Office Archives

How to Create an Outdoor Home Office

June 25, 2020

Who has a new coworker at home? My husband ended his lease and we are now officially in our own version of We Works. Except one of us is struggling with sharing her house. All of a sudden I am very aware of his presence when I am making a video, talking to a client about sold comps in their neighborhood, or walking around the house taking “stock” photos for the blog. Is it just me? So when we found a small patio size table it gave me a reason to create an outdoor home office.

I shared our small patio earlier this season, but I had bigger plans for a cozy outdoor home office.

And, that patio table I mentioned. I dragged my husband to his once a year trek to HomeGoods to search for patio options. It was close to our anniversary so when we saw the patio set I told him he just found my (our) anniversary gift. #wink

It was bamboo with navy accents and was the perfect size for a tablet and a cup of coffee.

HOW TO CREATE AN OUTDOOR HOME OFFICE

Add a Rug

An outdoor rug on a small patio defines the “walls” of a home office. And, makes it cozy. During a recent visit, my sister helped me find this rug at Walmart.

Elliott claimed it as his too! I wish this one was in a larger size.

Rearrange Furniture

I rearranged our patio furniture to create a little cozy corner. We have two large cement pots (one is rectangular) on the edge of the walkway that leads to the front yard. So, I strategically placed those cement containers on the edge to keep kids and dogs from barging “through” the outside patio office.

Electrical

The patio has an electrical outlet which comes in handy when my phone battery goes from 79% to 8% in one phone call! This is optional and I don’t think my husband has ever used his power cord outside.

I just like to have a Plan B.

Shade

The outdoor home office is private and shady until mid-day. The shade is a must for the electronics and Elliott.

Fountains

Okay, fountains are a splurge, but there are price points and options on Amazon. This was a cute one. Or this bamboo tabletop size fountain would match our table. I love the soothing sound of a fountain, but others may not be able to concentrate. Or, might find themselves needing a nap.

The patio is steps away from Elliott’s unofficial water cooler otherwise known as our fountain. I love the sound of a water feature.

We found ours at an Ace Hardware at the end of the summer season.

With both of us working from home I love the sound of the water fountain and my friend next door tells me she does too!

I rearranged the seating and now have my own little corner office among the pine trees.

And, because my husband and I share our work space he gets the patio from November-April. #wink #snarkywife

Thank you for stopping by and please check out a few of my recent porch and patio projects you can finish in an hour!

How to Repurpose a Vintage Find that is Not Haunted

January 8, 2020

I love when I find something I did not know I needed for my home. I love to figure out how to repurpose a vintage find. And, I love it more when I find a way how to repurpose a find that is vintage and not haunted.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I went thru a vintage store phase where, in between work or social commitments, I would stop into this popular vintage store south of Denver.

Ond day, in between the farmhouse finds and antiques I found a brassy, metal mailbox. I love mailboxes and sadly our suburban neighborhood does not have the individual mailboxes.

How to Repurpose a Vintage Find

I studied up on vintage mailboxes as I contemplated what to do with my find. Did you know in 1923 it was mandatory that every home had a mailbox? You can read the reason why here.

The challenge to repurpose a vintage find is to make sure it works with your home. And, just as important to make sure the vintage find is not haunted.

I learned this suggestion the hard way when my mother “gifted” me and my husband an antique rocking chair. It had been her family for a few generations in the Appalachian Mountains. It was covered in what appeared to be decades of dust.

My husband never liked this chair. I would find it in the garage for a variety of reasons; it was tilted, it was not safe for a child. Finally, my husband confided he was completely creeped out by the rocking chair.

Kind of like our basement in our first home. I’ll save that for another day.

He found a reason to haul it to the garage when the rocking chair mysteriously cracked-

better the rocking chair leg, than my husband. #wink

Thankfully, the mailbox was non-threatening. I planned to have it next to our back door to hold keys or dog leases. Unfortunately, neither keys nor dog leashes were needed next to the door that leads to the backyard.

Needless to say, that mailbox went around the block (house) a few times before it found its forever home in my home office.

With an ongoing office refresh, the vintage mailbox found a new home in my office, right next to the door. I painted it a sloppy coat of Hale Navy paint to give a pop of color on the Revere Pewter walls.

Of course, I did not grab a before photo. Epic blog fail!

And, in hindsight the brassy finish would look amazing in my recently repainted home office.

This vintage mailbox was a cute addition above the light switch. I loved the serendipity moment when I realized the mailbox ended up next to a door. Maybe not the front door, but my home office door.

Serendipity, right?

With the tiny door lift, centered on the front of the mailbox, the mailbox was ready for a re-purposed life.

Although this mailbox no longer holds the local newspaper I want to find a purpose for the scrolled arms.

Please leave any suggestions in the comments.

But, what I love most about this mailbox is it reminds us of the low tech version of mail delivery.

The little key entry on the front panel reminds us of a simple version of security.

In today’s email packed inboxes, this vintage mailbox find no longer holds mail; instead, it holds the stories from homeowners past.

Thank you for stopping by and please check out other repurposed projects here.

How to Pair Hale Navy & Revere Pewter Paint

October 21, 2019

Examples of how to pair Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy and Revere Pewter paint

Growing up my sister and I got to pick a shade of pink for our Strawberry Shortcake inspired polyester bedspreads. My dad brought home 2 gallons of paint that resembled Benjamin Moore’s Mascarpone. It might explain our mutual love for Pinterest paint boards. After living with Tuscany inspired paint colors from the early 2000’s we painted our walls Revere Pewter. But I got bored with the greige walls and decided to pair Hale Navy & Revere Pewter paint.

HOW TO PAIR HALE NAVY AND REVERE PEWTER

I love, love, love the color combination. The two colors blend; with no stark contrast.

I created a Pinterest board filled with pins of Hale Navy and Revere Pewter. I started small with arches and niches; they must have been the architectural thing in the early 2000s.

Like this little nook that sits under the staircase. Here was the Revere Pewter painted niche.

How to Pair Hale Navy & Revere Pewter Paint

I crossed the hall over to the dining room where I followed the trend of painting one more niche and added these mirrors.

And, then I ventured into carrying the Hale Navy under the dining room wall around the windows. We had recently removed a half wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

With the additional light, I decided the room could handle a bold, confident. The kitchen transitions to Revere Pewter.

Here is the dining room window ledge after I painted the walls Hale Navy.

I loved the dining room so much I went around the corner and painted my office Hale Navy. Here’s a peek at my office. Same color (different lighting).