I'm not kidding! The whole office makeover cost a mere $18.
How I hear you asking?...
Well I simply used, reused, rearranged, painted, covered, and glued
a whole lot of decor items I already had,
as well as making and creating some new things.
There was a cost of $2 for a piece of gorgeous striped remnant fabric
from Guthrie Bowron.
And an old brass thingy was bought of Trade Me for $16.
But lets start at the beginning of the story.
This is how it looked before the $18 makeover...
The office was OK as it was,
it was functional.
But there was too much clutter,
not a lot of organisation, too many wires,
and not a lot of pretty!
This tiny wee room (it's 1.2 metres by 1.50 metres)
is where I spend a whole lot of time,
so I thought I would make it a bit more ME.
I'm quite fond of the green colour
( sorry colour unknown)
A touch up here and there was all that was needed.
While I was rummaging through the tins of paint in the garage
looking for the paint for the touch ups,
I found some Grey (no name on the tin) Dulux paint.
It was a bit too dark,
so to 1/2 of that, I mixed in 1/2 white for a softer grey colour.
And that spruced up the desktop.
The pin/mood board was turned around and hung horizontally.
A large metal cross was relocated from the hall,
A gorgeous artwork of a moth that was drawn by my daughter
was put in a frame from the cupboard and hung.
Pens were popped into daisy wire containers that were ex-candle holders.
A whitewashed crate was put to the side to use as an 'inbox'.
The hulk (alias the printer)found a new home
atop an old chest of drawers with vintage handles,
this was moved to the office from a bedroom.
The office chair carried many a coffee stain,
the $2 piece of fabric recovered it.
and became a padded cushion on top of the rattan stool.
Also to be used as a back support on the computer chair.
This is how I made it:
http://miabellapassion.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/diy-chair-cushion.html
A piece of striped fabric was popped into the mouse pad cover.
I know that many would shout paint it!
But the wood edge of the desk remains as is in it's wonderful shabby state.
which had most definitely seen better days
was bound around the top with some jute string.
Yes, I know that it's 'rustic',
but it blends well with the rattan stool.
I made sweet wee chalk board labels made from recycled cardboard...
(We're sticking to the rustic theme!)
Baskets for storage and a pretty metal vase
were rehomed to the office from other areas of the house...
A potted orchid was brought inside from the deck.
But then I changed my mind....
as you do!
For an orchid in a yellow pot,
because I thought a little more colour would look nicer.
(The orchid is white when flowering).
And here is what it looks like now.
Isn't it fun when you buy something just because it's cute,
and then you find out it is valuable?
This is what happened with this...
advertised as a Curlycue Thingy on Trade Me.
I thought is was cute and would be useful in the office
for those random bits of paper,
so I bought it -$16 including postage.
And as I am a naturally curious person, sat and googled it,
because I wondered what this brass darling was really used for.
Research revealed its history,
and it's fascinating to know that I have a little 'Downtown Abbey' in my office!
The curly cue thingy is actually a Victorian 1890's brass letter holder
- value about $100!
What a lovely surprise!
I made some cute embellished button and embroidery pin tacks for the notice board...
Tutorial for how to make these is here:
An old coaster was covered in pretty fabric
(see how to do this here:)
http://miabellapassion.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/diy-coffee-coaster-fabric-makeover.html
No more coffee rings on the desktop!
So can you see how you can create a whole new look,
at a minimal cost, with a bit of effort and time,
just by thinking through what you already have?
And making a few selective purchases...
Before...
and after...
I'm loving my restyled office space!
Birds, art, French Country and a little shabby rusticness...
An office with
touches of the things I love!
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