Pepper Design Blog

Office Makeover: Stuck in a Rut

I’m in a bit of a rut when it comes to our office/guestroom. So much of a rut that I really haven’t touched it since putting up the new curtains in December. I stare at the space everyday since I work in the office from about 9 to 5 – and it stares back at me gloomily wondering when it will be finished.

See, I had this picturesque plan in my head of how I wanted the finished room to work and as I slowly decorated (after Kevin turned the room into an office from the old kitchen) I slowly realized that the pieces just weren’t fitting together. But I couldn’t put my finger on the problem.

We demoed, dry walled, plastered, rebuilt a concave ceiling, carpeted (to cover up a mismatched wood floor), painted, hung grasscloth wallpaper, found and fixed up furniture:

Organized bookshelves, built bulletin board panels:

Designed curtains (using Spoonflower), created a capiz light pendant, started a wall collage:

And then bam. Hit a decorating wall.

I didn’t know where to go from there. I loved the new curtains but I was having a hard time making a bronze/tan/teal/mint green color palette feel fresh and not 70′s.

I knew immediately that the headboard that I had made from an old bed frame needed to be recovered. The silvery grey fabric was one of my favorites (left over from this event) but it just didn’t fit. at all.

I thought one of my favorite crewel fabrics (left over from this event) would be just right for the space, so I draped it over the original headboard and have had it there for the last two months. But something still didn’t feel right.

I might still need to come out of my color mixing shell, but I love a room full of patterns! I thought I would really love the curtains with the crewel (especially with a nice neutral bedding).

When my parents were here to visit near Christmas my mom casually suggested a solid tan headboard. No, I thought – that would be too safe and boring. Plus, I was kind of digging the pattern overload going on there. But after a month of that sitting on the back of my mind (and me becoming utterly frustrated with a non-progressing room) I headed down to my local discount fabric shop and bought 3 yards of tan linen for $30.

And it worked! Suddenly the room was breathing again and the space felt fresh and light. (All I can think about looking at the above picture is how wrinkled my pillow cases are!). This is a better shot:

I haven’t covered up the original headboard just yet – still letting this idea grow on me. It’s just draped over the headboard for now.

I think that maybe if the pattern on the bulletin boards were subtler and the bookshelves didn’t feel so overloaded with projects and work stuff then more pattern at the far end of the room wouldn’t feel like so much. The room was becoming so busy!

Maybe I’ll make the crewel into a duvet or throw:

Then the patterns won’t be so stacked and there will be enough neutral to help them breathe. It is so, so pretty – see how the floral pattern is raised up just a bit?

So that finally got the brain juices pumping again… and now I’m beginning to see where the space might go from here.

To find that extra inspiration, I started tearing out magazine sheets of rooms that used my color combo.

And every time I spotted a fabric that might work I picked up a little snip of it to test out.

I’ll have to narrow those choices down, but maybe light pink or yellow would work well as a contrasting shade to balance all of the tan & teal out.

And so the saga continues! Have a wonderful weekend! PS am I alone in this or have you ever found yourself in a room rut? PPS I am always open to suggestions!

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: 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.

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower Part 1

Happy Friday! I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for a while but I’ve finally had time to sort and edit them during this mini vacation. Here’s a baby shower that friends and I threw for our good friend Diana and her little Noah – who’s due any day now.

The adorable invites were designed by Jennafer of Oh Creative One on Etsy. She contacted me to partner on the project and I love how they turned out! Jennafer was wonderful to work with and turned my broad ideas of a colorful starry sky, cute little owls and a bedtime story book into the perfect invite.

I’m not sure where the idea of a Bedtime Stories shower originated from but I loved that I could decorate with everything books. There was no intended color palette but much of the room ended up in shades of blue by the time decorating was finished.

The ‘sprinkle’ shower was held at night and on a weekday but it was an ideal time to gather the group together during the busy holiday season. Sometimes the best celebrations are the ones that include a glass of wine and yummy appetizers after a hard day’s work – that plus nannies for the evening!

I snapped most of these pics during the day, which means no food or people in these photos but hopefully a few clearer shots of the details.

Decor was simple with a few handmade details. I made two sets of fabric bunting (which I kept in soft, gender-neutral colors because I knew I would use them time and again for all sorts of parties), ribbon ‘flags’ on twine, plus a large pin board for little fabric onesies we all designed. Two friends helped me with cut-out stars which really helped to set the ‘bedtime’ tone.

It was a small shower with maybe a dozen or so of us celebrating the newest member to Diana’s family. We played silly games including one competition where we had to recreate belly bumps with small balloons. Hilarious! We ate delicious food provided by some of the guests (potluck style!), and we created customized little onesies and burp cloths out of fabric and embroidery thread.

