Real Life vs. “Styled” Life

 

I tried my best to cover all of the details in Monday’s post on my home office, but wouldn’t you know the number one question I got was how do I plug in the lamp on my desk? :)  It’s a great question, actually, and here’s the answer:

 

 

In the days where any picture you post on your blog or online could live forever on Pinterest, I think the art of styling your photographs is more important than ever.  For that reason (and because I don’t know how to Photoshop them out), I carefully used electrical tape to bundle and hide the cords.

 

I only recently added the desk lamp and am still testing it out.  A floor outlet may eventually be a possibility but for now, I just run the cord down the front leg of the table and to the side wall where the window is.  The chair in the corner helps to disguise it, and it actually doesn’t bother me that much. 

 

 

 

I have the same problem with my laptop cord, which I also run to the side wall when I need to charge it.  But, that’s life.  Real life.  In fact, here’s some more real, “un-styled” life for you since we’re on the subject:

 

The foam for my girls’ headboard project has now landed in our foyer and is a favorite toy. . .

 

I always get comments from people saying they don’t know how I get it all done.  I don’t!  And, I would never want to make anyone feel like they’re not doing enough.  Projects are unfinished.  The house is a mess.  It’s impossible to live life at a break-neck speed and it look like anything else. 

I went to a friend’s house yesterday (we had coffee and at the last minute, she asked me to come look at a few things in her house afterwards).  She has four kids, and apologized over and over for the mess, but I honestly wasn’t phased.  It made me feel better.  (In fact, I wanted to take her over to my house right then to assure her mine was at least ten times worse.)  The thing about messes are, they don’t bother me at all—unless they’re my own.

 

More real-life for you. . .

 

My desk on a typical day.  A defective lampshade, work projects, my kids’ artwork, randomness. . .

 

 

 

You know how I loved a beautifully styled coffee table.  Here’s ours this morning.  Catalogs, our Bible story book, toys, shoes, and clothes that they’ve outgrown that I started sorting two  nights ago.  This is a small coffee table; just imagine what we could do with a big one!

 

 

 

Something strange is going on under the pillows on our sofa.

 

 

 

To save time and effort (apparently), we keep all drawers open at all times.

 

 

 

Perfect! Plastic grapes in my closet.  In case I get pretend hungry while I’m getting dressed.  There’s a surprise around every corner, really.

 

Does this make you feel better, or think worse of me?  Sorry if it was all TMI.  I just want to assure you that everything you see on this blog (and others) isn’t necessarily what you would get if you just happened to show up at my front door on a random afternoon.

 

Back to our office makeover (and a pretty picture to end this dreadful post). . . .Another good question from one commenter was how does the open space work with small kids running around? 

 

 

When we first looked at the house, my thought was to someday build walls and close it off more. But, I’ve actually learned to like being in the middle of everything that’s going on. It does mean that I have frequent visitors sitting in my lap while I answer email. Of course, I do most of my blogging and computer work after the kids go to bed or the days they’re all in school.

 

 

 

View from my lap. . .

 

Wow, this post was just suppose to be about my lamp cords and I kind of went off on a tangent.  Sorry about that.  I should go clean my house now.

My Home Office: Finally Finished

 

As promised, I cleaned up my work space enough to take pictures of our newly completed home office:

 

 

 

You may remember, we converted what was suppose to be the dining room, into the office.

 

 

 

Our biggest addition to the space were the bookcases that we had built by a local carpenter (email me if you need a referral; he did a great job!).  The wall behind the desk was huge, and I wanted something that would make a big impact since it’s one of the first things you see coming through the front door.

 

I replaced the original chandelier with this oversized lantern that I picked up at my Habitat Restore.  I blogged about the makeover process here.

 

 

 

To make the shelving pop, we painted the back of the bookcases a dark gray by Sherwin Williams called “Urbane Bronze.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I know we all love a good “before and after,” here’s a look back at how the room started:

 

 

 

This is how I worked for months, shopping for furniture and thinking about how to make my vision of floor to ceiling bookcases come to life.  I found the farmhouse table on Craigslist, the metal chairs at a Pottery Barn outlet, and my linen desk chair came from TJMaxx.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The real challenge came when it was time to fill the bookshelves. I didn’t have nearly as many books as I thought, but wanted it to be colorful and have a real “library” feel. Several friends and family members gave me extra books, and I lucked out at a recent Habitat Restore book sale where I bought them by the box-full for next to nothing.

