House Tour: My Office

My office is usually pretty sad looking. It becomes a dumping ground for everything that I don't know where to put. However, I've recently gotten back into using my office to work in, because I'm more productive. It feels like I'm actually sort of "going to work". So I decided to clean it up and get a fancy new bookcase from IKEA to help organize. I think this might be my favorite room in the whole house. This is probably because the room is totally me. I don't worry about design or making it look "grown up". I just do what I want and surround myself with things that inspire me.

Okay, this is the view you get when you're standing in the doorway. The color is way off, I'm not sure why, but the colors in the next photos are pretty accurate. Wilbur demanded to be in a lot of pictures.

Let me explain everything you see here. The desk is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. It is an antique and was owned by my great grand grandmother (?) or maybe it was an aunt. I can't remember. But we do have a photo of her sitting at it, wearing a corset and a giant feathered hat, looking rather intimidating. It was a deep mahogany color but I stripped it, sanded and refinished it, painting it white. It even has little claw feet, one of which had snapped off but I was able to reattach it with wood glue.

My sister in law bought me the chandelier from Southern Living at Home. I strung the fake crystal beads and strung them around it to make it look fancier. I also hung a piece of ribbon on the wall and I'll attach art postcards, magazine clippings, photos and artwork to it. You can't really see it, but there's a lumbar pillow on my cheapo Walmart desk chair. I made it by taking the stitching out of one side of a Pier One clearance cloth placemat and stuffing it.

A closeup of the pimped out chandelier. I bought these natural fiber birds from Pottery Barn. They were supposed to be Christmas decorations but landed up here.

Here's a closer look at the ribbon and postcards.

More randomness on a bulletin board above my desk. Sometimes you need a photo of a guy eating a flower for inspiration :). 

Moving along, this is the wall that is to your right if you're sitting at the desk. I love this new shelf/storage unit from IKEA. It's super sturdy, functional and was only $69. I needed something to fill up the wall space, so I stapled some scrap fabric to a big art canvas I had. I finally have a place to keep my sewing machine, and I plan on making a cute cover for it. There is some pottery I collected when we went to Mexico, a dessert rose which may or may not bloom, champagne flutes from my wedding, a picture of my sisters and I, and a painting of an artichoke that I never finished. Also not the random books that include my "work books" as well as some books that I was too embarrassed to keep on the book shelf in the guest room, like the Twilight series and diet books haha. Also, long overdue library books! That frame on the right displays some of my first published articles.

More storage space to the right of the door for some of my art supplies. I love IKEA storage stuff. Above is the banner that I made for Valentine's Day and didn't want to part with. 

That's everything. There's a closet to the right of the small bookshelf but it's a complete wreck and I won't be showing the inside of it! Add some Pandora, a cup of coffee, light a few candles, and this is the perfect place to get some work done. Or in most cases, distract myself on Facebook or Google Reader.