The Shoffice You Tube Video

The site I purchased the plans for my "modern shed" from, icreatables.com, made a You Tube video about the shoffice that includes a few additional photos from what I've posted here... Cool huh!? You can check out all their videos, mine is the last one on the page, here http://www.icreatables.com/sheds/shed-building-videos.html

My Happy Place (a.k.a. The Shoffice, my modern shed, my home office)

In my job, I get to make things better, be creative, focus on complex systems/processes, and solve problems.  So I designed my work space with those things in mind.  It has all the function and equipment I need and the uncluttered, fun design aesthetic inspires me, helps me focus, and just feels good.  I love working and being in the space, The Shoffice really is my happy place.  Come on in!

doormat custom made for me by Jessica Renee Designs

Everything in the room is my favorite, but it all started with the Julia Rothman wallpaper, it became the inspiration for the design, so we'll start there.  It has a hand drawn feel that I loved as soon as I saw it.  The hardest part was picking my favorite color way.

The colors of the Daydream print were perfect.  I had the blue from the clouds color matched at Sherwin Williams for the wall color for the rest of the room.  It keeps the space light, airy, and calming.  The yellow birds liven the space up and that pop of color is fun to incorporate into accessories.  Even the black worked well because, inevitably office equipment is black.

The mid-century modern dresser I refurbished found its home against the accent wall.  I really couldn't be happier with how much storage this very functional piece provides! My printer, iPad, and phone are on top, office supplies and reference materials below.  And, how can you not love the shiny blue color!?

Above the storage piece, I hung the 14" Fillsta pendant light from Ikea.  It's on a separate switch and gives off a nice diffused light in the evening... ya know in case there's ever a need for mood lighting in the shoffice.

The rug continues the nature/organic elements in the room and perhaps most importantly, Martha Stewart loves faux bois so it gets my vote on that premise alone.

I sit for work... all day... every day.  So a comfy chair is a must.  No one does office chairs better than the famous Herman Miller!    After doing some research I decided on the SAYL chair and was so excited when I found an "open box" SAYL in just the right color combination at the Office Designs Outlet site.  As a side note, I just saw on 30 Rock the other day that Liz Lemon sits in a SAYL chair too :)

Have you ever seen something you wanted but knew you couldn't have so you just wish you had never seen it in the first place?  That happened to me with my desk.  I saw THE desk I wanted at a small local boutique furniture store.  It looked almost identical to the desk you see in my space here, and it even had a really similar design where the cords are hidden in a compartment in the back of the desk.  The desk I saw was $1300, my desk came from Ikea and was $69.  So yeah, the $1300 desk is sturdier, and will last longer than my $69 Ikea desk but I could re-buy my desk almost 19 times before I would've spent as much... I'm learning to live with my "almost the exact same thing, but not" desk.

In the photo above you can also see the cuckoo clock I showed you in a previous post and a fun mouse pad Studio Elle made for me with "She believed she could so she did" printed on it.

The last big piece in the space is my chair and ottoman.  I wanted a place I could lounge in when I need to review tedious requirements or read through boring procedures.  I watched Craig's List forever when I finally found it, it had the clean simple lines and the "comfort factor" I was looking for.  The weird somewhere between green and brown color velvet-ish upholstery wasn't gonna work though.  I couldn't believe my luck when I found a fabric on spoon flower by an artist whose print work I had admired (and pinned) months prior.  With some white leather, black vinyl piping, and my spoonflower find, the upholsterer turned this funky piece:

into this funky (but in a good way) piece.

Next up, the Shoffice goes cocktail party for its grand opening!

Teachers Gifts... ugh!

So it's the end of the school year and for the 2nd time I'm faced with the decision about giving teacher gifts.  I realize that this is probably not a decision that everyone feels "faced with"... it's a strange topic for me.

I think it takes a special kind of person to be a teacher.  I am quite positive that I don't have what it takes to manage and care for 18 five year olds on a daily basis.  But I also think it takes a special kind of person to be a nurse, a mail carrier, a call center rep, a salesman, or even a business analyst.  

We all get to choose our professions and yes some professions are more "personal" than others (my girls' teachers have taken care of 2 of the most preciouse people in my life after all) but that doesn't make the less personal jobs... well less.  We all have the same opportunity to find satisfaction and fullfillment in doing our jobs well.  For a teacher, maybe it's conveying a lesson in just the right way so that it makes sense to a 5 year old and not showing how frustrated they feel about telling the same child 35 times to raise their hand before they talk.  For me, a business anaylst, it's writing air tight requirements, building rapport with my team, and staying on task so that my projects finish on time. 

