Mia Bella Passions

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 a curtain store.

And an old brass thingy was bought from Trade Me for $16.

But let's 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 is a tiny wee room (it's 1.2 metres by 1.50 metres).

This 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, paint 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 in the stash.

It was a bit too dark,

So, to a half portion of the grey, I mixed in a half portion of white paint for a softer grey.

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,

and positioned beside the pinboard.

A driftwood heart made...

Click here for the instructions:
http://miabellapassion.blogspot.co.nz/2015/01/create-simple-driftwood-heart.html

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 placed on the desktop 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 remnant recovered it.

There was enough fabric for a padded cushion on top of the rattan stool.
Also to be used as a back support on the computer chair.

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 its wonderful shabby state.

The wicker rubbish bin,

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!)

Find out how to make them here:
http://miabellapassion.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/diy-chalkboard-labels.html

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 it was cute and would be useful in the office
for those random bits of paper, so I bought it for $16 including postage.
And as I am a naturally curious person, I 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 'Down Town Abbey' in my office!
The curly cue thingy is actually a Victorian 1890's brass letter holder - value about $100!
What a lovely surprise!