Here are a few shots from the night of. A big thanks to the ladies that helped me pull this shower together, and a big welcome to baby Noah who will literally be here this week! (Diana’s due date was the 27th)

More details to come as I break down (and finish editing photos…) of a few of the easy decorations.

Office Makeover: New Custom Bulletin Boards!

Back with the how-to for the office’s new custom bulletin boards. You might remember the inspiration from this post and how I was really wanting to incorporate a colorful fabric into the otherwise neutral space (especially with the tan grasscloth wall, natural wood bookshelf and desk, and brown & white office organizing supplies).

My solution was a teal Thomas Paul fabric in a fun print!

That image was before the boards were covered with inspirational images, photos of the family and other general mementos (such as invites, birth announcements, etc) that in general make me smile. A happy office is a productive and comfortable workspace.

PS that’s a new Craigslist office chair find — I love the casters and the wooden frame, though she needs a good reupholstering!

I’ll admit that it looks a bit crowded on camera but up close it’s the perfect mix of whimsical inspiration and practical projects that I’m hoping to tackle. I’m sure it will get less and less ‘pretty’ as the days go on and it gets stacked with calendars, to-do lists, excel spreadsheets and the like.

The best part is that this is the view from where I sit every day:

I had set aside enough photos of Liv to cover five of these boards, but I had to edit to several of my absolute favorites {how cute is that sweet baby!}.

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Custom Fabric Bulletin Board
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Materials: board cut to size (this will be the back of the bulletin board, I used dry erase board from Lowe’s because it was light weight), wood molding, fabric, cork (I found upcycled cork placemats from Goodwill and similar sheets at Joann’s to fill in the gaps–the thicker the better!), spray adhesive or white glue, miter box (or another tool for cutting 45 degree angles), spray paint, glue gun, nail gun, caulk and a caulking gun, rag, small bucket of water

{1.} I began by building the frames for my custom bulletin board. Using fabricated molding from Lowe’s, we measured the desired length out and cut apart the molding into four pieces per frame. Then a 45 degree angle was cut into each end so that when placed together they created a rectangle (thanks, Andrew!). A miter box is helpful for doing this by hand, but if you have access to a table saw that’s your quickest cut.

{2.} Next each piece was spray painted with several coats of matte brown paint (for best results spray at least 8″ from the wood and rely on multiple coats for the best finish. One close-up coat will definitely result in dripping and bubbles).

{3.} While the frame edges dry, let’s focus on the bulletin board itself. Choose a sturdy backing for your bulletin board and have it cut to size (Lowe’s helped me with this one and I ended up using a light weight dry erase board that they sell in sheets – though a stronger material might have prevented a bit of curving).

{4.} Use a spray adhesive or white glue (such as Elmers) to attach your cork to the board backing. I used an x-acto knife to help me cut apart my cork to completely cover the board.

{5.} Cut your fabric to size allowing for at least a 2″ hem on all edges. Flip board over onto fabric so that the board and fabric are facing down. While pulling taut, glue gun fabric edges to back of board to secure fabric in place (I first tried this with a spray adhesive but it wasn’t strong enough to keep wrinkles at bay). These pictures disappeared from my camera card! So here’s a recap of my formula for attaching the fabric:

{6.} Now it’s time to assemble the bulletin board. Attach each premade edge of the frame directly to the board with a strong adhesive (we used an adhesive that fit a standard caulking gun but you could even use a glue gun here).

{7.} The adhesive keeps your edges in place while you secure the frame to the board with a nail gun. Be sure to flip the board over and use a hammer to flatten all of the pointy protruding nails.

{8.} Flipping the bulletin board back over, apply caulk to your new nail holes and all corner gaps. Wipe any excess with a wet rag (keep a small container of water near by so you can keeping dipping as you wipe).

Here’s a tip for adding a new container of caulk or sealant to a caulking gun: always cut the tip at an angle with a strong utility knife, and be sure to cut away from your body.

{9.} Wait until the caulk dries and touch up any spots with paint (I simply lined the inside of the bulletin board with newspaper and spray painted over the spots needing a touch up, but you could use a brush as well). You might have a few holes still show through a bit, but it’s not obvious unless you’re verrry close.

You’re probably wondering why you couldn’t skip the first painting step and I considered this, but I was too nervous of covering the beautiful fabric with accidental spray paint leaks and found that just touching up at the stage (since the fabric is now in place) was easiest.

Now the bulletin boards are ready to be hung! I opted to lean mine up against the wall rather than hanging above the desk:

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Yay for one more project crossed off of the list! And I really do love how they turned out.

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: 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.