A Dreamy Craft Room / Office Makeover
If you’re anything like me, you love a good project. And, because of that, you have several projects in various stages waiting to be finished. Since we moved in our house three years ago, I wanted to update my craft room–paint dressers, organize supplies, etc. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a priority.
When we decided to turn my husband’s office into our official family gym, however, the only place for him to go, was to share with me. So, now my ultra-girly, Tiffany-inspired craft room, would have to be something my husband would feel comfortable in as well. This presented a challenge.
As one who always has “selling your house” at the forefront–because you never know when my hubby’s job might take us elsewhere–I knew I didn’t want to split the room in half, as it would look comical if we had to sell. Instead, I opted for an accent wall in Tiffany blue, and a coordinating silver-grey for the remainder of the room.
It was a lot of work. Electric sanding the pink flowers, clean-up, painting walls with latex, painting and priming furniture with oil. It took more than two weeks, and of course there are still some projects left to finish.
I hope to have a few tutorials later. Especially one on the mini blinds turned roman shades, but for now, this is all time will allow. Enjoy.
Before:
It was a cute floral motif, but definitely not the style for our joint office / craft room. Lots of electric sanding to remove those cute blossoms, but it was worth it.
After:
Matchy-Matchy
A few coats of primer and oil paint, turn these mix-matched dressers into coordinating pieces. None of them are matchy-matchy, but they work together.
Women
Every girl needs a shelf for her glitter. I painted this generic bathroom sign to have some fun with the fact that this is my side of the office.
Cute bins in the coordinating colors thanks to TJ Maxx.
Tiffany Blue
I think this middle dresser is my favorite style-and-color-wise. If I had to pick one perfect color, this would be it. I thought about painting the wall this color, but I wondered if the brightness would compromise the sophistication of the space. I opted for a lighter shade for the wall, but painted the dresser this deeper shade. I didn’t want to paint the gold handles (and thanks to my FB and IG friends, they didn’t want me to paint them either) but unfortunately, it just didn’t mesh well with the “stainless steel” furniture pieces right next door. I sprayed them “metallic” and then glazed them with some black paint to give them a pewter-look.
Picture Perfect
The picture frame, from Michaels, was a project three years in the making. I printed out little Polaroid-like pictures to clip inside, but they are too small. I am going to double the size for a more substantial look. Thanks to my friends Heidi and Natalie for this fun idea.
Some things just weren’t meant to be painted.
I found this chair at Lewis Hall at the University of Kansas when I was an RA on the 3rd Floor. (BLT forever!) As a Journalism major, I just had to have this chair that a resident before me tattooed with this fun school logo. By now you’re thinking I’m a klepto, but that isn’t true! Our doom was remodeled after my junior year, and this fun mid-century furniture was up for grabs. I have a matching desk, but we turned that into a soda fountain bar long ago. My hubby and mom want me to paint this chair to match the room, but I think it would be a travesty. Some things just weren’t meant to be painted.
This started out as my craft desk/table, but transformed into my sewing table. The bottom is two mis-matched filing cabinets that were painted the same color, and the top is a scrap piece of granite found at the local Habitat for Humanity’s Restore for $20. It is pretty heavy, and just lays on top. I found that cute box at TJ Maxx. It’s not an exact match in color, but close enough for me and holds my most-used sewing supplies.
This tall table is solid oak. I found it at Restore as well for only $75. It has a self-hiding leaf and is the perfect size and height for a craft island. I especially enjoy the two shelves underneath for supplies. Perfect! The stools are from Target and match our kitchen ones (because you never know if they’ll have to all be a set of four someday.)
Rudi’s desk is from a local thrift store and was purchases a few years ago. I painted it a stainless steel color that was actually called aluminum. I painted and glazed his handles to match.
Can you tell where Rudi works? He has a bit of a collection going on here. These shelves were picked up at Target to showcase the collection.
I saw this idea in a Restoration Hardware Kids catalog. Since Rudi has conference calls around the world, these clocks are functional as they are cute. They were only $7 each at Target–the cheapest ones, but I love them. Stickers spell out the cities’ times they reflect.
From Rudi’s side of the office, it is neutral and gray–not girly at all. The roman blinds were made from $9 Target curtain panels and $3 mini blinds. Details to come.
I hope you enjoyed the tour. Let me know if you have any questions. I love working with oil paint because of it’s durability, and clean-up was pretty easy. I don’t know why oil has scared me for so long. Piece of cake…..oooh, cake…..gotta run.
xoxo,
Lori
