Slowly making progress on converting the dining room into my home office. The obvious place to start was with my workspace. Remember the white parsons desk (an Overstock purchase) in our old office?
Yeah, it rarely looked like that. In fact, most days it looked like this (and only seemed to get worse, the busier I got):
I was piling piles on top of piles and using a little chair beside of my desk to lay out my design presentations. Not so great.
Enter my first Craigslist purchase for the new house:
I found this beautiful farmhouse table and the seller only lived five minutes from my house. It was meant to be! Since we technically no longer have a “formal” dining room, I liked the idea of using a big table as my desk that could serve double-duty for parties, if needed. And, I have plenty of room to lay out all of my “stuff.”
The table was even more distressed in person that I had originally thought from the Craigslist posting. Although my kids are thoroughly confused as to why my new desk has “holes” in it, I love the character of the wood. I paired it with a couple of aluminum side chairs, and a tufted linen chair that I found at TJMaxx.
(Do you know how much I love Post-It notes? I realized they are in every desk picture. There’s some wonderful thrill in writing something down, and then getting to peel it off, wad it up and toss it when I’m finished with that little task. . . )
One thing I really wanted to incorporate in our new house was lots of great texture. I think that’s why I’ve been so drawn to old farmhouse tables lately. I’m such a fan of mixing them with sleeker, modern pieces:
In addition to purchasing the table, I also spent last night painting most of the room “Worldly Gray” by Sherwin Williams.
And, I’ve enlisted some help on bringing one of my visions for the space alive. I’ll show you more next week.
Check back tomorrow for this week’s installment of “Now. . .And Then”.
Love the farmhouse table and the chairs! Can't wait to see the finale.
ReplyDeleteEmily - love it! So fun to see what you are doing in your office while I am working on my own. Conversely, I'm trying to get OUT of working in the dining room. :) And I so feel it for your post-it note addiction.
ReplyDeleteEmily...love the farmhouse table! This is so much fun...watching your style change......I smell another magazine spread :)
ReplyDeleteLooks great, Emily!!! Can't wait to see more pictures!
ReplyDeleteEmily, I like where you're going with this!! Rustic w/modern!! Can't wait to see more!
ReplyDeleteLooking good! Apparently everyone in South Florida has deplorable taste because there is nothing ever slightly above trash on our CL.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I had a boss that had a major Come to Jesus with me over my use of post it notes. He won and actually TOOK THEM AWAY from me. Seriously, I wasn't allowed to use them anymore.
Oh I love a rustic table!! Yours looks great - love the color! I can't wait to see what you do with the whole room. My husband actually built our dining room table out of door jams we tore out of the house when we replaced our doors and trim. Have you seen it?
ReplyDeletehttp://justatouchofgray.blogspot.com/2011/07/on-to-dining-room.html
It's my favorite thing in our house!
I love your table and chairs! Can't wait to see the finale :)
ReplyDeleteGreat find at TJ Maxx. We can't wait to see the room finished. The farm table is going to be great. We adore an old farm table paired with something modern or elegant.
ReplyDeleteAngela and Renee
What a great find!! Janell
ReplyDeleteWow! What a find! I have been stalking CL all summer for a table like that with no such luck. Can't wait to see what you do, the inspiration pictures are beautiful and I know you'll make this office beautiful as well.
ReplyDeleteI love the choice of a farmhouse table! Especially paired with the aluminum chairs. I need a big work surface - it drives me crazy to be working on top of everything else and not finding a clear surface. And, I'm a post-it note junky - I love writing this down so I can stop having to try to remember things - it clears my brain. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful farmhouse table find...what did we do before Craigslist?!?
ReplyDeleteGorgeous table! I can't wait to see what you do with the space.
ReplyDeleteIf those drapery panels don't work in your new house and you need someone to take them off your hands, let me know! I've been planning to order that fabric, so that I could make some window treatments for my guest room.
What a gorgeous table! So much room to spread out on.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
What a great new table. We have the post it problem also. Enjoy all the new lay out space for projects.
ReplyDeleteLove that table! Great find! I have a full size table in my studio plus a desk and hutch. I need all the work space I can get!
ReplyDeleteLove what you are doing with the room! The paint color is great and that farmhouse table is such a great find!
ReplyDeleteI love farmhouse tables!! I would love to try my hand one day at making my own :)
ReplyDeleteAlthough finding a gem like this on craigslist would be easier! ha
Beautiful table. I dream of a farm table. Such a great work space. And those industrial chairs are one of my favs.
ReplyDeleteLove your farmhouse table! Looking forward to see the whole room comes together!
ReplyDeleteJessie
www.mixandchic.com
I love the idea of using a farmhouse table as your desk- it must be so nice to have all that workspace.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm totally with you on the post-it's! I use them for everything and I LOVE when I get to throw one away- its such a great feeling :)
GASP! Your table is WONDERFUL! This is going to look amazing, and be so functional too. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteCindy
Dang. You go! Totally in love with the entire look.
ReplyDeleteCamille
Love the farmhouse table! I'm obsessed with post it notes too. They cover my desk at work and my favorite part is throwing them away when I've completed the task!
ReplyDeleteI'm so anxious to see the end result! I know it will be beautiful as your other designs!
ReplyDeleteGreat table! It is 5am for me now, and second picture in I say to myself, "oooh apple tarte! I'm sooo getting starbucks this morning." Only to realize, its not a tarte. It is a rug sample.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking at the overstock desk for my daughters room. It looked very nice in your old office. Were you happy with the quality of it?
ReplyDeleteLove the direction of the new office.
Your office looks good! I love farm tables too. In Atlanta we have this awesome large antique show once a month called Scott's and I got a French farmhouse table there. It's perfect..spacious and not too stuffy!
ReplyDeleteAh, dying to see more. LOVE the farmhouse table!!!
ReplyDeleteThese farmhouse table and the chairs are very much useful for everyone, Thanks for the post..........
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