Design at Home: My Office

This past weekend, I worked to get my office finally cleaned up. I added a new rug and light, and I saw my design vision come to life. I love my office. It’s a positive place to work, and I think it’s an accurate reflection of me.

I originally had two similar plans for the main components in my office. One version had black accents, and the other had white. In both design plans, I had my heart set on mixing old antiques with modern elements (which is the aesthetic I’m aiming for elsewhere in the house, too). When I made the design boards, I had just purchased an antique desk similar to the one I featured.

Now, my office looks like this:

I was lucky to find my antique desk here in Waterloo from a seller who told me it was her long-time writing desk. How perfect! She bought it in Montreal decades ago, and I think it must have come from France originally. Oui oui! The desk has a leather top inset (protected with glass), wood inlay, and brass details. It’s a special piece of furniture.

Not too long after that, my mom sent me a link to an antique Italian armoire at an auction, and I jumped on it. Things were moving quickly, but I guess timing was right because before I knew it, it was mine! It is lovely!

I feel fortunate to have these two pieces of exquisite craftsmanship in my possession, and they fit beautifully into our historic home. I met the previous owners of each of these pieces, and I could tell that they had strong attachments to them. They cared for the pieces, and I promised that I would, too.

The final two pieces were the rug and the light. I tried to get the black and white striped Ikea rug (seen above) on several occasions, but it was constantly out of stock, so I took it as a sign that the rug wasn’t for this space. Instead I opted for the “let the pieces find me” approach, and when I came across a soft white rug, I took it as a sign that white accents was the way to go for my office. Then I spotted a modern, airy light, and I could see my vision come to completion.

You’ll notice that I have a lot more wood in this office than I ever had before. The pieces are so refined and I just love them against the white walls. And speaking of white, there’s still plenty of it!

The design plan is just about complete. I may exchange the rug for the next size up, and I’m waiting for the delivery of an ergonomic desk chair. In the meantime, I’m using the balance ball and have already noticed that it’s better for my back (core and legs, too) than the dainty antique chair that came with my desk (but it’s just so pretty!).

The Friday Five: One Room Challenge Reveals

It’s been all One Room Challenge around the design blogosphere over the last six weeks, and the featured designers and guest participants shared all their after photos on Wednesday and Thursday this week. This means that we have a lot of reading to catch up on this weekend! Hooray!

To get us started, here’s a peek into five beautiful spaces from the featured designers. Next week, I’ll share some of my favourite spaces designed by the guest participants.

backyard oasis – Jojotastic

basement – Coco & Jack

master bedroom – Rambling Renovators

living room – Natasha Habermann

office – Bisou Style

Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy Mother’s Day!

Design: Peg Boards

A new ice cream shop opened up in Kitchener this summer (Four All Ice Cream), and I’m loving it. Each time I go, I try new flavours, and I have yet to be disappointed! Local ingredients are used and flavours change according to what’s been growing around the community. My favourite flavour has been the strawberry-rhubarb sorbet.

In addition to the delicious ice cream, though, I love the design of this small-sized ice cream shop. On one end of the little shop, you’ll find the ice cream. And on the other, you’ll find this peg board display wall.

Four All Ice Cream shop, photo by me

And it was this peg board – designed and made by Boko – that has inspired this peg board design post. As you’ll see by the photos here, there’s a whole lot of things that can be mounted onto a peg board!

via Curate & Display

mel_zag

via Vintage Revivals

via The Merry Thought

via Loyal Supply

via A Girl & A Glue Gun

via Nordic Days

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save