Back in early February, I shared our updated office. Little did I know there would be another overhaul before it was officially declared finished. It’s done now and we’re 1/6th of the way to a decorated house (two years after we moved in….).

The before: 

And the after:

Originally the room was olive green, until last month when we had the house all painted one solid color (Burberry Beige, but I don’t recall the brand our painters used). I’m pretty much in love with the color. The best way I can describe it is a very warm greige.

With the upcoming new roommate we’re gaining, we’re losing our guest room. The couch in the office was several years old and had seen better days. We decided to replace it with a sofa bed. The office has a door and will make a decent guest room for the few times a year we have overnight guests. I collected the throw pillows at some point over the summer, once we determined Alfred no longer chews on anything other than his toys.

We originally had a cheap (literally $10) end table from IKEA next to the couch. I never thought much of it but apparently Greg hated it and finally came clean. I am not a mind reader, but I definitely can find a new end table if given the challenge. Next to the table is our gallery wall of feet. I love “from where I’m standing” photos and printed a handful out from our four years together.

So far we have prints from our engagement and wedding photos in 2012, a trip to the east coast in 2013, and a family shot from New Year’s Day 2014. The two nails waiting for frames will be filled with photos from our maternity and newborn shoots early next year. Can’t wait to complete the wall (for now) with those photos.

Our map wall hasn’t changed. I have a few new maps, but no frames and not a huge desire to put more holes in the wall at the moment.

Our office chairs were really uncomfortable and I decided I wanted something that looked a bit more interesting as well. The bookshelf has been rearranged (sadly practicality and Greg won over color coding) and houses a few new plants that haven’t died. Yet.

The pouf I made earlier in the year didn’t quite stand up to daily use. Not shocking at all, plus with it being cotton on hardwood, it collected dust bunnies like crazy. A faux leather, professionally made pouf should stand up to our wear and tear a bit more.

The one thing I am really sad to see go is the black and white striped rug. I loved that thing (and it’s relative will probably make an appearance in the nursery), but this is a very high traffic area and the white stripes were disgusting after a few months. We tried cleaning them but it just wasn’t happening. We ended up getting a rug to fill the entire room (it’s been great so far for adding warmth and Afred LOVES it) and stepped out of our comfort zone and went for the fun factor.

The last view is back to the door. It’s not all that exciting, but I love this print and wanted to make sure it made it an appearance. 

Really, it is. Life just keeps getting better.

The reason why this room looks clean (and it’s totally NOT because I picked up before taking these photos…) is that I took over the closet in this room and organized all my school/client and craft gear.

When you first open the door, straight ahead is a small bookshelf that houses my gigantic printer and then (clockwise from top right) office supplies and paper, current sewing projects and my machine, stationary, and nutrition business paperwork. Turning to the right is the awesome new pegboard Greg installed for me. Now my sewing and knitting tools all have a home. The craft cart is not new and houses all my Project Life and other paper project goods (and needs a serious cleaning out). Not pictured, in the corner, we store our upstairs vacuum and rolls of wrapping paper.

This closet has a ton of shelving that I’ve put to good use. Top left is more Project Life stuff (yes, I need to stop buying until I use up what I have) and below that is fabric and yarn not currently being used. On the top right is the new guest linen closet and below that are supplies for my nutrition business.

We spend 75% of our time at home in this room. We are really happy it’s done and we love how it came together. Next up is the kitchen, which we’ve been working on this month. I was hoping to finish in November, but I’m still on the hunt for one more 11×14 print for the wall. And we still have a few cupboards that need to be cleaned out.

The Goods

silver frames // end table // couch // throw pillows // desk top and legs // chairs // bookshelf (similar) // turquoise cart // rug // pouf // ‘the best is yet to come’ print // california coastal counties print // space needle art // ‘seattle eats local’ map // paris city map // san francisco and seattle neighborhood maps

It took me a while to collect the new pieces as I refuse to buy anything until it’s on sale or I get a coupon for a store (unless it’s Amazon or IKEA because sales and coupons don’t happen). Typically I find what I want and then wait for the store to have a sale on end tables or rugs or whatever it is before purchasing. Sometimes it can take a little while, but more often than not within a month or two I get my item at 20% off or so. I also use Ebates for everything I buy online.