New Office Chairs

I'm working on getting pictures of my office to share, but I thought you might like to see the desk chairs we decided on in the meantime?

Our new desk is really long (long enough for two large work stations), so I wanted to buy a pair of matching desk chairs. I wanted them to be good looking and super comfortable, so I figured I needed to buy vintage. I scoured craigslist and eBay for a month or two looking for a pair of reasonably priced Miller/Eames aluminum group management chairs. But since I needed two, and I didn't want to buy a new knock-off version, I struck out a lot in my pretty specific search. Most pairs were going to cost at least $1000 or more (no bueno).

Then I saw this gorgeous chair on the One Kings Lane Windsor Smith sale.

It was about $1000 I think, but it had been newly reupholstered (I LOVE the lavender linen!!).

Anyway, it got me to broaden my search parameters to just simply 'vintage office chairs' and that same day I found the perfect chairs for my office space.

They were made mid-century by company called Jansko. They are super comfortable (though I'm sure not as comfortable as the Eames chairs would have been) .

And the price? Only $135 for the pair! I got them from this great eBay seller, who has lots of fun retro/vintage furniture. He shipped them well and fast.

I love the bright blue color! Sort of reminds me of Kate Spade's (much more beautiful) blue leather desk chair.

Happy Memorial Day!! See you next week. xx

Vintage Phones

Do you use a land line still? They are a bit of a dying breed it seems. For years my husband and I used our cell phones as our primary numbers and we didn't have a land line phone at all. Then when I opened up my decorating business a couple years ago, I had to get a fax machine (ridiculous in and of itself), which requires a land line. I surprised myself with how much I actually enjoy using the house phone. Crystal clear calls that never drop and it makes me feel all business-y and professional. :) The sad news is our phone is ugly, as seen here:

I really really want a vintage phone. They are just so dang cute. I know the cord situation is not all that practical, but I make 95% of the calls at my desk anyway. And when I say vintage, I mean vintage looking with modern wiring and parts. Something refurbished would be ideal for me, but if you're up for a challenge, check eBay, etsy or local thrifts for inexpensive and truly vintage phones.

If there were no limitations, I'd spring for one of these pretties from Old Phone Works, favorite of big budget decorators like Miles Redd (in House Beautiful) and Nate Turner (in Domino).

These run between $200 and $300.

I am so crazy over this blue one. Is it possible for a phone cord to be chic? This one is.

Lindsey Coral Harper used a cute red phone in her bathroom.

This one ($50) looks nearly identical:

This red phone is pretty great (also available in black and chrome for around $50). I like that there are push buttons in the shape of a rotary. All that slow turning would get old. In fact, one of my earliest memories is watching my grandmother use the old ivory-colored rotary phone in her kitchen. I remember thinking it took a long time to get all those numbers dialed. Sure looked cool though!

Pretty Office

I've been perusing old Blueprint issues before bed for the past few days. Sometimes I feel like Blueprint was awesome and then other aspects of the magazine confused me. (probably why there was only 8 issues?)

Like this office was really cute. But why would I spend $500 on just the legs of the desk (from tablelegs.com), and then pay a carpenter to make a custom top? And then have to paint the whole thing?

I do love the kelly green wall color though. and the white desk on the colorful rug (from the rug company).

{For your own budget version of this space, try using Ben Moore's Jade Green on the walls, this desk from IKEA, and this rug from Overstock.}

Also, if you're in the market for computer desks, maybe consider this one. I think it has lots of potential with a fun chair.

Found My Office Chair

Check out one of the pieces I got at my Wednesday furniture auction:

A vintage office chair that's actually really comfortable.

I love the way it looks from behind with all that gorgeous wood!

I'm going to keep the pretty tufting when I reupholster the piece next month. I'm thinking a charcoal linen would be pretty.

Other than that, a little Bar Keeper's Friend for the rusted steel and some Restor-A-Finish for the scratch up veneer, and this chair will look great in my new office (which is technically just one half of our new living room! :)

New Office Chair

I'm in the market for a new desk chair. I'm considering upholstering a vintage craigslist find in a fun fabric, a la Ames Ingham. She reupholstered an Eames Management chair (which would be a dream come true for me to find on CL)...

Domino

Rethinking My Bookshelves

As much as I like the look of books arranged by color, this images has me seriously rethinking my approach to bookshelves...

I would love to have a colorful library just like this.



Image via See Saw Designs.

Lacquer Boxes

About a year ago, I was super inspired by this image of lacquer boxes in bold colors with sharp black borders.


The price tag was in the hundreds for these boxes though (I think from Vivre or Plantation Home?), so I went the DIY route with some basic wood pieces from IKEA.

I gave them all of the boxes two coats of turquoise craft paint.


Then I taped off the edges and painted in the black borders.


Then I spray painted everything with lacquer (though, if I was doing it now I would use my favorite Wipe-On Poly in gloss).



