As you may know my hub works from home, so when we moved in to this house we immediately designated the formal living room as his office. It’s the very first room you see when you walk in the door, so it was important to me that it not only function well for him but that it also look nice. Over the past few years of living in this house one thing that really stuck out as an issue in his office was the lack of storage. His working from home comes with lots of “stuff” – mailing supplies, notebooks, binders, brochures, paperwork…..and the list goes on. So as I mentioned back in the summer we contracted to have some floor to ceiling bookcases built to provide storage and to give the room some wow factor. And as most things go, one thing sort of led to another as the bookcases inspired me to hang grasscloth wallpaper, change the curtain panels and bring in some fun new artwork.
The furniture remains the same except for the office chair I bought him for Christmas last year but never showed you before now. The desk he bought on ebay years ago and gives you a glimpse into his personal design style. He’s my mid century modern loving man.
These chairs were free. I still can’t even believe it. He brought them home years ago (like before we even had children) from an office building that was closing and literally just throwing things away!
I added a gold lining to the lampshade with some acrylic craft paint. More on that later.
While the bookcases weren’t a diy project, I did manage to hang the grasscloth wallpaper myself, and I’m still alive to tell the story. Honestly, hanging this wallpaper was easier than painting stripes. I’ll give you a quick tutorial and some tips next week.
The velvet panels from Pottery Barn were a bit of a splurge but I did manage to couple a coupon with a sale. They are so much prettier in person!
If you’ve been around here for awhile then surely you’ve seen the old cigarette machine before. It belonged to my hubs grandfather. The cityscape artwork we already had. The hello languages poster print is from Made By Girl.
And the silhouettes aren’t your typical silhouettes. You all know we’re freaky Star Wars lovers. Well, I bought these from Concepcion Studios on Etsy. They were part of my anniversary gift to my hub.
I used gold metallic zebra print scrapbook paper for the matte which ties in to the zebra print rug (purchased at West Elm years ago).
Star Wars snarkiness is so us.
By far though, the biggest change to this room is the bookcases. They made the room look so much bigger, and they really do provide tons of much needed storage. All the ugly “stuff” is hidden inside the cabinets – including the printer!
This is the room before.
And now.
At the hubs request, I styled the bookcases with books – lots and lots of books (most are old books from family)……….
and the bottom middle section is a bar area. He likes vintage bar ware, and I like collecting it for him. It’s a win – win!
You can find more Before and Afters here –
43 comments
GORGEOUS!! LOVE the bookcases & that grasscloth wallpaper! The whole room is beautiful Carmel!
oh em gee I love your office!! Great job! I'm a huge MCM fan.
WHAT A TRANSFORMATION! The rug is awesome, and those built-ins are perfection. LOVE how you styled them.
Oh…..and I'm your newest follower! Really like what I see here and can't wait to see more!!!!
I'm smitten with this office Carmel! It has such an eclectic and interesting vibe going – kind of Mad Men-ish, you know? The bookcases are fantastic, and I'm amazed that you got those chairs for free! I would have paid money to put them in that room, because they're a perfect fit!
Totally loving the cigarette machine too. I don't remember seeing that before, and I love the history that goes with it. Gorgeous all around!!
My husband's office is on the redo list (someday) – definitely pinning this one for future inspiration. 🙂
Carmel, that looks so good. It is now streamlined with those built ins. I love grass cloth. Can't believe you hung it yourself.
The entire room is gorgeous. Love the vintage desk and the bookcases look amazing.
I love everything about this room – especially the perfect balance between masculine along with those feminine touches. Brilliant!
http://kmdecor.blogspot.ca
Eeekk! I don't know where to begin, Carmel. Simply stunning. You have styled the whole room so beautifully. I am sort of head over heels for the hardware and vintage bar area. Such pretty built ins and boy did they make a world of difference. Beautiful. {can't believe those chairs were free!!!!}
Oh my gosh, I love this room! What a great mix of masculinity and design. Well done!
You perfected this room….I love how you edited it so nice and tailored. The bookshelves really did open up the space. Great photos too!
I LOVE those bookcases! It makes such a difference to that room. I am also seriously in love with your husband's desk – great taste!
