Under $30 Office Re-do

After a few trips to Salvation Army I was inspired to change the office up a bit...yet again. Do you have a room that is just never right or am I the only one who suffers from this syndrome? Well, after a lightening bolt hitting my head moment I realized that the large hutch on top of our desk was not allowing me to use the large work surface of the desk, rather it frustrated me and gave us no place to sit down and write a letter, do homework etc. So off went the hutch ( you are wondering why we have back problems, this is why!!!) I will show you later how I put that to use, he he! I moved the desk into the middle of the room and made more of an office environment. I feel like such an executive now, I love calling my family members into my office telling them to sit down I have something I need to discuss! This is all going to my head now!!!! Actually everyone has commented about how they like the desk looking out too instead of facing the wall. We actually use this room all of the time now...as an office!!! Yippee!!! I even had room left over to add an assistant's desk, because you know she has very important work that needs to get done too. Oh, and she also cooks in here too. She multi tasks like her mother ( I mean her boss!) I think this room is done for a long time! Sometimes you just have to stop worrying about how things will look and see how best you can utilize the space, I needed storage for our stuff and this was the best that I could do on a mighty slim budget. After a few lucky trips to Salvation Army I had found some great galvanized metal pieces that helped tie the room together and gave me some great storage. I know, you want the details of how I spent my moola, here goes: Here are a few images of how the office used to look, the top pic was a few years ago, the bottom was just a few months ago....here it is now:
Cue the ooohs and ahhhs!!! Much Better!!!! See my little assistant's desk, she feels very important. I also took down alot of the pictures, it was feeling cluttered to me and I do not like clutter! I also moved the two chairs out into the family room which gave me much more space!

I even painted the chair to lighten things up a bit.
A major part of my redecorating had to do with these two galvanized metal squares that I found at S.A. for $3.99 a piece, they were from Pottery Barn Teen, I doubt they were $3.99 there! These are perfect for posting things that would normally clutter up my fridge.

I also found this cool metal drawer set for $1.99 too, I put my rubber stamps and accessories in here. The blue box was $1.99 as well and the basket/box was $2.99
As much as I love a steal, I love free and sentimental even better! These were in my Grandmas' things when we cleaned out her storage unit after she passed away, everyone looked at me like I was crazy when I claimed them, all dusty and full of spiderwebs... I saw potential. I am addicted to magnetic surfaces all of the sudden, I also love these teeny tiny but mighty magnets from Michael's, I put my favorite business cards from our vacation on here to remind me of the special shops that I visited and fell in love with....ahhhhh The little blue box I think was meant to be a recipe box but I used it to hold all of my paint chip samples that I get from the paint dept. I am constantly being asked to help pick out paint colors for friends and family so I decided just to keep these on hand instead of always running back to the store. I also have a small accordion file in here that holds all of my paint/fabric/pictures of my own home that I can throw in my purse and take with me in case I need some measurements or a visual of how something might fit into my house!

This good ol cabinet has been moved to every room I swear but this time it is really working hard. Like I said I am using all of my pieces to the best of their ability and function. I needed a place for my books.
and a place for all of my little things that little hands like to get into. I have decided that somethings still need to be kept up high and behind closed doors!! Like these things.... (like my dollar store pails and the tags that I made! )and these things.....and most definitely these things!!!!! I found an old music book that I think I might use to paper the back of the cabinet with, the green is cute and all but I am ready for a change. This was a purchase that I bought at gorgeous store that I will post about later. Just a hint, when we were in Nashville, I got to sneak in here before Mark decided he needed medical attention! Does anyone know what is the actual name for one of these? It looks like a chamber pot but smaller. I know, I am sick I go to a gorgeous store and buy a chamber pot. Someone please help me to appreciate the finer things in life!!! This tiny little ashtray was in my Grandma's things too, just too precious to trash right? I moved my $4 tool trug into the office and put it on top of my bookshelves to use for my files and misc. papers that get all messy.

I used my canvas boxes to house my ever growing ribbon collection, I have no clue how to organize this mess so I decided to let them be free and live amongst each other in harmony. Even my little assistant has her own desk. These are her necessary office supplies, oh and any kinds of paper and envelopes she can find.
She also uses the office to cook up some new recipes.

She is not a very organized cook, I mean seriously, does Ina have a tiara, a sparkly high heeled shoe and a leopard sock in her pantry?

And I just had to put this on my memo board, to remind me of the gorgeous strip that we stayed on while on vacation , (no it is not my bra size as my mom suggested!!) I will show you more of that later!!! Oh and I almost forgot to mention my favorite season has arrived, Gargae Sale Season!!! Tell me what you think of my new re-do, did I do good????

Office Re-do

Before:
This is how it looked before, dark and rich. Not me. I have since decided to listen to my inner voice and "lighten things up"! After: Just a coat of paint and some moving around of furniture in the house and I have my office/craft area. We painted it the same shade of blue as the dining room since you see both of these rooms the minute you walk into our front door.

I found this tiered stand at HomeGoods, man I love that place! Of course crayons are a staple in our house so they got their own little jar. And see that calendar, well I saw it in Wisconsin shopping with my friend Sherry and she sent it to me after we arrived back home! I love it!!

I do need to get some window treatments in here but oh well, someday. I like to keep all of our special photo albums close to the front door, ya know, in case something bad happens. Trust me, my good friend had a house fire and the firemen told her they could go in and get one thing out for her, she had always left a tote of photos in her dining room by the door, she was able to tell them exactly where they were and they were saved! I keep a box with special adoption stuff for Myah in there too.

I need to update my pics of the kiddos! I think I need all white frames in here.

I had these fabric bins around the house and I needed a cheap no cost solution for a cohesive look on the shelves. So I put them all together in one place and they worked!

This lamp started everything! I loved it and it finally went on clearance at HG's so I bought it not knowing where I would put it. But I knew it was my taste and used it as my inspiration piece. This was the beginning of my beachy feel to the house.

I don't usually like alot of clutter but I needed a way to keep all of our school supplies and crafty items together in one place. I was fed up with having to go down to the basement or a different closet everytime I needed something. This works perfectly for our family.