DIY Office Decor

Succulent Palette

On my schedule this year was a home office makeover. I choose a palette based on a Design Seeds post. I ultimately just used the first three colors as my accent colors and went a bit more on the blog side with the feather palette for the walls.

Feather Palette

Martha Stewart Crafts had the perfect colors in their Vintage Decor Chalk Paint, Cantaloupe and Terra Cotta. Chalk paints are great for painting on multiple surfaces. They are are easy to use and don't require sanding, are quick-drying and have amazing waxes in both antique and clear to finish your pieces.

Martha Stewart Vintage Decor Supplies

 I painted several accent pieces for my home office decor makeover.

Office organizers bought on clearance at Michaels

Office Organizers painted & stenciled

Accent Table Painted & Stenciled

The organizers were bought on clearance at Michaels. They were a fabulous buy and perfect for office desk organization, but they weren't a color or design that I liked. No problem! Simply paint with the Martha Stewart Crafts Vintage Decor Chalk Paint, stencil design (using the darker shade of chalk paint), add a coat of clear wax, then wipe with the antique wax.
The table was an unfinished table I bought years ago at a white elephant sale. I didn't take step out photos while I did it, but I just painted with the terra cotta chalk paint, stenciled with cantaloupe. I sanded to distress and then applied clear wax mixed with antique to antique. Once that was dry, I dry-brushed cantaloupe on the piece to give it more dimension. I finished it by rubbing a coat of clear wax to seal and protect.

The Year of Remodeling/Renovating

Our home was built in the middle 80s when popcorn ceilings were in every single house. For the last 15 years, I've hated those ceilings and have removed them in some of our smaller rooms. The den is very big and has vaulted ceilings. For years we couldn't come up with a good way to take care of it that didn't cost a fortune, take a long time or make a huge mess. We finally found a DIY solution - old recycled barn tin!

Recycled Barn Tin

 The recycled tin has such a great rust patina on it. My husband got permission to remove the tin from an old barn that is being torn down. He used a power washer to clean the tin. I gave it a final wipe down before applying 3 coats of polyurethane to stop the rusting process.
We stood on scaffolding to hold the first piece up so my husband could drill and screw it into the wood rafters. Since it was just the two of us, that really didn't work. We quickly saw that we would not be able to hold it, so he devised a tool to use to hold the tin up while he attached it to the ceiling.

Ceiling in progress - notice that ugly popcorn?

Ben attaching the tin to the ceiling

Area between paneling and ceiling is painted with Ralph Lauren Metallic Paint

View of other side of the den

Fireplace (which we no longer use) and mantel

 Finished ceiling looks so much better and the nice thing was we were able to put it up right over the existing and didn't have to deal with the mess of scraping. Since there are no windows in the room, the lighting for photography isn't the best.

What Almost 30 Years of DIY Landscape Looks Like

Backyard landscaped area view from south side


 

View from back of yard towards backyard, decks & house
You can hardly see the house for the trees. Yes, Ben's
shop is equipped with TV




From house towards back of yard. Old
metal bed frame covered with Asian jasmine

My husband and I have spent almost 30 years working on the landscaping of our home. It started with digging up and planting red oak trees when we first moved into the house. Once the trees started growing and the yard became more shaded, we added different landscaping features - a shade bed, decks and patios, brick walkways, my pond with waterfall, more shade beds. We've also added a vegetable garden at the back of the property (we have just under 1 1/2 acres). Most all of the features in our landscaping are salvaged materials and not purchased new.

 

 

Walkways and patios are built from salvaged bricks, which is why we have various colors. Old metal bed frames are used for trellises for vining plants. The wooden bench and table beside it incorporate metal wagon wheels and rims. The fire pit was constructed from an old tractor tire rim.









 







Pinspirations
It's no secret - I LOVE Pinterest! I've found fabulous project ideas, great household cleaning and organization tips and scrumptious recipes, not to mention some beneficial workout and fitness tips. I've even started a new board PinThere - Done That to show the projects I've made from the Pinspirations I've gotten, including these.

Decoupaged pattern on necklace from Michaels.
I took it one step further & crackled & antiqued

Cucumber Lemonade with Basil - a winner!

Captured Fairy Jar

Fairy Crown

Glass Mushrooms (one of my favorites)

Floor primed

I've been wanting to get rid of the carpet in my studio for ages. I finally took the time off, ripped out the carpet and did a total redo of my studio space. We've been in our house almost 27 years and it was the original carpet and boring off-white wall color. My original plan was to decoupage book pages for the floor (similar to the paper bag floor I did in the hall bath a few years ago), but the floor was way too big and would have taken forever to do.
I thought I would just paint the concrete, but after doing online research, decided that probably wasn't a good option either, given the amount of time I had, tools and experience level. I went to Lowe's and found the answer. 18 x 18 peel & stick linoleum tiles with grout. Who knew you could grout linoleum? It was fairly easy, looks like real ceramic tile for a fraction of the time and cost. A perfect solution.

Starting to add grout

Walls painted

I first painted the walls with Glidden Soothing Green Tea paint. I love this color!

I had Bennie build me another shelf and moved two existing shelves to make room for it. I've taken supplies out of boxes and put them into glass jars where I can easily see what I have. I love my new creative space.

Stereo & Storage

Bead storage on double doors. These hold my semi-precious beads

Found this marvelous twisted branch in OK

New shelves w/glass jars

Making use of space behind door for paints & stamps

Large storage - surplus from manufacturing shop

Boxes on left are glass beads

Pages friends made for me, decoupages on the side of the big unit

I zentangled my ceiling fan blades

New ceiling fan for studio.