Office Space

Happy Monday Chumps.  I promised you an update on our office remodel and here it is...

Yes....this is the "Before".  Did I trick ya, Chumps? Did I? 

We are baseball fans (Go Tigers!) but not enough to wrap my room in a border of it. (No offense previous owner of 125).

This was how we inherited the front room/office when we bought our house in 2006.  We were told it was originally a small bedroom in the 1950's but I couldn't find any pics of it from way back then. 

I couldn't even find pics of the way we lived with it in transition.  Some of you remember this room from my tag sales....it was cramped, dark and not very functional.

Right when we moved in, I painted the built in desk wall unit and faux beadboard black. I left the countertops and found a blue/gray wall color to compliment it, and that's the way it's stayed... up until a few months ago until Ken couldn't stand me shoving his music computer over every time I worked on my laptop.

We were constantly jockying for position at the one desk opening, pushing each other's mouse back and forth. (wait...that doesn't sound very appropriate, does it?) :)

Anyway...we figured there was some room for change!

Here's a couple more angles of 1980's love....

And one more reminder of the entire room:

And here it is now:

We took the wall unit completely out and repositioned the desk (with two openings...phew)! to the south side of the room. I had a picture from a magazine that Ken used to replicate the desk area.  I am planning to add seagrass wallpaper to a cork board for the backdrop of the desk area but haven't had a chance.

Our former neighbor and fellow woodworker, Doug gave us his leftover pallet boards from a basement project that he finished at his house recently. We had just enough to wrap the top half of the east wall with it.

We ripped out the beadboard veneer and added MDF (medium density fiberboard) trim to the lower half of the walls all the way around and painted everything Antique White.

It is soooo much brighter in here!!

Ken was also able to snake electrical behind the newly studded wall and we hung sconce lights on this side and the other side of this wall in the dining area (blog archive).

You can see the original paint color which I actually liked with the pallet wall but I knew I needed to lighten it if I wanted to add the graphite colored cabinets. Did I cringe painting over the original trim? Not so much.

Here's a better angle of the pallet wall. So much character....for free!!

I was describing the style of lighting I wanted in this room to Ken and he came back seconds later with these barn style sconce lights that I had purchased (new) two years ago from a garage sale. They were stored in our attic and I had forgotten they were even there! 

I would've liked them to be a bit larger, but I can always replace them down the road.  Again...you can't beat "free".

This is the northwest corner of the room.  Perfect spot for homework, reading or chillin. The wall color is called "Hush" by Benjamin Moore from the Aura (Affinity) fan deck. I 'borrowed' this slipcovered chair from my front sunporch until I can find a good deal for this room.

Chairs are from World Market.

I wanted something urban in here. I loved the metal finish and chose contemporary hardware for the cabinets as well.

The rug is also from World Market. Have a mentioned before that I really like that store?

The cabinet paint was from my buddy Randy's store. It's Annie Sloan's chalk paint called 'Graphite" with a dark stain over top.  I did however, find a close color on the Ben Moore classic fan deck also called Graphite that is a dead ringer for it and less expensive.

I must say...I always loved blogging to you Chumps before, but now...I love being in here even more.

And...one more thing:

 We moved my booth at Not So Shabby this weekend.

If you're not a facebook fan, please like our "Room For Change" page so I can keep you posted on the treasures in our booth. Here's a sneak peek.

We are located at the former Great Lakes Furniture Store on the northside of Holland. We are on the back side of that building where the Great Lakes Antique Mall used to be. Come by and check it out!

Comments...

Don't Blink

"It goes so fast.  We don't have time to look at one another.  Do human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute"? 
-Thornton Wilder (Our Town)

Chumps. I gotta come clean. There's no sense in beating around the bush or sugar coating this thing...
There won't be a Room for Change Tag Sale this year.

Was that a loud low moan I just heard rumbling through Zeeland or a collective sigh of relief? Either way...I am sorry for disappointing you (if I have).

