Office Tour

I'm so excited to share my new office with y'all!
About a month ago I first found out I was going to get my very own office. My first thought was "I got to get my diplomas framed!" I was beyond thrilled and couldn't wait to start planning/decorating and making it my own. I'm only being slightly dramatic when I say it felt like I was getting a home. My first call {after the husband} was to my mom and we immediately got to work. She really helped me to put the "look" together. I explain to her what I'm thinking {in my own broken decorating language} and she somehow makes it happen. That's how we work. Seriously, couldn't have done this without her.

First the before...
I apologize for the awful blurry phone picture. I didn't think anyone but mom was going to see these, but alas in the midst of all the "moving in" excitement I totally forgot to take before pictures with my big girl camera. It wasn't a bad before, just a little sparse and in need of some personal touches.

And now, the after...

Curtains & Grey and Yellow Pillows: Homegoods

While we bought a few things, most of it was DIY projects. 

Mom found the two chairs at a garage sale and picked them up for cheap. They looked fine before, but just didn't fit what I was thinking. Remember my obsession with Annie Sloan paint? Yup, she came to the rescue again! So easy to paint! However, reupholstering the chairs, totally different story. If I never pull another staple out of a chair it will be too soon!

My favorite part?

This bookshelf that we built! I got the idea from one of James' friends. Mom and I took a picture to Lowes and asked a guy for help. He had serious doubts about our abilities and told us we were better off buying a bookshelf. His doubts made us all the more confident... and we planned on having dad do the building all along. I do know what floor flange is now and that we will never again use the belt sander without supervision

I love having place for all my old school books, and James loves that they aren't in the apartment anymore!

I love it so hard and love going into work everyday!
Thanks for letting me give you a tour! Happy Thursday!

Better In Color

Happy October!

For some reason I feel so grown up doing my first DIY project!

James' parents gave us the dresser that James used as a kid when we got our apartment. While there wasn't anything wrong with the dresser as it was, I thought a little freshening up couldn't hurt. My mom is an interior designer who I'm convinced could make a paper bag look like art. While I have ideas and have no clue what to do she understands and makes things happen!

This is the dresser my mom and dad have that I'm obsessed with. When I told her I wanted to do something similar to my new dresser she was confident we could make magic happen.

Here's the dresser before we did anything to it.
Aside from needing to reattach some of the handles it wasn't in bad shape.

We used Annie Sloan Chalk paint and wax for the project.

Seriously y'all, if you haven't used this stuff it's the JAM!
If you've ever painted before you know how much of a hassle it can be. First you have to sand {no thanks}, then you have to prime {I'd rather not}, and finally you have to paint on numerous coats to get good coverage {yawn}.
This stuff takes away all those steps. No sanding, no priming, and only two coats for great coverage!
Since it's chalk paint and we didn't want it rubbing off there were a few more steps after painting, but if I can learn how to do it anyone can.

Side note: I learned the lighting in our apartment is AWFUL! I apologize for the pictures I was
too lazy excited to use my tripod.

Since we didn't have to prime or sand the first step was painting. Usually I get bored painting after about two paint strokes; however, painting with this stuff is, dare I say it... fun!
We put two coats on the dresser and the drawers and then we were done for the day to let the paint dry.

So... when James got home from work and saw phase I of the project he was a little less than thrilled. I was in love already, but the color was a lot brighter than he was anticipating. Thankfully he is a great sport and trusted the vision.

Day 2 consisted of lots and lots of waxing! Like I said above, Annie Sloan is chalk paint so wax has to be put on top so the paint doesn't chip.
First we put on clear wax: spread it on, let it dry, and wipe it off.
Then we sanded the edges to add character.
Lastly we put on [then wiped off] a darker wax to age it up.

The drawer on the left is before we added the dark wax and the right drawer is after:

Ta Da!! It's almost finished!

We ordered these drawer pulls. Yup, I just said drawer pull... learned what those were two days ago! Now we're just waiting on them to come in from China.
Beautiful right?!?

Etsy

I'm not sure if I've said this or not but, I LOVE our old dresser with a new look!
Can't wait to see how it looks when it's completely done!