Useful and Beautiful :: Office

Okay, so last week for the William Morris Project, I shared some of the lessons that I learned from our home office and the changes that came about as a direct result of twenty-three rolls of Scotch tape. Sometimes it really is the little things in life. This week, I'd like to welcome you into our office, a space that no longer causes me to feel sick to my stomach or worry that some guest will decide to poke and pry behind closed doors (oh yes,it has happened).

Just in case you forgot (or missed) what the office looked like before, here's a painful reminder:

 

And, remember what it looked like about halfway through the process?

  

Wait for it...

TA DA!

       

Yes, the closet doors can open, but even better - they close!

Once most of the not-so-fun stuff was done, I pulled out the paint and Mod Podge and got to work making my plain-Jane Office Max clipboards into works of inspiring art. Pinterest was both the inspiration, as well as the source for all of the quotes that I used. I re-sized the artwork using Microsoft Publisher, painted the clipboards, and slapped on a coat of Mod Podge before laying down the prints, and two final coats of MP.

As you can see with the William Morris quote, I even got a little wild with the MP and some tissue paper on the top half of the clip board. Peter set up the hanging board so the clipboards are easy to pull off when I need to use them, and they can be used as art and inspiration when they're on the wall. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out, and considering the fact that I am the farthest thing from Martha Stewart, I'd say that anyone could make a similar project!

I was thrilled that I finally got a chance to display some of the artwork and memorabilia that we brought back from our travels around the world. I filled a shadow box (that I found while cleaning out) with items that we collected in various African countries, hung our favorite postcards from Lesotho (see photo above), and discovered a perfect way to hang our baskets from Indonesia. Now when I walk into our office, instead of being depressed because we've returned home (long story), I'm inspired by all of the places that we were able to live and the experiences that we had.

       

But the best part of the whole project?

After more than a year of hoping that if I ignored the room, it would take care of itself...
I can see the floor.



For more inspiration, make sure you check out the weekly William Morris Project at Pancakes & French Fries.

I'm also linking up to: