Fall 2016 Office/Studio tour:
It's been a couple months since we moved from our house in Brightwood to Bend. Our house here in Bend has carpet through the whole upstairs... not a big deal, unless you've got poop brown as your carpet color...and we do, so that's gross... lol ;-p luckily the carpet was installed a few months before we moved in, so we only have one evil to deal with... [the other would be worn-out carpet] If you're looking to sell your house, and you think installing new carpet will help the sale. DO. NOT. DO. IT, just tell potential buyers you'll pay for the carpet, they can pick the color and now you've got a real incentive on your hands... it's such a waste of money.
I thought I could hold out with redoing our upstairs floors, [my office specifically speaking] for a year or so, till we've put some money aside for that, but after spending 2 months upstairs in this funky bedroom with super thick brown carpet [it is cozy plush though!] and trying to roll my desk chair back and forth to my work stations... I basically wanted to pull my hair out. Jesse was out of town for a week, and I was so tempted to rip all the carpet out myself and just paint the subfloor, but instead I chose to watch a lot of movies and Frasier. That was a better decision considering how handy Jesse is, plus he knows way more about remodeling and hand-tool operation than I do.
As you can see from the photo below, my office-studio was pretty "busy" looking... I actually think it was subconsciously my way of trying to mask my frustrations with the room: "If I have a lot of things I like to look at, the things I don't like won't be as glaring." It kind of worked... for like a month... But as i've gotten older and more interested in curating our home after my favorite interior design books [i.e. The Simple Home ] I don't like having tons of things covering every inch of wall space, furniture lining the walls etc. It gives me anxiety, where as 10 years ago it didn't bother me as much. So, with all that said...some before and after pics of the process. If you're dealing with the same feelings of your space, hopefully these photos will lend some inspiration and you too can create a place for yourself that makes you feel all sorts of good inside.
BEFORE:
Painting walls: I am probably the worst wall painter you'll find. I take forever when it comes to painting walls, and that's not because i'm meticulous...i'm just sooo slow. This job is BORING!
Ripped the carpet out, the carpet tack strips, staples etc. This is where I start to burn rubber... ;-p
Originally, I had wanted to put in Armstrong vinyl tiles [ found here:
floorcity ] but because the subfloor under the carpet wasn't perfectly even, some boards were a little higher than others... this made me nervous considering you're using a hardcore glue, and we just can't afford a costly mess... Jesse suggested we just rip some large sheets of plywood down, paint them with polyeurathane and hope for the best. It was somewhat of a risk, but not really...because I would have been fine at this point with just painting the subfloor, I just wanted that carpet GONE!
Jesse showing me how to lay down the plywood strips, using a finish nailer and my hip curve ruler as the spacer. This process goes by so fast, especially if you have two or more people working on it. I actually nailed down most of the floor myself. Jesse did laid 1/4 of the floor as well as the tricky math cuts around the edges of the wall and closet... that part would have taken me all day.
I am much better at painting floors than walls! ;-p
First coat of "Stonewall" polyurethane... went on really well, you can see a lot of gran/texture in this picture. We did 2 coats of the gray, then a coat of clear poly...but it left a yellowish tint on the floors so we did another coat of gray poly over that... each coat takes about a full day to dry. Took longer than we had liked, but our floors are pretty hearty now, so I guess that was a happy accident.
AFTER:
Now for some real floor action, AND a office studio I can really get excited about, again.
Just look at those floors...I love how they shine and reflect light. We opted for gray instead of white because in our first house, we painted our wood floors white [also glossy] and as beautiful as they were, dust particles, hair, etc. were way more visible. Our floors in our last house [in Brightwood] were a warm yellowish color [I don't know what type of wood. yikes!] and they were wonderful, you could hardly see any dirt or hair, you literally had to look for it. So as far as the gray goes, it's another one of those colors that hides the dirt and hair really well...which means vacuuming less often. ;p
My Great Aunt Annie crocheted this white horse.... I've had this for a really long time, it's one of my very favorite family heirlooms. Great Aunt Annie and her sister [my Grandma] were amazing at crocheting, producing crocheted blanket after blanket... those two were crafting machines!
These brass horse badges were something I started collecting back in 2008 when I was working on my Senior Thesis Fashion Collection. My collection was inspired by Barbara Cooney's book "The Oxcart Man" - I had made a couple bags for my collection and I wanted some sort of primitive type hardware. I had been visiting Utah over Christmas break and went to an antique shop, where I came upon 3 of these brass badges. I never ended up using them in the collection, but ever since my collection just keeps growing. They are unique little treasures.
Before I made a full time go of my business Roxy Marj, I was signing my artwork R.ANA [for Roxana, my full name] This is an unfinished painting of a rug that is SUPPOSED to be napping, but refusing too...just like kids. I keep going back and forth as to whether or not I should finish it, as of today it remains as is... Painting rugs is my calming therapy.
You know how Oprah LOVES BREAD?? Well... I LOVE CHILDRENS BOOKS, the same way Oprah LOVES BREAD! :-p Instead of having them all out on display, I try to have just a few, and rotate them every month or so...that way just the "featured" ones get all the attention, and it's not so overstimulating... And how great are these little poplar shelves I made all by myself! They only cost $12 for all the materials, but look like I paid a ton huh. easiest/fastest/chicest DIY ever.
It was Jesse's suggestion to put in track lighting. Before, it was the typical Home Depot ceiling light fixture that lacked any style whatsoever. Track lighting is FANTASTIC! You can pop lights out, and switch with something else in literally10 seconds, turn the spot lights around... and the 4 lights instead of one brightens the space up like WOW. Wow wow wow wow! This is something to really consider in your office/studio. We should have done this in our Brightwood home office!
I've been looking for a big cozy chair to put in that corner [below] so I can drape my gigantic sheepskin rug over it... I was thinking I wanted to lay down rugs in my studio, but now after seeing the whole room put together, as of right now i'm thinking no rugs.
Testing out the work table in the new and improved space : a gazillion thumbs up!
That's the end of my studio tour. This space is officially warm and cozy....some major love goes to my husband Jesse. I can be pretty high maintenance at times, like wanting to rip out the carpet and paint the walls asap. Jesse has this amazing ability to never get annoyed or be short with me when I want to do a project all of a sudden. I don't know how he does it. He is crazy patient and such a good teacher to me. There's no way I would have such a beautiful space if it wasn't for him. His office is downstairs and he is struggling with the same issues of just not feeling creative or inspired in that room...and yet he puts my wants and needs before himself. Always a good example. I love you Jesse and I'm grateful for all that you do for me! Now let's tackle your office! ;-[)
xoxo Love, Roxy
