Office/studio: Functional and fun

I've slowly been working to transform our basement office/studio from a cold, dysfunctional, disorganized mess...

into an inviting, inspirational and fun space for studying and creating. It's a mis-matched look, but I think all the pieces came together really well.

This room truly is a compilation of leftovers and things that didn't fit elsewhere in the house. The record player table is an old unused end table that was saved from the dumpster and painted. The small black box holding records was formerly a printer stand.

The sewing machine table was once a dining table in small apartments. The red chair was a madeover dumpster find.

It's so nice to have two clear workspaces available. Dan's been using the desk quite a bit while he's doing MBA classwork.

Much of the artwork and accessories were still in boxes from when we moved more than two years ago.

The only recent purchases were the "Make Art" print and the Nelson repro clock (a TJ Maxx find).

I wasn't crazy about the stain color on the closet doors, but once I got the sewing machine table in and the plank of wood above the desk up, the closet doors didn't stick out as much.

All the red accents just sort of fell into place without any effort.

I debated whether or not to re-paint, but ultimately decided I didn't want to waste my time. The wall color is super drab. (I think previous owners of the house must have color matched the paint to a beige outlet cover plate. Not kidding.) But I was able to brighten the space with art instead of paint and I don't even notice the beige now.

I still want to change out the computer desk and bulky gray desk chair, but the space is organized, functional and a whole lot more pleasant than it was before.

Stay tuned for a later post with details about some of the artwork.

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