The Upstairs – Chapter 7 (the office is done!)

My office is done!

I spent more than I wanted to ($226.92 instead of $150), but when I set my stingy budget, buying a new chair wasn't on my radar. So with that in mind, I actually think I rocked my budget.

And, moving on to the good stuff – the photos. :)

Before
Because of the room switcheroo, I have 2 before photos.

Here is the room the office got moved too:


Here was what the original office looked like:
After

My latest Craigslist deal

The current desk chair for our office is one of those big, black leather ones. While it's not my style, Brent sits in it 99.9% more than I do – so I wasn't going to be one to pick fights.

I thought fate intervened while we were moving last summer. While the chair was chilling in the POD for that month, some Windex spilled on out from another box. (Just a hint: if you leave Windex on leather for a month, it will kick its butt. A follow-up tip to the hint: don't store cleaning supplies in a POD).

When Brent showed me what happened to his chair, I was delighted. I thought we could finally move on to an office chair with more of a modern touch. But to my horror, the chair made it upstairs to the office. So now I was left with a chair that wasn't my style with some very obvious rips in it. Lovely.

Then a miracle happened. Several weeks ago, Brent and I were catching up on TV, and he was flipping through the new CB2 catalog, when he said "I could handle a chair like this for the office." Once I got passed being too nervous to look, I was thrilled to see he was eying a bungee chair. Thank God.

CB2 had the chair listed at $189, and being the deal-hunter that I am, my first thought was – I can do better. Ummm, clearly I had no idea how much bungee chairs usually go for. After seeing chair after chair for $300, $189 plus tax and shipping, started to sound like a bargain.

But then I went back to my dear friend Craigslist and found this guy listed for $150.


Even better, this chair was just used for staging, so it lacked the wear and tear. Even better than that, I talked the guy down to $125. While I'm not positive where this chair is from, Target has the same chair for $259.99. :)

Brent just called to say the bungee chair is in his car, and I am thrilled to see it in the office. I know this chair put me over on my ridiculously small office-makeover budget, but it was totally worth it. Plus, I wasn't expecting to get a new chair. I really thought I'd be stuck with that old leather beast for forever.

Design Time: "Glamour: Making it Modern"

When I go to the library I’m guilty of forgetting non-fiction books are also housed there. I get very into my routine of running in, picking up my books on hold and then leaving right away. So when I remember things like cookbooks and interior designs books are also available, I get in my “this is the best idea ever” mode.

I’m excited to report that I checked out my first interior-design books ever. (I know, it was a big day for me).

The book I was most excited about is “Glamour: Making It Modern” by Michael Lassell, which is a collection of Metropolitan Home goodies. As you can probably tell from my living room, I’m a slight fan of the style.

If you aren’t familiar with the modern-glam style, I think interior designer Michael Berman describes it best

“When a client says ‘glamour,’ it’s code for ‘Design our home so people will swoon when they visit.’”

While I didn’t actually learn anything new about the glamour style in the text, the pictures were amazing. Here’s a few of my favorites:

Do you have any favorite design or organization books? I'd love to hear about them.

The great debate – new vs old

New houses are not my thing.

I grew up in a Cape Code built in the ‘50s, and it was love ever since. When Brent and I started our home search last year, and he suggested looking at new houses, I may have looked at him as if he suggested barbequing a kitten.

I’m not morally opposed to new houses, and I don’t judge those who buy them. But I do judge those who buy new houses when they brag about the fact that it’s new, like that somehow makes it better.

There are pros and cons to both new and old houses. Newer is not always better. I think kitchen appliances are the perfect example of that. My oven is more than 40 years old, and I’m rather positive it will outlast any “new” oven in a new house today. Also, newer constructions don’t automatically have hardwood floors underneath their carpet. And I haven’t even gotten to that thing called character.

Granted, I definitely make sacrifices living in an older home. My master bathroom is tiny, and there definitely isn’t a huge Whirlpool tub waiting for me at the end of the day. The thing I’m the most jealous of though are the kitchen pantries – just a tiny difference of who people lived then and now.

Brent and I love to go to Costco, but we always have to watch the amount we buy because of space. But, I’m excited to say for $37.99 we added a lot more room for food. When I was working on my cleaning-closet makeover, I mentioned wanting to get something for the back door. Well, I finally did, and I love it.

I bought this ClosetMaid masterpiece at Home Depot. I am so excited to go to Costco again, so this shelve can be put to even better use.

Ugh, I realize that was a terrible transition into what I bought. It all sounded way better in my head. Promise.

Craigslist Awesomeness: Kansas City

Retro end table – $30
4 chairs – $127
Sofa and chair – $350
Dresser – $75
Media stand – $75
Armoire – $60

Reader Question: Some Illustrator Help

I got this email from Susan:

Hi, I am an avid reader of your blog and have been trying to use your directions to print out my own dog silhouettes using illustrator but am having issues...how did you fill your image with color? Is there anyway you could help a newbie to illustrator out by providing more detailed step by step instructions? I would appreciate it very much! I love your living room!!


Thanks for the email Susan! Illustrator is a tricky program to learn. I use it almost on a daily basis for work, and still have many things to learn.

Here are some hopefully super easy (or at least visual) directions on how to create a dog silhouette in Illustrator.

(Please note that my Illustrator is CS4 for a Mac. While this shouldn’t make a difference, if my program looks a tad different in the photos – that is why).

1. Once the photo is in Illustrator, select the photo and hit the Live Trace button.

2. You’ll notice that Live Trace will start the process of making the image your own.

3. Select a Preset (shown in the first arrow). The best way to get to know what each preset does is to try them all. Once you find the appropriate Preset for your image, click Expand.
4. Congratulations, you just created a vector image. A vector image is the best possible image to have – it means you can increase the size of your image as much as you want without distorting it. So go ahead and increase the image to the size you need.

5. If your artboard isn’t the correct size (you can see in photo 4 how small mine is), go to Document Setup and then click Edit Artboard. From there you’ll be able to adjust the artboard to your liking.
6. Want to change the color of your image? Click the new swatch button, and then the color mode you want. I also select CMYK, but that’s a personal preference. ☺
7. Adjust the color to the exact shade you want.
8. Now that the color is saved, you’ll be able to access it in 2 places. To get the object to fill with the color you made, select your object with the second arrow tool.
9. To make a border, use the box tool.
10. Done!

February's Books

I can't believe it's March now. How crazy is that?

Anyway...here's my book nerd stats:
Books read in February: 2
Books listened to in February: 6

So how did I go from reading 11 books in January to my 2 in February? It’s called the Olympics, painting stripes in the office and the slowness of “The Poisonwood Bible” (I literally read that book the entire month…and some of January).

Books:
12. “Shadowland” by Alyson Noel (Immortals #3)
13. “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver

Audiobooks:
6. “In the Woods” by Tana French
7. “Along for the Ride” by Sarah Dessen
8. “Vision in White” by Nora Roberts (Bride Quartet #1)
9. “Cat & Mouse” by James Patterson (Alex Cross #4)
10. “A Touch of Dead” by Charlaine Harris
11. “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise” by Ruth Reichl

Favorite book of the month:
“Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise” by Ruth Reichl
This book is my favorite surprise. I had heard great things about it, but I was hestitant. While I can get by in the kitchen, there is a reason my blog is about décor and not my cooking. I was nervous this book would filled with food terms I’d never even heard of. Wow, was I ever wrong. This book was funny and interesting – with all the different disguises Ruth created to go unnoticed in restaurants.

Biggest Disappointment:
“Cat & Mouse” by James Patterson (Alex Cross #4)