Client Design - A Basement Apartment

Right before Christmas I finished up a client design for Monica who owns a basement apartment.  She was looking for ideas to spruce it up and make it feel more modern.  I was pretty excited to be asked to work on a design for her - I sorta felt like Scott McGillivary, the host of Income Property on HGTV (minus the construction and layout) because this basement apartment is just that awesome so it was fun to work on a contemporary design to help make her space feel homey!

Here are a few quick snapshots of Monica's space.

Like I said, the actual design was fun to work on! Here is what we came up with for her living space, office nook, and dining area.

I can't wait to see after pictures!

If you're looking to liven up your living space I'd love to help you out! Find out more about my e-design service here. Plus I've got a sale on my design services through January. Find out more here!

My Home Office Reveal

FINALLY I am showing off my home office! I've been hinting at it on Instagram and Facebook so it's about time that I give you the goods. This project has only been in the works for 2 years.  Mostly because I couldn't decide on the color to paint my cabinets until I learned to "Be Brave."

Before I show you the current state, I need to share the "before" picture with you.  It will add a little more shock value so hopefully you wont walk away from this post and say, "hmmph, I expected more..." :)

Yep, that is what we started with, an old Iowa farmhouse basement.  Thanks to my sweet husband for saying "Honey, you need a space for yourself and all of your creative work." Which probably really meant, if I fix up the basement she'll keep all of her crafty stuff out of the dining room. :)  Regardless, I am thankful that he had the basement painted for me and had a friend build custom cabinets as my Christmas present. 

Here you go... the after!

My new decorating motto is "Be Brave" I picked this up from ABChao, a blogger whose Design Camp I attended in Minneapolis.  For this project, being Brave meant painting my cabinets a blue/green color  (Slow Green by Sherwin Williams - SW6456) instead of painting them white or staining them which would have probably been the logical thing to do. :)

There are a few quirks that I wish we could fix like actually putting sheet rock on the walls but we have a small leak on days when we get a really  heavy rain.  I would also love to have the floor leveled but that would take a lot of money which means I would have to starting doing a lot more e-design work. (Feel free to ask, I would love to help you out!)

Regardless of the quirks that still exist, I have fallen in love my stone, farmhouse basement space, that still leaks every once-in-awhile. At least it didn't have dirt floors...

Featured on Tuesdays at Ten June!  Thanks Michelle!

Cheap & Easy Office Art

Truth be told, my basement office needs a spruce up. Over a year ago we painted the walls and floors to make it a little more homey.  I love the space but it needs a little somethin'-somethin'!   Unfortunately our basement is block walls and cement floor - which is actually luxury for an old farmhouse basement - but that leaves me zero options to pound nails into the walls to hang up pictures and artwork!  I do, however, have two bolts sticking out of the wall for some reason so a little bakers twine, free printables and $1.88 mini clothes pins from Walmart did the trick to spruce up the space.

This was pretty cheap and easy! I had the bakers twine on hand and found all of the artwork for free by doing a pinterest search. The clothes pins were $1.88 in the office supply section of Walmart.  I did laminate the pictures so they would hang nicely and not curl.  (Laminating things is pretty fun!) I must say, I'm pretty pleased with my solution for hanging up some art in my office.

Here are my sources:

The Handmade Home

French Press Mornings

See That There

Have a happy Monday!

DIY Project: Bulletin Board Clips

This pas weekend I decided to take on a few DIY projects.  I haven't really done anything crafty in awhile and it was hot outside so I retreated to my office space and made these cute little bulletin board clips that have been on my to-do list for awhile.  

 

These are super easy to make and will go great in my new cubicle at work. (Nope, not a promotion :( just re-organizing our floor.) 

Here is what you need:  Mod Podge, thumb tacks, super glue, paper scraps, and clothespins.

Step 1} Cut the paper to the size of the clothespin.

Step2} Use a small sponge brush to apply a light layer of mod podge to the clothespin and lay the paper on top. Let it dry for a minute or two.

