Thursday, September 20, 2012

Office Boot Camp

Two years ago, my office looked like this:


This rather blurry picture shows off a pretty basic room.  It was functional enough for a gal on a tiny budget, and I had a few of those cheap Ikea boxes for storage.

Fast forward:  Here's the dismal scene it has been for the last year or so.



 Little by little, I had inadvertently pillaged the office to decorate other rooms.  The original rug and one of the storage shelves is now in my dining room.  The office art is now hanging in the bedroom.  As a result, our school supplies exploded everywhere, and I slapped Dan's Redskin towel up as a decoration.  Classy.

What a sorry excuse for organization:
Yeesh...

This is by no means some amazing makeover, but I spent some time this summer trying to step in a better direction.  We went from this:

To this:




I think the two biggest changes are the Ikea shelving unit and the substantial, tufted chair from World Market.  I needed something comfy now that I spend hours taking online classes.

How original! I hung a white, modern deer head! Yep, I've seen this trend non-stop on Pinterest and decided to join. Dan hated it at first ("Hon... a deer head? Really??), but has since named him Rufus. I like how he pops from our paint color.


I love the new Ikea shelf despite the fact it was a true test of our marriage to put together.  Note to Ikea:  your picture directions are the worst.

I slapped some of those chalkboard stickers on the jars to label.  Then, I wrangled some of our favorite black and white photos to display.  That one on the left is Dan's mom and dad.

The baskets are from, where else, Ikea, and I just added the tags in order to label those as well. I've been a labeling fool the last few weeks.


This area is a work in progress.  I just hung a calendar of maps and a mirror that I can write on so I can post "to do" lists.  I need to hide the hooks, finish setting up the shelf, and add some accessories.

I still have to hem the curtains and paint the dresser.  At least, there's some art on the wall again.


There's our map art making an appearance again!

The towel stayed.  I just framed it so it looked a little more "on purpose".


It's not done yet, but it's better than before!

Anyone else whipping a room into shape again?

6 comments:

Strand Family said...

oooh! I love it! I've always liked the cube ikea shelves.

By the way, I think we almost called off the wedding while we assembled our Ikea bedroom set. Ikea really needs to include some kind of disclaimer warning that they won't be held accountable for fuming couples who won't talk for a day due to their badly drawn directions.

Anonymous said...

It looks awesome! I love the chair!

Josie said...

Christen, it looks great! I ADORE that tufted chair; it's outrageously chic.
xo Josie
www.winksmilestyle.com

TheLab said...

My GOSH! I said, out loud, HOLY CRAP when I saw the re-do photo. I love it! I love your chalkboard paint jars! And the line about putting the furniture together was hilarious.

Tell Rufus I said hi.

Nat said...

The makeover looks great! We have that same shelving unit in our office, it makes a huge difference, we can store so much more stuff now!

Erika said...

Oh my gosh. I am insanely jealous of your office. It looks AWESOME! Although I seriously cracked up at the 'before' Redskins towel-as-decor. You're right-- framing it makes it look much more intentional. But for real, I'm coming over now to steal your tufted chair, so...beware.

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