I have some fun updates to share with you today. I am making a lot of progress on my new studio. The basement layout includes a 5th bedroom. With no need for another bedroom, we decided it would be my home office. Now that I am home all the time, I am really glad to have this work space. But, I have to finish the space before I can use it.
A while ago I shared this mood board for my studio. The plan was for white walls with pops of yellow and turquoise throughout the room.
The room is starting to come together and I have added another accent color. A lamp I found on clearance at HomeGoods for $22 inspired the new accent color. I showed a sneak peek of it when I revealed my DIY embellished curtains. Blue + Ikat = Love!!! The lamp even has a blue cord. (Side note: Do you love it, too? Target is now carrying a very similar blue ikat lamp shade in the spring home decor collection)
The blue on the lamp shade reminds me of the beautiful blue walls in my guest bedroom. Then, the lightbulb went off. How about a blue focal wall in my studio? I decided to paint all the walls white (Tailor’s Chalk by Martha Stewart), except the back wall which I painted blue (Azurite by Martha Stewart). The deep blue is lovely with my turquoise chair and zebra wood desk (more on that in a moment).
It took a lot of internal fortitude to force myself to do the not fun part of this paint job before moving on to the fun focal wall. If I skip straight to the fun part, I know it is hard to reign myself back in to do the less fun work. I forced myself to do two good coats of the white paint, before I allowed myself to paint the blue focal wall.
The blue wall is amazing!!! I am so happy I decided to add some color in this room. It makes my Finn Chandelier (found on sale for $109 at West Elm, still available here) pop. The white metal shades look like modern floating clouds in a deep blue sky. From the family room looking into the office, it gives the illusion the whole office is that beautiful shade of blue. (Please ignore the random debris outside the office…keeping it real…this is a work in progress.)
Another fun update is my dining table desk. I love a big work table. In our town house, our current dining table actually was my desk. For the past two years I have longed to have another office with a 36″ x 72″ desk. On one of our jaunts to the Room & Board outlet I saw this zebra wood table top. I love zebra wood. It was marked down to $499. I sadly passed. The next weekend I checked again and the price had dropped to $299. I didn’t think twice about buying this $900 table top for $299. (Sadly, it does not look like Room & Board carries the zebra wood table tops anymore.)
I used two Ikea Trestle Legs ($10 each) in white to create the desk. I like how they are really minimal and let the zebra wood be the star. With my Martha Stewart Craft Space cabinets, I do not need any storage underneath my desk.
My desk chair is the garage sale score from my mom’s garage sale. I gave the chair a makeover with chalk paint. I like how the dark wood base picks up on the darker streaks in the zebra wood.
The desk sticks out into the room like a peninsula. This room is hardly 9 ft. wide, so it was the only way the desk would fit. My Martha cabinets and a long countertop will be along the focal wall. I like the desk here because while I am sitting at it I can see straight out into the new family room. I hate facing a wall when I work…maybe that is why I couldn’t handle cubicle life.
It is sitting a few inches from the closet wall to allow for my desk lamp to fit and cords to run down to the outlet below. I found the teal task lamp at the floor sample sale at CB2. I got him for $39. They still carry the same style in orange and grey for $69.95.
I have a long way to go in here. The dresser you see above needs a third coat of chalk paint and some polycrylic. Now that I finished the painting, I need to install the baseboard and molding around the windows. Oh, and we can’t forget about a door to the office and closet doors. I also need to get those Martha Stewart cabinets back in place and build the counter connecting them. There will be a lot more studio projects on the way :)
Hi! I love how your office is coming together! The wall really pops. I’m about to take on a similar project painting a couple of wood chairs. For a dining room chair, I’m thinking I need to coat with poly for a glossy, easy to clean finish. Do you know if you can put a coat over chalk paint? Thanks!
Chris, you can definitely put a coat of poly over chalk paint…especially if you want a satin or gloss finish. Chalk paint has a dull, velvet finish alone. You can also use Annie Sloan soft wax for the finish coat. It is very durable and gives more of an eggshell finish. I used the soft wax on my chair. Just be prepared to buff the wax well!
Love the pop…love the colors! Great job!
~Sarah
I love your choice to leave the “feet” of the chair stained. If I were doing the project I would have just jumped in and painted the whole thing missing the opportunity to have the contrast.
Great style choices require an editing eye. :)
What is the benefit of chalk paint over just spray paint? The cost is so much higher, I am missing what the draw is.
Hi Marcie,
I am not a chalk paint expert. It is actually a pretty new medium to me, but here are a few of the benefits I think are important:
I am sure there are more benefits. I still like spray paint, too. I think ultimately it depends what the application is. It would take lots of spray paint to paint a large piece of furniture, but very little chalk paint.
Oh wow! This is really coming along so nicely!!! You have such an eye for your style and its so fun seeing it coming together. Love love love the table top and its size!!!
Hi,
I recently bought that teal cart from Ikea for my sewing area. I’m really curious how you plan to “style” the cart and what kind of stuff you’ll put in it. Nice room!
Hi Sharon, I haven’t gotten my cart yet :(. My mom got me a gift card to buy it, but every time I go it is out of stock. Ikea will ship it, but their shipping prices are kind of wonky and I thought the shipping was too much. I am hoping it is back in stock at my store soon! As soon as I get mine and get it all styled up I will definitely share all the details!
I love the office so far – it is very inspiring!
BTW, I found the IKEA cart at my local store recently. I know I’m in VA, but the other stores might be catching up with customer demand too! :)