The Office/Den Makeover

A Bla, brown, dark, depressing office may be okay for some people (apparently it was for the previous homeowner), but for me, paying my bills and doing some work in this dark space was just dragging me down. I makeover rooms to feel something different and be inspired. I definitely wanted the Den to be a place I could feel relaxed and be and ADULT space (No kids ALLOWED).

BEFORE

My inspiration: Traditional wainscoting with a blue, calm, color.

My husband started by measuring, which turned out to be the hardest part:

• He made the wainscoting 39" tall from floor to chair rail.

• Between each frame was 3". Of course this could differ in your room.

STEPS:
1. First we painted the Sage Gray on the walls.

2. We marked with pencil on the walls where each frame and chair rail should go. Measuring with a level.
3. Then my cute husband got to work! (I couldn't resist adding a picture of him in total concentration). He is out in the garage using that OLD nasty office desk as his work desk.

3. After nailing (with a nail gun) all the wainscot to the wall came the finish work.... UGH! I HATE finish work! But it has to be done.

I didn't have to Spackle the small square frames, those nail holes were pretty disguised. But it was the chair rail that took some work spackling, sanding, smoothing and then painting. See my bead board tutorial for the finish work, it was just about the same.

TIP: I used a foam, 2 inch roller for the chair rail and all around the framing. Again, "brush strokes" or "roller marks" are a BAD WORD in our house!

Remember the BEFORE??? So forgetful isn't it?

AFTER

This office was done in a day and a half for under $100, and as my husband said "it was a BREEEEEZE compared to the bead board in the half bath" (mainly because we couldn't move sinks and toilets in that room).

Hey, don't stop reading, I am not done yet.

A room isn't a room without the DETAILS! That is what makes it all yummy and personable, isn't it? So let's get to the FUN part!

• Lamps I got from HOME GOODS (a Ross for your home) under $40 for each ( love that store).
• The little ballerina was a find at Ross for under $5. And can you believe my husband found it for me? so funny.

• The glass bowl is a gift from Italy from a friend with a cute little German heart (from my mom) I put inside.
• The blue "grass" is from Target marked down HUGE for under $5
• The picture is an authentic map of the Philippines where my husband spent 2 years serving a mission for our church. Got that on Ebay for about $15.
• The fan and the little car my husband brought back from the Philippines. This is his space too so I wanted to pull from a place he fell in love with to make it home for him.
  
  • The Tiki man is from Hawaii, the globes are from Home Goods (under $5) and I always have to add pictures of my adorable offspring :)
  

• The Desk is from Craigslist.... still looking to replace that BIG clunky office chair that I got for free years ago.

Guess what we did with the old nasty desk (that my husband found on a construction job site years ago.) He was supposedly going to "restore" it way back when..... well, we let nothing go to waste around here.
It became our garage shelving for shoes and other nick knacks. (the twins follow me around as I take pictures. I have a feeling they will show up on this blog quite often..)