Office Space....LMM style

I'm very excited to finally have my own little desk space.  Originally, when we took our house off the market, and I realized we would be staying here, and that I didn't have an office to call my own, I began hunting.  I knew that I wanted a simple table design.  I knew I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars.  I knew I wanted real wood.  I knew I wanted it to look old, beat up, worn out, and well loved.  I knew I wanted a pop of color on the table itself, and I knew there was no way I was going to find everything I wanted for the price I wanted to pay.  So I did the next best thing, and asked my brother to make me one.

I really love how it turned out.  I used Minwax Special Walnut stain for the first layer, brushing it on a little at a time, and then wiping it off.  After that dried overnight, I used Sherwin Williams Pro Classic water based paint in Jargon Jade, and painted the whole thing.  Once that layer was dry, I freaked out momentarily, because it was a super bright, albeit darling color. Finally, I hit the whole thing with my sander, taking a good portion of the paint layer off.

 It was almost perfect after that step, but I really wanted a little more depth, so I went back over the whole thing with a rag and more stain, being careful to rub it in all over.  I got really excited at this point, because it suddenly looked exactly like the picture in my head.  You know what I mean right?  I had this mental picture that I really hoped it would turn out to look like, and when it did, I was thrilled!

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this, but I love office supplies, and cute stationery.  I love pens, pencils, colored pencils, little notebooks, pretty folders, and anything like that. 

 I would hate to break from blogger tradition, so from this point forth, I'll proceed to present you with a zillion photos, from random angles, of my desk.  Bwahahahaaha!  (You know it's true... we all do it.)  These seagrass boxes were a find at TJ Maxx a few years ago, and have moved all over my house.  Now they store cards, office supplies, cords, chargers, cordless mouse... all the ugly stuff. 

 See?  Ugly.

 I love how nothing matches, but everything coordinates. 

 

I have had these three little cups forever!  I got them in a three pack at Ikea, but used rub-on letters to create the "etc." 

From now on, you'll know where I blog!  I love this spot in our home too, because to my left, I see our glass sliding doors that lead out to the trampoline and backyard, and to my right is the front door where I can see the bike riding and fun that happens out there.  It's a perfect spot for monitoring things.  My headquarters, if you will.  I feel like I suddenly have eyes in the back of my head.   

I love the collection of favorite items hanging on the wall.  I can just look up at all the silhouettes of my kiddos and smile, remembering how little they were when I made the first ones, and seeing how they have grown to the most recent ones...  

Sigh.

Happy.