I'm referencing the old adage that a parent uses when disciplining their child, "This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you".  I am bummed. I am torn.  I am guilt ridden, but I am mostly relieved.

This fall Kennedy started highschool and it was almost as if the clock in my mind fast-forwarded to her senior year. I could picture it all like it already happened. You chumps that are ahead of me in the child-rearing dept. have warned me..."It goes by in the blink of an eye". And I know that to be true. 

I can almost hear the soundtrack playing in the background at Brecken's cross country events, or Kennedy's homecoming activities, the Trace Adkin's song..."You're gonna miss this...you're gonna want this back, you're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times. So take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this".

And I know I will. One day I'll have all the time in the world to repurpose a set of shutters into an armoire, or turn mason jars into soap dispensers, or put together an amazing book page wreath, but right now, this fall...I just want to be present for this season of my life and be able to look back and know that if Kennedy asks me to go homecoming dress shopping on a Saturday morning that I won't be cursing under my breath that I have an attic full of projects to get to. (True story...did that). It won't happen again, I promise.

My tag sales started out 10 years ago (!!) as an event where I could make product and sell it to you all because I didn't really have a venue to do that. Well, now I do. I have a booth at Not So Shabby that I have really enjoyed staging and selling from.  And now...it's as if the stars have all aligned and I am able to do even bigger and better things with this venue across town.

Sooo, decision made. I will take a year off from my annual sale and make this season in my new booth a year to remember!  Ken and I are spending the weekend prepping our new space and can't wait to show you the new "Room for Change" booth which will be overflowing with fall and Christmas treasures soon! 

Thanks for your continued support of my business and your faithfulness in shopping my tag sales over the years.  I'm looking at it as a year leave of absence...my own personal sabbatical-from tag sale only! I've been busier than ever changing rooms with you Chumps and I love it. That's not gonna change.

But I know..."I'm gonna miss this....I'm gonna want this back"......

Beach-loving Brecken

First day of school-2012

Tigers Game August 2012

Race day with the Three Amigos

Freshman Representative on Homecoming court-Zeeland East

"Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift and that there is more to life than increasing its speed".  -O.L. Crain
Love you Chumps.

Comments...

Not So Shabby news

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end".

Just saw on Facebook that the announcement has been made.  Not So Shabby Antiques and Furnishings is relocating.  For someone who named their business "Room For Change", you'd think change would be something that said person would embrace, or at least not be adverse to, but I find myself struggling tonight. Change isn't always easy.

People who know me know I do this:

And we, as a store, might not be feelin' it in the future. There are talks of relocating out of Zeeland. We are growing and evolving and another business needs the space where we were. Great news that people are movin' in to this great town. Not so good news that we are movin' out. However, we vendors and our fearless leader and store owner, Jackie, know that even bigger and better things await Not So Shabby. And I for one, don't want to miss out on the fun. So I will choose to:

that this is a good thing. That moving forward toward the unknown can be freeing and exciting and rewarding.

And I will:

for the run that we've had in Zeeland and eagerly anticipate many more years, Lord willing of bringing you trash-turned-treasures from my "Room for Change" booth at Not So Shabby.

From humble beginnings:

To a growing well-respected business...

I hope wherever we end up, you'll choose to still:

A shout out to store owner, Jackie Bordner and her great business sense for making Not So Shabby a fun place to be!

Remember, Chumps, "there's always room for change".  Believe it. Dream it. Live it. :)

We'll keep you posted!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support of my booth at NSS over the past few years.  Promise you'll find me wherever we are?!  We won't go far!
Stay tuned....

Comments...