Sarah
Oh wow, it is fabulous. I love the builtins and your decor is so fun. Hugs, Marty
Thanks for the shout-out, Carmel. It looks great. I will be calling you soon, probably between Thanksgiving and Christmas to come for a private tour.
WOW! you nailed it!!!! looks amazing!!
Wow so fabulous! Love the more streamlined look and those built-ins are so beautiful. I'm super coveting that desk! And those free office chairs. Beautiful work!
Well done!! Your office looks amazing. Those built-ins take that room to a whole new level. Love it!
The office looks fantastic! Thank you for the inspiration!
Would you mind sharing the source of the wallpaper? Was it pretreated with glue?
Looks fabulous!!! Love all the details.
Amazing! This makes me want to start our bookshelves now. I better not show this to the hubs, he wanted to start this weekend.
Wow those built-ins are gorgeous!!!! I love the desk too . . . just found your blog and I'm lovin it! stop by and say hello
You all are classy people. I'm taking notes. I don't think it will help but I'm taking them anyways.
WOW!! I love this room – you do a GREAT job with your home.
I can totally see this becoming a new trend- built in bookcases in the formal dining room-turned-office. It makes such a statement and the way you painted and styled them is gorgeous- not to mention functional. You have great taste Carmel. I love visiting your blog.
Wow, what a beautiful focal point for your room! Love the unique statement all of your eclectic pieces make ~ very cool! Great job pulling it all together AND wallpapering! 🙂
Yeah, you guys might just be the coolest couple ever! How chic and sophisticated is that room? Seriously gorgeous! The grasscloth wallpaper is amazing and it is fun to get a glimpse at how your two styles blend so well together. Well done girlie! 🙂
Vanessa
Seriously, when do you have time for all this? I can barely find enough time to paint samples on my wall, much less time to clean my house, feed my kids, or grocery shop! The room looks fabulous, though! And this is so classy! Great job! 🙂
Serena
Thrift Diving
Love it! I am still in shock that those chairs were free! Seriously?
Classy! The bookshelves turned out fantastic and I am in awe of your wallpaper hanging skills. Do you work for wine?
My husband and I are very jealous. We want similar bookshelves built in our office. I was hoping you were going to say you got them from IKEA or something 🙂
They look fantastic!
This office is so beautiful. I love the builtins and mid-century modern furniture. It's great to see how you've incorporated your husband's style into the space so successfully. I actually really love the before picture as well. I especially really love that trunck and sideboard table. Maybe you've already blog about this, but where did you relocate those items? I'm new to your blog.
THIS IS AWESOME Carmel!!! Those built ins and that grass cloth wallpaper totally made that space. Great job girl!
Oh Carmel, they are beeeyoutiful. Seriously – gorgeous. I love how you styled them, and the other changes to the office are fabulous. This feels like a real, grown up, custom, awesome office. Please don't ever let my husband see this room, thanks so much 🙂
Just ordered those Star Wars sillouetes!!! My husband will go crazy for them!
The room looks beautiful.
The trunk now sits at the end of our bed and provides great storage for out of season clothing. And that sideboard is now living in the guest bedroom. I haven't shown it in there on the blog yet. I will be very soon!
Ha – you know me well. 😉
I used the grasscloth wall covering from Lowe's – it's the Allen and Roth brand, and yes it's pre-pasted which makes it so easy to install.
Carmel!!!! This office is insane! I'm so in love, I've got to show my husband, he will flip. I cannot get over how those chairs were free. The bookcases are gorgeous. I could go on and on. Well done!
This office is absolutely fabulous! Thanks for sharing
WOW! Everything looks amazing. I don't even know what my favorite part is! Your hubs is a lucky guy!
This room looks seriously amazing! I love it!
I absolutely LOVE those Han and Leia prints! I'm definitely getting some for our house!
Nicely done, lady cakes!
Hi, it`s me again!
This book case looks so pretty, just wanted to say this;)
http://pudel-design.blogspot.de/
Awesome set up Carmel! The office looks very cozy and bright. I wish I could also have the same home office, but unfortunately I have to go to office everyday in a 9 to 5 basis. Anyway, I think I'll show this to my boss because we are currently looking right now for a new place or a possible office for sale in Singapore. Great job Carmel! It's like working on an office, but in the comfort of your own home!
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