I don't think I'm tricking any visitors into thinking that I spent hundreds of dollars on these boxes in my office, but I like them!

The Office

I painted the 500 lb credenza over the weekend, which spurred the official decorating of my office. By Monday night the last coat of poly had cured and we brought the furniture inside. Tuesday morning I headed down to my basement to go 'shopping' for my sorely neglected office, a long and narrow room off our living room. Seriously, the office was a mess - boxes still everywhere.

The dreaded Before shot. The contents of my desk were all over the floor while my desk was getting a face lift.

Here's how I put the room together with almost no money:

1. Revamped Parsons Desk

I bought a vintage Parsons desk on Craigslist a year or two ago for almost nothing. This is after I sanded it.


I had painted it a fun green color, but now I wanted a sort of dingy pale aqua color, similar to Martha Stewart for Valspar "Vintage Map." Since the desk is pretty small, I decided to save money on paint and mixed my own color using some glossy white latex and a little bit of turquoise and brown acrylic craft paint.


I rolled on the paint with a mini-roller and did about three coats. After letting the last coat dry overnight, I used my favorite product - Wipe On Poly. Yes, it's as easy and awesome as it sounds. Polyurethane sealer that you wipe on.

Action shots!!

Two good coats of Wipe-on in "Gloss" and 24 hours of curing time and the Parsons desk looked as good as new.



2. DIY Fabric Shade

I used about a yard and a half of linen from my stash and a roll of 1.5" red grosgrain to make a fabric shade for the window. It still needs to be lined, but it's not bad for a $0 project. Here are the instructions for making your own.



3. New (old) RED Credenza.


After reading this post from Nick Olsen a while back, I picked up a couple cans of Rustoleum's 'Saftey Red' Spray Enamel at Home Depot for a client's project. We ended up going with a different color scheme, but I kept the spray paint. And I'm so glad I was able to use it on this project! Isn't it a fun color? The perfect orange-red.


Since I know you will ask -- I did prime the credenza first. Well. Part of the credenza - just the top since that's the part that gets the most wear.


I rolled on my trusty Zinsser and let it dry while I worked some magic on the dingy brass hardware with white vinegar and salt.

The credenza ended up needing two or three coats of the spray enamel. Because I invested $2.95 in this reusable spray painting nozzle/trigger/thing, my pointer finger and I are still on speaking terms. AND the paint job looks professionally sprayed.

The freshly painted credenza got two coats of Wipe-On Poly as well and it was done. I love the way the cleaned up brass hardware looks against the orangey red!



4. Pretty Inspiration Boards

I picked up a pair of very cheap cork boards and painted the frames with that same yellow paint that I used in my girls room (Martha Stewart "Olive Oil"). No need to tape or to be careful with the paint job here since the cork will be covered up.


I measured and cut up some old fabric that I bought for a project and never used (--Are you picking up on a theme here??) and simply ran a line of fabric glue around the border of the cork board. I glued one edge at a time and smoothed like crazy so that the fabric would lay perfectly flat. (PS the fabric is an outdoor print made by Waverly, called "Lovely Lattice" in Lagoon)

Then I fabric glued on some red gimp/trim to cover any imperfections or gaps in the border.


I hung up the refinished cork boards about five minutes before taking pictures, so I haven't had a chance to really style them yet with inspiration stuff, but that can be a fun ongoing project.





The rest of the room was put together with stuff I already had. An IKEA rug, an eBay lamp, some prints from a vintage shop, etc.





And that's it for my (basically) $0 office redo! I've got some sort of cold/flu situation happening, so I think I'm going to call it weekend. See you back here Monday?

xoxo, Jenny

Sneak Peek: Office

My office went from nothing to something special in about 5 hours yesterday. Total dollars spent = $45, and 40 of that was for this behemoth...



I have to run off now to a furniture auction I just heard about called Dixon's in Crumpton, MD. It's supposed to be amazing. But please come back tomorrow for the full recap on my office face lift...

Hardware Obsession

I completely fell in love with this credenza posted a few weeks ago on Design*Sponge. I love the blue painted finish, but I really LOVE the amazing brass hardware. The image was filed away in my brain for future reference...


Every Tuesday and Friday here in Dover, there is a flea market called Spence's. It's a lot of junk - plastic knock off handbags and shady toiletries aplenty - but there is a healthy vintage/antiques section. Every time I go to Spence's I've picked up one or two fun knick-knacks for around a buck each. Then we hit up the Amish food market for beautiful fresh produce and out-of-this-world baked goods. It's been a fun weekly thing for our family.

Most of the flea market area is full of smaller stuff, but there is a tiny furniture section that's never really tempted me before. Today though, I spied this guy under a pile of old table linens...
Hmm. Looks very familiar...


$40 later and he was mine.


So exciting, right? A couple coats of glossy oil-based paint and a little Bar Keeper's Friend on the hardware will do wonders here. The plan is to put it in my office to hide my fax machine and giant printer/scanner. Can't wait to show you the 'after' pictures!