A Little Bit about the Home Office/Mom Cave~

Okay, so at the risk of beating a dead horse, I thought I'd post a little by way of explanation about my home office/mom cave because the post I did for the contest yesterday was only supposed to be 200 words. And let's just say that I'm a bit more verbose than that. In other words, I can talk (or type in this case) a blue streak. So here's all the stuff I wanted to tell you about the room, but couldn't due to word number constraints.


First up. The photos. My home office is in the basement. It has no windows. And the lighting isn't very good either. So, try as I might, I just can't get a good photo in that room. You may have noticed that in some of the photos the walls look very yellow/gold, and in some they look more tan. That's because I used the flash in some of the photos, and didn't use it in the others. The flash really washes the color out, but not using it really "yellowed" up the photos due to the indoor lighting. And even though I tried to use color correction, the photos I took without the flash are still very yellow. I guess what I'm trying to say (in my oh-so-concise way) is that the wall color is really somewhere in between the two. It is definitely closer to the color in the flash photos than the other. Mkay. Now that that's off my chest, let's move along shall we.

Indoor lighting= yellow looking walls


flash photo = washed out looking tan walls

Next up. The vinyl decals. My original intention was to put some storage shelves above the bookcase (a la my inspiration photo...you'll note, however, that I deviated to a great degree from that photo after my budget ran out.) But I found that the panelling is pretty difficult to work with, and since the hubby - aka my carpenter - is out of commission for a while, I had to come up with a different plan. So I decided to make the wall a decorative focal wall. I thought vinyl decals would be my best bet since they wouldn't permanently alter the wall. I decided on the chairs because they are whimsical....and....well....I am a designer after all. And this is MY SPACE, so I'll put cute little chairs on the wall if I want to, thank you very much. I simply used my Silhouette Craft Cutter to cut them out, and then adhered them to the wall in a sort of random pattern leaving a space in the middle for my cute quatrefoil mirror.

Here is the wall mid-process. I taped the decals where I wanted them and played around with it until it looked right to me. Not sure what the squiggle in the top center is...something to do with the flash, I think.

Which brings me to the mirror. It was a purchase at my local Target store. It was originally a dark espresso brown with a bit of distressing. When I decided to use it in the office, however, I felt like the dark finish just wouldn't work. So I decided to paint it. As luck would have it, the good people of Home Depot just happened to send me a sample of Martha Stewart's new paint line in Milk Pail. (More on that later). The color was perfect. A pale blue with a bit of a green undertone. So I used it to paint the mirror and VOILA! Perfect.

The mirror before...please ignore how dirty the glass is.

The paint sample.


Cute, painted mirror over the bookcase.

Now for what's coming...As you may note in the photos...the walls above both the desks are empty. They are awaiting special treatment. Over the smaller desk I plan on putting an inspiration board. And behind the larger desk, I want to create a chalkboard "wall" ala Emily at Jones Design Co. Since I can't paint the wall, I've had to come up with a creative idea for how to do it...you'll all have to wait and see...

Finally, since the room really lacks lighting, I want to add some additional light, and I thought that a pretty chandelier or some blingy sconces would be the best way to do that. They'll have to wait, however, until I get a little extra $$$.

Whew! Are you all still with me? I warned you that I can get a bit verbose, didn't I?

I look forward to sharing with you the rest of my little home office/ mom cave's progress as it comes. (And maybe I'll be lucky enough to win that contest so I can bling her up just a bit!)

Have a great day~