House Tour: Emily and Todd's Office

Next up is Emily's office! I wish I had an antique filing cabinet like hers to keep all my little office supplies organized! Looks great.

Come back tomorrow for Emily and Todd's adorable boys' rooms. I'm ALWAYS getting questions about how to make little boy's room fun and functional and cute (but not girly). (Spoiler alert: Emily nailed it)Here's Emily on her office projects and decor. And thanks again to JJ Horton Photography for the images!

"The day after we moved into our house a huge parsons table appeared on Craigslist for $60. The desk anchored the room and helped us come up with a layout so the office can have multiple functions including play room, sewing room, and guest room.

"We bought the book shelf from a Pottery Barn outlet the first year we were married. It has been an incredibly useful piece as you can see. The top shelf has all of my cooking and sewing books while the second shelf is lined with baskets for additional storage.

"The third has a nine-drawer piece from Ikea that we painted and added silver label plates to for all of my sewing notions. This sits next to all of my binders filled with home décor ideas, articles, recipes, etc. The next holds our color printer and sewing machine. The bottom shelf has two huge fabric covered baskets that hold all of my fabrics.

"We painted the parsons desk a pale mint and the console a peacock blue. The chair we found at TJMaxx, I love the velvet and silver nailhead.

"To the right of the computer is a large tray given to us from my mom. She got it at Anthropologie on sale for $10 a few years ago. It holds a couple of special art books, a painted elephant that was a Father's Day present from our now three year old, an antique lamp from my parents, etc.

"On the other side is an antique wooden planter that my mom gave to me. We use it to hold mail, pens, etc. In front of that is a special piece of art very dear to me resting on a vintage wooden easel (found on ebay). My brother Jeff painted this picture of me reading a book on a family trip to Belize. I had gotten sun burned pretty bad but still wanted to enjoy the sun so I set up a reading station under the balcony so only my feet were out in the sun. My family thought it was funny and took a picture. A couple of years later my oldest brother surprised me with this painting during his first year of dental school. You can't see in the picture but next to my feet is a pair of tiny frog feet, he's a funny guy and is the one I can attribute my love of James C. Christensen to. There are a million things I am so grateful to my parents for and one of them, which is very small in the grand scheme, is a love of art. They filled their home with art and filled our rooms with art. For big events like graduations, 16th birthdays, we were given a new piece of art. And what's really incredible is that my parents let us take our art with us when we left home.

"Across from the desk is an antique filing cabinet that my parents gave to us years ago. My dad has a slight obsession with antiques like these and has had them all restored. Surprisingly, this little piece is also very useful. It holds almost all of our office supplies/cords/chargers/batteries/computer paper, etc.

"I found the blue console for $40 during my first trip of many to the Raleigh Flea Market. I think the guy thought I was nuts for wanting it but obviously I didn't say anything. I originally planned on putting it under the T.V. in the living room but the shape didn't work so off it went to the office. On a snowy day when everything shut down in Raleigh, because that's what you do in the South when it snows an inch (no joke), I spent seven hours sanding that console.

"I was so close to giving up! It was the first piece I ever bought and painted, and not knowing anything about paint at the time, I bought a piece that was covered in oil paint. Not smart. But we painted it blue, added some wonderful pulls from Anthropologie and ebay, and now it could easily be my favorite piece in the whole house.

"We also made new doors, thanks to my wonderful husband, who I think we'll now start calling by his first name, Todd. Behind those doors is more fabric, of course. :) Under the console are baskets, one with Lego Duplos and the other with wooden blocks that my father in law makes for all of his grandchildren. The labels on all of the baskets are dollar frames I found at Joanns in the checkout line that we painted turquoise and painted the glass with chalkboard paint. Word to the wise, when you do these little projects make extras because you never know when you might add more baskets and it's annoying to repeat.

"On top of the console we mixed a couple of pieces of my white milk glass with picture frames. I know the Bose isn't very pretty but it sounds great and I have to remember it is an office. The yellow lamp was a $5 thrift store find, but the shade is from Target.

"Above the console are two fabric-covered cork bulletin boards. If you decide to do this project, yes it is easy, but one little hint - cut a piece of cardboard to fit the back and staple it to the back. Otherwise, the nail heads poke out. I also recommend spraying some adhesive so the fabric stays in place while you're putting those nail heads around the border.

"You've probably noticed that there are not a lot of cords going on for an office, especially one with an open desk. Todd deserves all the credit on this one. He cleaned up all the cords and stapled them up under the desk and then they go behind the legs and down under the carpet to the computer.

Sources
Wall color: BM Harbor Gray
Bookshelf: Pottery Barn outlet, spray painted cream
Court of the Fairies by James C. Christensen: Available at art galleries
Woven Shades: Home Depot, DesignView
Baskets on bookshelf: Target
Chalkboard labels: painted Joanns frames
Nine Drawer Storage Box: Ikea
Fabric Containers: Bed, Bath and Beyond recovered with Amy Butler fabric
Pink Binders: Target
Parsons Table: Craigslist, painted Behr Pensive Sky
Chair: TJ Maxx
Pillow on chair: Anthropologie
Painting on desk: gift
Wooden easel: ebay
Flower pot: Target, Liberty of London
Tray on desk: Anthropologie
Antique children's chair: flea market
Blue Console: flea market, painted Behr Blue Danube
Console hardware: pulls from Anthropologie and ebay
Statue: gift from husband while he was serving a two year mission in Bolivia
Milk glass: flea market, thrift store
Lamp: thrift store
Polka dot cloth basket: Pottery Barn Kids
Bulletin Board Fabric: Amy Butler Nigella Home Dec
Nailhead: mjtrim