Pepper Design Blog

Man-Wrapping

A huge thank you to Kirsten over at 6th Street Design School for featuring our home during her Feature Friday series! I love this girl’s style and I’m so honored to be included.

Father’s Day in the States is tomorrow (eek) and if you are like me you are wrapping up gifts and adding ‘bacon’ to your last-minute grocery list for brunch.

Guys don’t expect much in the way of wrapping paper (do they even notice?) but here’s my simple solution for man-wrapping!

This year for Dad’s Day, I found these neat handmade wooden iPad stands by Shuttenworks on Brickyard Buffalo (a daily deals site for Etsy-type stores… awesome!) for the Dads and Grandpas in our life.

Pretty cool, right? Nifty for watching/reading something on your iPad (like a recipe in the kitchen or scores to the game at your desk) while you’re preoccupied and don’t want to hold or prop it up.

But my real reason for this post is my shortcut for wrapping these guys (or anything for the Dads). So easy and very man-looking. I used a ‘Dad’ tag on all of these, but some are being changed to ‘Grandpa’ and the like.

1. Cut a large strip of construction paper to wrap around your gift. 2. Use double sided tape along one edge. 3-4. Wrap gift in tissue (optional) 5. Wrap construction strip around gift tube-style and adhere the edges using the tape already applied. 6. Cut extra strips of paper for decor and to close up the opposite (and now open ends). 7. Wrap them around the gift perpendicular to the first wrap to close up the loose ends. 8. Decorate with Dad tags!

To download the Dad labels that I created, open up this document and save the PDF to your computer. Happy wrapping!

And happy, happy Father’s Day!!

Liv’s Nursery Featured on IHeart Organizing

A big thank you to Jen for featuring Liv’s handmade nursery over at IHeart Organizing today! Please come check it out, and stay a while – her blog is awesomely creative and fun.

PS you can read Jen’s PDB Friday Series Interview here to learn more about this very sweet and crafty gal!

Office Makeover: Progress!

I went to bed last night thinking that the morning would bring a brand new Friday. But alas, that’s how long this week has felt (poor Liv had a 103 degree fever all through the night and day Tuesday and work has lately been getting the best of me). Instead though, it is a beautiful Thursday and one that I’m more than happy to embrace. Especially considering that tomorrow is Friday!

Before I share my latest room update, a BIG thank you to Kate for featuring me in her Best of the Blogosphere round-up at Centsational Girl! Her every-other-Friday posts are among my favorites because they share some serious talent and new bloggers to explore and follow. I near fell out of my chair when she linked a recent project of mine up, check it out here.

I have a little room progress to update you all on today! This room has admittedly become the hardest and most challenging room to get right in our house. And being that it’s my woman-cave, I’ve been working extra hard to make sure that it feels right, that it feels like a space that I would happily spend most of my day in (my company is up in Northern California, so I really do spend most of my day at that desk and on those computers).

The office was on a serious roll back in 2011 when we knocked down the old kitchen (rebuilt it on the other side of the house) and turned that space into my work zone. But then half way through the new office design process, my ideas and inspiration fell apart and the room came to a halt. For quite a long time. (I’ve never been a fan of finishing a space just to get it done, I figure that new inspiration will eventually come and I’ll be all the happier with a result that is right on.)

But I have made a few changes along the way! And I’m really happy again with how everything is coming together.

Among the new changes, a new bedding set from Target in a neutral, cozy tan, an awesome bamboo Craigslist chair find, amazing bookshelves (same Craigslist sale) with the most wonderful, original campaign-style handles ($100 for two huge bookcases!), moving my favorite Ballard Design gold medallions to either side of the window (plus one on the bookshelf in the above pic), and finally stealing a rug from the dining room and swapping out the below trellis version in the office (an all jute rug is the way to go in there – and doesn’t the organic shape in the above photo look much better than the rectangular one below?).

Often shopping is not necessary. A space can easily be refreshed with a bit of shopping the house! Amazing how moving one bright vase to a new room or exchanging accent chairs with another bedroom will give those accessories a new life.

The new white dressers are making a huge difference in the room as well. Previously, I had found a neat mid-century modern wood credenza that fit in the space, but I quickly out grew it storage-wise and have been on the lookout for something fun in a bright color. When these dressers popped up on Craigslist I went to check them out and knew they were immediately right.

That crisp white look makes all of the difference! And the original handles and pristine shape these vintage guys are in is perfect for this home.

All of that storage! It’s wonderful.

My desk (which is actually an old dining room table) is usually covered in notebooks and computer screens and glasses of water… but occasionally I put away all of the clutter and find this:

I’m still on the search for the perfect velvet to recover my chair in – perhaps a navy blue? and the rest of the wood could use a new coat of stain (in a non-cherry color). It’s worth noting that I love to be organized but am not a sparse person – I really, truly enjoy staring up at those tall bulletin boards (made back here) and finding dozens of pictures of Olivia, our family, my favorite tear sheets, work docs and a few quotes and prayers that help to focus me. Even if it means that above my desk might feel a bit crowded. A well-organized file bin is helpful, a stack of unsorted papers on top of that is usually the regular.

The room is slowly embracing my initial color palette as well, now it’s time to add a few pops of coral and pink (I’m thinking in the form of a bit of DIY art, a new lamp? and a few new pillows):

(Just for comparison’s sake, here’s what I first identified as these particular color plans in the room back in February):

Pretty close, right? I would have bet that my ideas would have changed quite a bit in the last six months, and while they did – they didn’t travel too far from the original.

Next up, art for these walls, a bright coral or pink pillow for that chair (might recover the cushion? Did I mention I scored it for $25?), a new fabric roman shade for the big window over the dressers and a reupholstered office chair. Maybe more? Time will tell.

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: a new tufted headboard for the guest bed, our floor plan, color inspiration, a new trellis print rug, stuck in a rut, designing and sewing the curtains, diy fabric bulletin board panels, handmade capiz pendant light, organizing the bookshelves, wall collage part 1, part 2, fabric bulletin board inspiration, (new) inspiration board, new lamps, wallpapering open shelves, finding the perfect credenza, new trim, dining table-to-desk, a new desk & bookshelves, installing remnant carpeting, grasscloth wallpaper, painting the office nook, finding carpet for the office, chocolate brown wall ideas, plastering progress, inspiration for a diy desk, back in action!, desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300,inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.