Touch of Gray

You know I've been struggling Chumps with the stained trim in my dining room. I love the historic charm of the dark stained trim but it's been pretty limiting in terms of wall color I can pair with it.  I've always wanted to do a white on white room in my house but never had the guts.  This is baby steps toward that look.  I started out by freshing up the walls with an antique white. The same paint color actually that I had used in Kennedy's bedroom makeover.  I liked how it looked with the trim in her room so thought it should be fine in the dining and "parlor" as well. My sister Laurie walked in last week after seeing it for the first time and exclaimed, "It feels like I just got my bangs cut and everything is brighter"! That is really how it feels.  I think I'm okay with leaving the trim for a while, but after you see my office makeover that I will post next time, I might have you (and me) convinced that it's time to paint over the 100 year old pristine wood trim. (Sounds so sinful when I describe it that way). I'll keep you posted.

A couple of weeks ago I gave you a sneak peek at this dining room wall and the paint color that I fell in love with at Ace Hardware. It's a "Clark and Kensington" color called "Baby Elephant" and that's exactly the color it is. A cool taupe color that isn't gray and isn't tan but a great combination of both.  I knew I didn't want to eliminate brown accents completely in my house but I have been weaving touches of gray throughout each room. (This totally dates me, but remember that awesome song, "Touch of Gray" in the 80's by The Grateful Dead?) Glory Days. I digress.

Back to the dining room...I painted the entire wall antique white to start and was mortified by all the imperfections on that wall.  I realize now why the previous owner had wallpapered this room originally.  Because of the office remodel on the other side of this wall, we were able to rewire electrical to to add sconce lights here (no ceiling lights anywhere in these rooms) but this only showcased all the flaws! Need to hide the problems....let's add stripes! 

I marked off 12 inch stripes with a ruler and pencil and rolled "Baby Elephant" over the white.

Definitely made this room much edgier than it was before and I think I like it.

New Pottery Barn wall sconces. I turned them off in the photo to show the style of the light.
Ken's already smacked his head on the right one twice now getting up from the table. oopsies.

I didn't put drapes back up on the large windows so the neighbors have a front row seat at dinnertime but my life's an open book...what do I care?

My neice is scheduled to take new family pictures of us this week so these frames will be updated as well! Of course I'm coordinating our outfits to match "Baby Elephant"! :)

Fabric that I actually bought last year at Fields. I dug that out and recovered the seats of these free hand-me-down dining chairs I got a couple of months ago from my neighbor. (I painted the chairs a buff color and didn't want to repaint them, so I was glad this fabric had a light tan that pulled that together).

I fell in love with these from Target (online). The taupe matches perfectly. They are not as tall and stately looking as I would've liked and they're off limits for spaghetti night, but otherwise, I'm happy with them. Good looks and good price. "Crusty" likes that combination.

I won't ever be ready to replace the dining table Ken built for me when we lived in our last farmstyle house. I like the size and look too much to change it out. I don't love how it looks with the stained trim though...another valid reason to paint the trim perhaps?

Just for fun, here are a few shots of what the room was prior to "Room For Change" making changes. :)

Waaaayyyyy back in the day. Circa 1960's? Notice, there was electrical once upon a time. I know you're in that ceiling...come out, come out wherever you are. Pleeeassse. I want  a dining room light!

1980's perhaps?

This pic. below is what this room has been for the past 5 years...I liked it. Easy to live with.. transitional farmstyle look but ready for a change. 

Here it is now:

I used to have a slender buffet underneath the pictures but when you sat at the table, it was a bit pinched. If I find the right piece, I may add one later but for now I like that it feels a little larger in here.

Again, here's a pic. I scanned from the family that lived here in the 50's, 60's and 70's. So it's always been an awkward room to furnish. This room we call the 'palor' is adjacent to the dining area.

A couple of years after we moved in. Remember the dark brown fireplace? I loved it for a while, but it made the room so much smaller and darker.

The wall color was a Restoration Hardware color called "Latte".

As of two weeks ago: 

As of a couple of days ago. New rug.

World Market Gray Jute rug.

Next up?  Office remodel. Stay tuned.

Enjoy your weekend Chumps!

Comments...