Moving on Out (Home Office Edition)

Where, oh where, has my littlewowe gone? Oh, where, oh where, can she be? She's cleaning the house, staging it to sell, and is as sweaty as can be! I broke my "never speak about yourself in third person" rule for the purpose of writing that little ditty. I'm not sure it was worth it.

For the past month, I've been working on reorganizing everything in our house in order to make staging and moving easier. I thought I'd share some transformations with the great people of the interwebs. Forgive my lack of photo taking abilities. Just my iPhone and I over here trying to make do with what we've got.

So, when we first moved in, I started with a green accent wall. 

Everything green.

Biggest problem? I didn't paint the other walls, and the "professional" painters that the previous owners hired were awful. That nicely painted green wall only highlighted the drip dried paint marks.

A year or so later, I took that old desk on the left, painted it white, and turned it into a vanity for my bedroom. 

(I'll show the bedroom later.)

I bought a tall desk from Pier 1 to replace it. 

I figured future owners didn't want a random green wall, so I painted the whole room my new favorite wall color, Gentle Rain by Behr.  I used it in the nearby bathroom that I wanted to lighten. 

(I'll show you the bathroom later, too.)

Bought a new, tall-enough chair for this desk.

(last one broke)

I moved a bookshelf from the living room to this room. Filled in an otherwise awkward spot. 

Moved that drawer system from the basement. 

Organized all of the paper on those desk shelves.

Put most important teacher books on the desk.

Finally found a place to hang art donated from our neighbors a few years ago.

I recovered the ugly filing cabinet, which I should have painted (oh well), and I replaced the handles. 

I made these striped curtains.

That no-sew pillow case (just covered one of those bright green pillows from the first office look.)

Painted that sewing machine stand white and changed the drawer knob.

Hung that pretty litograph from one of my awesome students.

Spray painted that lamp base a pretty silver.

Put black ribbon on that lamp shade.

Organized every drawer of that stand.

I could hang something on either side of the artwork, but I think this works just fine seeing as how we're not staying for the long haul. 

The fact that this room is so functional, organized, and pretty makes me want to stay.

I'll allow myself to think that means I staged it well. 

It *almost* makes me want to start the school year.

Almost.

Lovely Office Light Plates

Please excuse the following grainy images that my piece o' poop Droid took. I do not apologize for offending any Droid lovers. Mine would make a better brick than a phone. Not bitter at all.

Anyway, I digress. So, here's a preview of what our dual office is shaping up to be. Originally, we had two offices in adjoining rooms. Problem: I never used my office because I need company in the form of another human being or background noise from the TV. Solution: move in with Jeff and occupy his office. (Eventually, I will post "finished" photos of the office, but that's for another time.)

Today, let's check out my light plates, which were inspired by my sister-in-law's pinspiration. She made the cutest light plates for her baby's room!

After I painted the room yesterday, here was my train of thought (prepare yourself because I truly had an entire dialogue with myself):

"I hate my light plates."
"I usually spray paint them oil rubbed bronze, but it is as hot and humid as a dog's mouth out there. I also do not want to suffocate to death in the garage. Nope, no spray painting today."
"Oh, Jess used scrapbooking paper and Mod Podge to cover light plates."
"I don't feel like going to Michael's for scrapbook paper. What can I use instead?"
"I was planning to donate some really old books. What if I used pages from those?"

And then I had my lightbulb moment (pun intended).

So, I rummaged through the "to yardsale" piles and found a suitable book.

I didn't feel like scouring Jess's Pinterest for her tutorial, so I googled and found this one.