My New Office

I am back with the final photos of my completed office, well at least for now, I am always mixing things up as my business needs change and grow.  I promised to tell you why I wanted a bigger office so here it is; the larger office is in preparation for the launch of my new on-line pattern business and eventually an on-line fabric & notions shop.  I am so excited about both ventures that I wanted to have everything in place and ready to go as things progressed.  In the past I would start or expand a business with no idea how or where to put it and end up behind the eight ball, not this time around, I am ready with room to grow when necessary.  This new space gives me lots of room and freedom to draft and create patterns without having to go too far to sew up the test samples, just right across the hall; low to no overhead is always good. In my last post I shared some of the accessories I used as the jumping off point for the color and room theme which is blues, greens, yellows and botanical prints, very calm and soothing. I have lots of photos to share so let’s get to it right away since this is a long one with lots of eye candy!

These beginning photos show the desk between two IKEA EXPEDITE bookcases already loaded with office supplies and work binders.  I also used some of the soft sided CLOSETMAID Cubeicals fabric drawers from Target for storage for the things I did not want visible. (I will be doing an organization post on items I used in the room with close up photos.) So far I am not sure about the desk placement, I am not crazy about facing the wall and the added glare to my computer screen, I am thinking of swinging out my desk and facing the window, time will tell.

On the opposite side of the room is another bookcase turned on its side with one of the tower bookcases on the end forming an L shape work/storage area for more supplies, my wireless printer and paper cutters.  Several more bookcases can be stacked on top of each other to create more storage for bolts of fabric down the line. For the time being I can use the top of the bookcase as a work surface for packaging and cutting.  Eventually a cutting table will be added in the middle of the room when I add fabric into the mix. For the time being I left the wall decal up because I like the cool colors which give the room a little added extra playful outdoor feeling.

These are the window wall photos, tough to get a good image with my current camera but you get the idea anyway.  I really love, love, love my new chevron striped curtains the colors are cool to look at and tie all the elements in the room together.  Remember to always have one item in a room which helps to make all the rest of the pieces make sense in some way, either by color, shape, style or theme, in this case it is the drapery that does it in this room.

 I was not pleased with the large space over the desk, something was missing.  I tried all my smaller bulletin boards from my old space but they were lost on that wall.  I took a cruise through my Pinterest boards and found I pinned a lot of large bulletin boards made of all kinds of different materials.  A trip to my outside studio revealed leftover lumber from our kitchen island build out and some foam insulation packing material from a large shipment.  I had what I needed to create my oversize bulletin board I just needed a large piece of fabric to complement the other elements in the room.  After checking my fabric wall I did not find any and since our quilt shop closed I was stuck, off to Target I went to look for sheets, drapes or shower curtains to use in place of bolt fabric.  I found a great shower curtain with just the right botanical print and colors, I was in business.  My hubby cut the board to fit the foam pieces, we sprayed the board with adhesive spray and mounted the foam.  Once it was dry I cut the shower curtain to fit and  used my new heavy duty staple gun to tack down the fabric.  I recommend turning the fabric under before stapling it in place to keep it from ripping.  I added two pieces of ribbon to section off the board just to add a little pizazz and create separate spaces for information. 

I am very happy with how the bulletin board came out, it really pulled the whole work area together with just the right colors.

Last but not least are some photos of where those small bulletin boards from the old office landed in the new office. I decided to use every available space and wall to its fullest extent by placing the smaller boards on the sides of the bookcases next to my desk and my printer.  I also used the other side of the bookcase by my desk to place the blue wall mount envelopes I use to collect my assorted papers and receipts on, no wasted spaces here.  Last but not least I placed the largest of the bulletin boards, my clock and a cabinet on the short wall between the closet and the doorway; it is the smallest space and the one I love the most! 

My new office is light, cheerful and fun, the perfect place to write blogs, design patterns and run a business from, I am a very lucky lady. Thanks for letting me go on and on about my new creative space, I hope it inspires you to possibly add a bit of light and playfulness to your workplace.

See you soon.

Laurette

Sorry about the font size change, every now and then Blogger gets a technical glitch I have no control over! Yikes!