The Lovely Side: My Office / Library: Before, During, & After

This past week I've been working on putting some finishing touches on my office / library / writing room – whatever I decide to call it! It started off as a buttery yellow chamber, which I transformed with a few coats of PPG's Pollination Green.

The yellow green hue isn't for everyone, I'll admit. But I'm in love with it. I adore how it looks alongside the charcoals and dark browns that make up the furniture of the room – and how it makes the white trim pop.

Here's the view entering from my bedroom. (The bedroom and office are connected by a shared walk-in closet.) I'm looking for a comfy chair for the desk so that this one can return to the living room. The chalkboard is actually an old bulletin board. I painted the cork piece with chalkboard paint and tore the frame off for a literally "rough around the edges" look. I really like using things I already have on hand before going out to buy something new. Plus, it's lightweight and easy to move around when I'm feeling finicky.

I had some spare long, tall pieces of plywood hanging around from this recent DIY failure. I simply covered it with some of my old Chasing Paper removable wallpaper. The paper had lost some of its stick and gained some wrinkles since I removed and re-applied it several times in my old apartment. – but the wrinkles are my fault and I'm impressed with how it's held up! I love the way it adds a pop of graphic pattern – and how the geometric design offsets the femininity of the floral curtains.

Here's a close-up of the vignette I've got going on right now. This changes all the time. For some reason, my desk space is something I'm always always ALWAYS playing with and tweaking. I've taken the vintage toolbox I used to use for cosmetics and now use it for storing extra cables I need handy, pens, post-it notes, and sundry office supplies.

The cute little "Given Enough Coffee, I Could Rule the World" sign is from Wal-Mart! A Nate Berkus for Target bronze magazine file holds folders, notebooks, and inspiring (always-out-of-my-budget) Anthropologie catalogs. I still have pristine Liberty of London for Target office supplies, too. (Bought them on clearance and have taken care of them all these years! lol.)

You can see that when I took this photo, I'd already switched out the candle. (I felt like I needed a little pop of red among all that gray, blue, and green.)

Here's the view from my office looking through the front room and into the living room. My cat Cotton is sitting there keeping a watchful eye on me while I worked.

On the other side of the office, I've lined the wall with low cubby-style bookcases in dark espresso and cherry finishes. The cubbies hold my many books and magazines, while all my vintage and antique typewriters are lined against the wall. I plan on doing a gallery style arrangement with vintage magazine covers in the near future. Cotton likes to gingerly walk across all the typewriters and then sit there on the end, awkwardly staring up at the ceiling. Haha.