TOUR: TAKE A PEEK INSIDE MY CREATIVE OFFICE SPACE

When we moved from our old house to the apartment downtown, I lost my office, which I came to find out, I really missed. Having a space that is only mine, where I can make a mess and leave it is important to me. So of course, it became a high on the priority when choosing  the floor plan of our new home. 

So right away I already knew that I wanted to have black walls. I think they look awesome paired with light-colored furniture. I also knew I wanted an entire wall dedicated for my handmade jewelry business. It makes it much easier to see the inventory available but another advantage is that the jewelry rarely gets tangled.  

My office has been finished now for quite some time and literally for the past year,  I kept telling myself I’d share pictures. But only after I write post  ‘123’ or ‘xyz’ … but you know how it goes. Life gets busy, stuff gets in the way and there’s never enough hours in the day to write as much as I’d like for myself.

But I figured you know what, I’m just going to do it anyway. Right here, right now and I can always  share the other projects I’ve been working on later. Because as we continue to make our house our ‘home’, the list of DIY projects we’ve done is probably pages long. Yes, my husband is just as much of a DIY’er as I am. Telling you — we’re soulmates! 

So anyway, here it is! I can say with confidence that I absolutely love it. I spend nearly 40 hours a week in this room and it’s where I do 95% of my job. It’s inspiring, organized just the way I like it and relaxing yet energizing. It’s my happy place.

Because I split my time creating and writing, I wanted a place where I could easily do both. My desk is from IKEA using two different length white tabletops. It’s versatile, clean and the best part is that it doesn’t take much to switch gears from writing to making jewelry  because there’s plenty of space to spread out. 

One of the table tops rest on a set of 5 drawers, which is where I keep all of my office essentials, you know like my chargers, markers, stapler, etc. 

The only things I like to keep on my desk are a few sheets of blank paper to jot down things I might think of as I work (those ah-ha moments!), my computer & stand, and my ‘workflow’ book. On a side note, I’ve had so many questions about my ‘workflow’ binder from people who’ve seen my office, so  I plan to share a blog post soon about how I keep my desk clutter-free and with all of my paperwork nice, tidy and neatly organized in this one binder.

My printer is right behind me for easy access and is sitting on top of an antiqued sewing chest that I refinished white and added fun drawer pulls to. (Again, that’ll be another post later, but it used to be my great-grandmothers, which I think it pretty neat.)

Above the printer is one of my favorite collage walls in our house. It’s comprised of motivational quotes, photos of fashion-related things I’ve taken over the years and illustrations I drew while in college. In a sense, it reminds me of where I came from, how hard I worked to get where I am, yet how much harder I need to continue to work to get where I need to go. It’s also a reminder that no matter how many setbacks I have (hello, 4 emergency surgeries in the past 2.5 years)  it might take me longer to achieve, but there’s no giving up. 

Another wall I had planned way before we moved into the new house was the jewelry wall. Like as in, literally an entire wall of jewelry. 

I made it using old plank wood slates and ‘c’ hooks. That’s it. 

Now, the wall closest to my desk I opted to keep the same wall the color as the rest of the untouched house color so I could hang my diploma without too much black on black. It sounds silly, but as a graduation present a looong time ago, my husband custom framed my diploma from Savannah College of Art & Design for me — complete with a thin pink mat — and I still love it as much as the day he gave it to me — way back in 2006. 

Below that is part of my earring inventory that’s suspended from thin wood strips I stained with an antiqued wood finish. 

The other part of my earrings inventory is up on one of the three floating shelves, where I also store a lot of my art & craft supplies, cards and extra jewelry boxes. It works out well in terms of keeping everything in its own place and organized!

The other wall adjacent to my desk is where I store most of my jewelry making supplies. Why do I feel like when I’m writing this post that I have so many walls!? Anyway, I have various types of chain hanging and strings of beads in one area so I can see everything I have at a glance while it all remains tangle-free. I also sort of matches my jewelry wall too!

My beads are all stored in one large tool organizing box within my bookshelf and while it was no easy task, every bead is organized down to size, shape, material and color. (I’m still a little proud of myself for finally organizing them all — it took days).

In addition, I keep some of my favorite blogging and business books on the shelf, binders of inspiration and old sketch books. (p.s. This book has always been a favorite)

Then in the corner there’s my cat and her bed. Yes, I even made sure she had her own place in my office. And I’d say she’s likely there 75% of the time while I’m working. #BossCat

And at last, the chandelier. I found it last year at a yard sale for $20 and it retails at places such as Crate & Barrel for $1,200! SCORE! 

So there it is! This I’m sure is just the start of many tours of our house and I can’t wait to show you the rest along with my enormous list of DIY projects we’ve worked on over the past year.

Oh, and side note: I’m all about finding a good deal and doing things for less, so my entire office set-up and decor was under $500. The frames are all from a thrift store that I then repainted. The white and gold canvas was on clearance for 90% off at Hobby Lobby and my jewelry wall cost less than $30 to put together. Because you know what, there’s nothing better then saving a few bucks when you can, am I right?