 

 

 

For  more color, I moved the Ikat rug from our foyer that I blogged about here (from RugsUSA):

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I like most about the space is that it should easily transition back to a dining room with the addition of some chairs, if we ever need the space.  For now, though, I plan on doing a lot more blogging than hosting dinner parties. . .  Hope you enjoyed :)

20 Ways to Pretty Up Your Porch

 

  

Tim Barber LTD Architecture & Interior Design via Houzz

 

I officially have Spring fever.  Do you?  Time to start thinking about freshening up the outside of your home, and the front door is the perfect place to start.  Check out my latest Houzz ideabook, “20 Products to Pretty Up Your Porch,” here.

 

 

And, in other news, congratulations to the winner of the Bedding Style giveaway:

 

 

 

 

Easy Change-Ups for Your Bookshelves

 

If you’re bored with your decor, sometimes making a couple of small changes can give you a little lift.  For me, bookcases are always a manageable place to start. 

So. . . if you’re looking for something to do this weekend (right!) and want to give your bookshelves a quick facelift, here are some easy ideas.

 

• Let your books lay down

It instantly gives the space a modern feel just by putting all of the books in horizontal stacks.

 

(See the rest of this incredible house here.)

 

 

• Experiment with color

Another easy idea? Paint the entire interior (back, sides, top and bottom of shelves) a high-contrast color:

 

Lonny Magazine

(I also like the interior molding they used here.)

 

 

I’ve changed up our bookcases several times since we’ve moved.  This is how they looked at the last house:

 

 

 

 

And, some easy changes I’ve made since then:

 

 

 

• Style with a collection or accessory groupings of the same color

Since we have the built-ins in the office now, I don’t need this space for books.  So, I pulled most of them out and pieced together some milk glass and other accessories for a little white collection that would pop against the coral paint.

 

(Btw, I found these big star fish at TJMaxx last week for $2.  Not as fun as a trip to the beach, but way less expensive!)

 

 

• Hang art or favorite photographs

Such an easy idea, but often overlooked.  I use these small 3M hooks to hang art, or stack several small framed photographs, postcards, a small mirror, etc.  Instantly gives a layered look.

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your favorite way to make a quick change to your home?

15 Rooms Transformed by 15 Bloggers

 

I recently discovered a series of posts put together by 15 bloggers, who each tackled decorating a room in their house, start to finish, in just six weeks.  They each documented their weekly progress on their respective blogs, and it was fun to follow along.  Yesterday was the final installment and each blogger revealed her finished room. 

 

Here’s a quick sample of some of my favorites:

 

Living Savvy

 

 

 

The Pink Pagoda

 

 

 

Rue de Emily

 

 

 

Refreshed Designs

 

 

 

Kim Macumber Interiors

 

 

 

Nicole Scott Designs

 

I’m thinking this would be great motivation to focus on one space and actually feel like you accomplished something in a set timeframe.  The deadline would’ve probably also stressed me out :)

 

Here’s a complete list of the bloggers who participated if you want to check out each of their rooms:

 

 

 

PS—Today is the last day to to enter the bedding giveaway from Bedding Style!

My First White Room

 

You all are going to think I’ve lost my mind.  And, that might be true, but I’m still sticking the “pregnancy-hormones-make-you-do-crazy-things” excuse. 

 

A week or so ago, I posted about painting our master bedroom this rich blue:

 

 

 

 

And, two days ago, I started painting it . . . . this color:

 

 

 

It’s Shoji White by Sherwin Williams.  I know, I know.  But, after living with the blue swatches on the wall for a week or so, I started to feel like it might be too much.  Considering how much more chaotic our lives are getting ready to be in another few months, I kept finding myself drawn back to images of calming, neutral rooms. 

 

 

 Tracery Interiors

 

 

 

Lonny Magazine

 

 

 

Linda Burkhardt via Houzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Leiss Interiors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jamie Laubhan-Oliver via Houzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emily Henderson

 

This will be the first time I’ve ever had a white room in any of our houses.  What does that say about me?  I’m getting older?  More nervous?   Less brave?  I don’t know.  White actually seems like more of a risk to me.  The paint job should be finished by the weekend.  So far, I love it.