room crush: my parents' new office

The weekend before last The Fox and I visited my parents new home. It's a 1950's ranch/bungalow-style house that sits on a large corner lot with a traditional influence. It was previously owned by an elderly couple, so naturally the inside is dated. But with a little TLC, it's going to be a charming little home.

I inherited my love for homes, style and decorating from my mom. She's very talented and loves the unusual as much as I do. That's why I love visiting. Especially, when I can help her unpack and decorate! Which is what I was there to do!

The first few times I simply helped my parents unpack their many, many boxes. Some might say my mom's a hoarder, but collector is more preferred :). Nonetheless, we had to get all the great stuff she had packed, out and ready to find a home! This time we were working on the office.

We arrived Friday evening and immediately started working. Most of the boxes were unpacked, but we needed to sort. I give you, the before:

After working 'til about midnight, we retired to our rooms. This was mine and The Fox's (which is also adorable, even as a work in progress...)

With breakfast on the mind, we were up in the morning and ready for a day full of sorting, organizing and DECORATING!

By the end of the weekend we were exhausted, but the end result made it worth every second. Like I've said before, a decorator's home is never finished, but we have to start somewhere. I give you, the after:

Go ahead. Take a look back at the before. It's kinda unbelievable. And do you see all the cool stuff my mom has??? I'm jealous.

I guess you're wondering what the thing below is, right? Well, I'd seen this idea once before and my sister reminded me of it a few months ago when she saw it online, but it's a vintage bed spring. When my mom was moving, I told her she had to keep it. I knew we could do something fun with it. And we did. Feast your eyes on her new office "pegboard." 

Hung with little hooks and clamps, we decorated the spring with a mix of functional and decor items. Including baskets (which we hope to spray black) for small items, a place for stamps/notes, a wall pocket for scissors, a cluster of paint swatches for her other rooms, and clamped vintage images/valentines from my mom's childhood.

We used an old Scottie planter as her pen cup and a Ball jar for her rulers/paint brushes. The royal blue jar is a cold cream container that we used for rubber bands.

The pie rack (at least we think that's what this is) is where we hid all the office stuff like extra paper, envelopes, pens/pencils/markers, etc. In an office, everything (or at least most everything) should have a use. Like the basket on the right, which holds her extra note pads. 

I don't even have 1 turtle shell. Love these!

And then the bookshelves. This was a challenge for both of us, but finally it came together. My parents have a lot of books, so this shelf was the perfect place for them.

And that's it. There are still other rooms in the house we need to work on, but this was by far one of my favorites. I can't wait to go back and work on the formal living room. We have lots of ideas for that room...

Stay tuned! And happy decorating!