Well, my dears, the sun did not come out today, but I took photos anyway because I just couldn’t make you wait any longer! (For the record, yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, but because my office only gets morning sunshine, by the time I got around to it, it was still too dark! Frustrating!)
Let’s start this off with a little interior designer insight. Sometimes, you get to create a space starting from scratch, which is always awesome. Other times – you gotta work with what your mama gave you. In this case – literally. I mentioned before that my ‘office’ is a spare bedroom in my parent’s house. The furniture was already in there (and they were not going to be putting any of it in storage on my account thank you very much). The paint color is a bit dark – perfectly warm for a bedroom, but not so much for an office. The carpet is old. The windows still need curtains. The list goes on.
SO, what’s a designer to do? Work with it.
Ta da! Not what you expected is it? The desk, files, and bookshelf (not pictured) were already in here. As was the little sofa. The only larger pieces in here that are mine are the rug (Cost Plus), the chair (vintage), and the lamp (Target base, Anthropologie shade). The rest of if it is lots of little details that I’ve brought in.
Let’s start with the inspiration, shall we?
The postcard on the left is where I wanted to go with my color palette – blues and peachy corals (mostly with accessories) mixed with sandy khaki, grey and dark brown.
I certainly got my pops of blue in there with the bowl on the left (from Anthropologie) to hold ribbons, tags, and other miscellany, and the notepad on the right which arrived as a gift last week just in time to make the deskcape complete! As you can see, I’ve got my lucite (file holder from the container store) and my metallics (vintage pen holder).
My little brass birdie is via ebay, my favorite Maura Peters candle in Vanilla Grapefruit (so delicious), and the vintage tray I found thrifting (it barely has its gold edging left, but you can kinda see it in the photo).
The other little birdie sits next to my plant on the windowsill. Next to the desk, I covered the file folder with a zebra fabric, and topped it with a small basket to hold my mail, a clear vase to hold my paint book, and a candle holder for my pencils. Talk about repurposing!
Next to the file drawers is this bookshelf (which will be repainted as soon as humanly possible). It stashes my stacks of magazines, some goodies from my Etsy store (which will be replenished very soon!) and my little ‘bar’ – for coffee of course.
And then there’s the inspiration board – still in a state of flux at them moment a I add new ideas for spring to old ideas I can’t get rid of. I usually put up my favorite fashion and rooms to see where my color trends are going – right now I’m really loving olive green with peach and pink tones.
In my dreams, I’d replace the schoolhouse desk with a larger farm table style, replace the metal file drawer with something more attractive, paint the bookshelf in a creamy white, and add some window treatments in the coral/peach tone to add some life and pop to the space! But, hopefully this makeshift bedroom won’t be my office for long – ideally I’d love to have my own space to run my small business out of, and when that day comes… all sorts of dreams will be coming true!
Hope you all enjoyed my little space! I’ll have more photos up on flickr later today so you can see all the details and more views of the office too.
wait, is this the room i think it is? it looks great, as always, with your little touches. definitely not what i was expecting, but of course you make it work. catch up soon?
I love the idea of a candle holder as a pencil holder!
I think it looks great – you’ve worked well with what you had – the rug is very ‘you’ I think. Love the little brass bird too. You actually inspired me to tidy up my desk and take some photos to put on my blog too. I used to have a lucite in-tray but eventually I thought it was too messy, so I’ve replaced it with some brown boxes so I can hide everything. But it was well worth the wait – I was going to be SO disappointed on this visit if the photos still weren’t there!
Is that rug still available? A recent purchase? If so please email me!! I would love one for my dining room, gorgeous!
As for your office, you have such a way with arranging the simple little objects. So pretty and neat!
Oh, it’s so cute and cosy! Loving the third picture. That lamp is darling… The inspiration pictures are beautiful! Loving those gorgeous teacups too
Xxxc
http://clothestohealabrokenheart.blogspot.com/
I really need to create an inspiration board of my own.
I love it! All of your accessories fit so perfectly. Your lamp is so pretty, did you get it from Target recently?
how lovely! i love that rug and how gorgeous is that little coffee bar? so sweet!
thanks for sharing! the rug adds so much to the space and i like all of your attention to detail. every time i see and inspiration board on your blog i have to remind myself to make one!
I love thinking of you blogging- and sipping coffee out of a beautiful china teacup!
i agree with Sarah Danielle..i NEED THAT RUG
Love the rug and the china set… definitely things I need to add to my office.
Looks great – nice and relaxing – love the birds
The details are so gorgeous–love the coffee/cream/sugar tray! But I have to ask: where is all the ugly stuff that every biz needs? The computer? The printer? The scanner?
you office looks great!
Love it! I love your little coffee bar. =)
lovely!
great great great!! so precious and i love it. good job!
LOVE the rug, china, and birds! Definitely not what I expected, but it’s even better that you worked with what you have. Thanks for sharing!
Great job! Love the lamp!!
Your office looks great! You made what you had work so well, its all very beautiful together. And that rug, its fabulous!!
It looks fabulous! I love your rug, lucite accessories, and new notepad.
How cute!!! I love it. And the iomoi lucite desk pad looks great on your desk, yay!!! xx
it’s a treat to see where all the magic happens – great post!
now off to put up the inspiration boards in the new digs.
xo, kelie
Enjoyed? LOVED! Fabulous. I think you’re spot-on with the farm table…oooooo would that be cool!
thank you all SO MUCH! yes, the rug was a recent purchase (last weekend!) but it was also their LAST ONE. the lamp was a purchase from a long time ago… but you can still get the pretty grey shade at some anthropologies.
as for all that office ‘stuff’ – my parents have a home office upstairs that i use to print/scan, which saves a lot of space for me. and so does having a laptop!
Oh, you did such an amazing job! I love how you used what you had and added your personal touch. Really so lovely!
Love the little brass birds & all the Anthropologie touches! Your office looks amazing, of course!
I love your deskscape–especially the white coral. Very clean but pretty. Great job!
Your office looks fantastic and is a great example of working with what you’ve got! I love the rug and desk accessories and am seriously coveting your coffee bar set. Oh, and the maidenhair fern in the window is a perfect touch!
I think every great office should have a tea/coffee set! And I’m hauling myself off right now to Cost Plus, I love that rug!!
I love your little space – it’s so personal and warm. love the idea of a coffee bar
and your inspiration boards are so great and…. inspirational indeed.
What a great little space! I love it.
I love your office! I’ve been wanting coral for a while! Pretty view of the outdoors as well, that must be very relaxing
Cassandra, you have a lovely office! I particularly like the little details, the ones that make the space yours, unique in it’s own way…the sweet little bird, choral, etc. That little coffee/tea service is a nice extra touch, too!
Glad you shared your space~
I love your office space. It is simple & lovely and needn't be all frou frou to be a nice place to work. I think you've added a lot of really beautiful touches.
You’ve ‘worked it’ beautifully Cassie – so doesn’t surprise me. Love your space x
My favorite part is the coffee bar. I think I may need one of those in my office too! Looks great!
lovely!
your space seems quaint & nice! thanks for sharing!
Looks fabulous!
the space does have potential..not what i was expecting, but hey at least you have a nice space to call your own…