Step 3} Add a layer of mod podge to the top side of the paper.  Repeat this step at least 2-3 times allowing the mod podge to try a minute or two in between applications.

Step 4} Once the mod podge is dry put a little dot of super glue on the back of the clothespin and attach the thumb tack.  Let this dry.  You could use magnets too if you want to put them on your fridge!

One piece of advice - buy the higher quality clothespins.  The cheap-o Walmart version don't cut it.

Ta - Da!  You have your very own pretty bulletin board clips!

Like I said - these will work great in my new cubicle and on the bulletin board I created. Click here to see that project.  I'm thinking they would also work well as "welcome to the office" gifts.  I may try to use rubber stamps to add words like to do, file, mail, for fun... and use them as organization clips.  We'll see... 

Enjoy!

DIY Bulletin Board

Good Morning!  I have a little DIY project to kick-off your Tuesday! :)

My home office (I like it call it my "design studio" or "creative space" to sound like professional) is slowly coming together and turning into a space that I love to be in.  I completed this super easy DIY bulletin board project last week and so far I am loving it.  I desperately needed something on these basement walls!

My inspiration came from the Ten June Blog - her blog is at the top of my favorites list so please go check it out! :)  She had the idea of covering a bulletin board with burlap not long ago.  Since I couldn't decide what I wanted to use for material I decide to go with burlap to add a neutral texture rather than print or color.

This project really doesn't take many supplies either.  I found the bulletin board at Target and I the material from Wal-Mart.  Material is extremely cheap there, I think I spent $2.50 on 1 yard of burlap.

First, cut your burlap (or whatever material you choose) to the side of your bullet board, maybe an extra 1/4 inch in size.

Then, spray your adhesive on the cork board and press down your material.  You may have to spray the corners again. This is probably a good outside project, but if you do it inside, make sure you have newspapers covering your surface.

Once you have given the adhesive time to dry, approximately 5 minutes (I'm impatient), tuck as much of the edges as you can into the side of the board with the credit card.  Then trim the excess material from the edges of the bulletin board.  Once you've got this done, take a damp cloth and maybe some warm, mild soapy water to wash the edges of the board.  They are sticky from the adhesive and there will probably be some burlap fuzz around the edges.

You're done!  See, I told you this was easy!  I'm sure you will run out to pick up your supplies during your lunch break today! :)

Have a great Tuesday - I'm off to a sales meeting for a couple of days!

Office Space Inspiration

We only have three large projects going on at our house right now!  Thankfully one is winding down (the bathroom) and another, (my new office/craft space) is functional!  The only thing that needs to be done for it to be complete is staining the cabinets that Adam had built for me.  That coupled with some fun and functional decorating will maket this an awesome space!

Here is some of my inspiration for what I consider to be fun and functional office space!

My workspace will be similar to this, spanning along two walls.  Unfortunately I am dealing with shorter ceilings and will lack some of the finish that this space has since we built my space in our old farmhouse basement.  Overall, I like the clean lines and organization.

Via

I am definitely getting one of these large box shelves with plans of incorporating baskets for storage.  This is also going to serve as its true purpose, a bookshelf, to keep my collection of design books and magazines.

Via

I LOVE this bulletin board.  It is a DIY project that you can find on RealSimple.com.  (I actually love the whole space, check out the link under the picture.)  I am definitely incorporating one (or two) of these bulletin boards.  One of the things I like the most is the color that can easily be brought into the space by covering a bulletin board with fabric.

Via

I am am an avid rubber stamp collector!  Making greeting cards and little extras like gift tags, notebooks, etc... is probably one of my very favorite past times.  I like the idea of putting them in a wire basket so I can quickly find what I am looking for.

Via

I think this is an easy and cute idea.  If I can figure out a way to incorporate jars like this, I probably will! :)

Overall, I'm going for a pretty simple design that allows me to stay clean and organized.  I honestly didn't realize how much stuff I had until I had to put it all away... yikes! :)