actually pretty pleased with them, though still kinda wish I could have had “pretty” fabric chairs in our new office.

Final step, decorating those shelves! I have NO vision for decorating and I own just about nothing that doesn’t serve a purpose as well. Otherwise, I think of it as just a dust collector. So I requested the help of my friend and decorating enthusiast, Molly, who met me at HomeGoods with her precious mini-decorator and we bought a bunch of “shelf decor” and frames. And so, here’s the final product! (I’ve ordered the photos for the frames, but they aren’t in yet. I promise to fill those with smiling happy faces!)

I’m so so excited about my space that I can craft in and my husband can work from home in. It’s functional because we have an island-height counter to work on that also has a super deep drawer for my extensive wrapping paper and gift bag stash. And now we have a filing cabinet that coordinates with the rest of the room. Today, I can say the office is appealing to the eye, it’s sleek and fresh, and it’s a NO-KID ZONE! Ha, my favorite part!

The next time you are planning to redo a room with shelving, cabinets, and or counters, check out Closet By Design. They do WAY more than just closets, as per my proof! Whoopie, off to craft I go….