All of that to say, I don't feel obligated to give teacher gifts.  However, I appreciate the fact that my girls' teachers take their job seriously and I hope they find some personal fullfillment in it as well.  I'm glad that they chose to be teachers, for whatever reason that may be.  I am happy to take an opportunity to encourage/recognize someone who is good at their job especially when my family is better because of it.    I don't think a bottle of wine or a gift card to the mall really conveys that... 

I've finally figured out a gift that I am happy (not obligated) to give... a gift that is a good fit for a person who has chosen a profession in which they give to others, the most helpless of all of us in fact, children.  TisBest.org is a website where you can give a charity gift card in virtually any denomination.  The recipient can choose from over 250 charities to allocate the funds to.  You can even upload a picture or scanned image (like I did with Liv's lovely artwork below) to be printed on the gift card.  Or, if you're like me and struggled with just the right gift until the last possible minute, you can print the gift card yourself instead of having a plastic one made.  This gift card + a heartfelt note = no more "issues" with teacher gifts for me!

  

 

Car caddy take 2!

I'm finally revisiting the car caddy I made for the roadtrip series I did.  At my initial attempt, I used a tutorial I found online and had fun making it, but it really didn't serve the purpose I had intended.  So I completely revamped it and am much happier with the results!  I put together this tutorial so you can give it a try for yourself.

You're gonna need:

1 yard of non-directional decor weight fabric (note: if you want to use quilting cotton you'll just need to back it with a fusible web so that it's more ridgid)
1 package of double fold bias tape
49" of elastic
1/2 yard belt strap
and a buckle

Cut 

2 13''x23" rectangles for the front and back of the caddy. 
3 pieces for the pockets - 13"x8", 13"x16", and 17"x10" 
3 lengths of double fold bias tape - 2 13" pieces and 1 17" piece
1 13" piece of elastic and 1 36" piece of elastic
1 5" piece of belt strap and 1 13" piece of belt strap

Fold

Make the pockets by folding and pressing the 3 pocket pieces in half so that you have 2 13" wide rectangles (one is 4" tall and the other is 8" tall) and 1 17" wide by 5" tall rectangle.

Sew

Encase the long raw edges of each pocket piece in the double fold bias tape and sew. 

Feed the 13" piece of elastic through the pocket made by attaching the bias tape to the 17" x 5" pocket piece, sewing the ends of the elastic to the ends of the pocket piece. 

Next we'll make a pleat in the 17" wide pocket piece by marking the center with a pin, then measuring 2" out from the center, pinching and bringing that into the center, pin & repeat with the other side of the fabric from center.  Baste the pleat together & remove your pins.

Pin

Place the 13"x23" front rectangle face up.  Pin the 8" tall pocket piece at the bottom - bottom of the pocket piece even with the bottom of the rectangle.

Pin the 5" tall pocket piece (the one you added the elastic and pleat to) 2" above the top of the 8" tall pocket.

Pin the 4" tall pocket piece 2" above the top of the 5" tall pocket piece (you should have approximately 2" left at the top of the rectangle).

Sew

Place the items that you want to store in the caddy on top of the pockets and leaving about a half an inch on each side of the item, mark where the pocket seems should be. 

If you like the placement of mine, you can mark the seems as follows:

For the 4" pocket at the top make 3 pockets approximately 4 1/4" apart.
Leave the 5" pocket open without any additional seems
Make a 9 1/2" pocket in the bottom section

Sew along the bottom of the top two pockets and along your marked lines to create the division in the pockets.

Feed one end of the 5" piece of belt strap through one side of the buckle and sew it closed.  Feed the other end of the 5" piece of the belt strap through the other adjustable side of the buckle, fold the end over on itself and sew to finish the end.

Pin

Align the raw edges of the 36" piece of elastic with the raw edges of the bottom of the front rectangle and pin approximately 1/2" above the bottom of the rectangle. 

Align the raw edges of each of the belt straps (opposite the buckle ends) 2" from the top corners of the front rectangle and pin.

Place the other 13"x23" back rectangle right side down on top of the front rectangle and pin, ensuring the top of each side of each pocket is pinned in place.  You may also want to pin the elastic and the buckle pieces into the center of the rectangle so you don't accidently catch them as you sew.

Sew

With a 1/2" seem allowance, sew all around the rectangle, leaving room at the bottom to turn through.

remove the pins and turn the pieces right side out.

Press all around and sew the opening you turned through shut.

Enjoy

Slide the elastic down over the car seat, buckle the top strap around the head rest and pull tight.  Fill with roadtrip goodies!

 

Cuckoo Clock

My office is one easy breezy weekend away from finished and I couldn't be happier! Check out this super fun idea I had for the wall...

Mellow Yellow Decor made this vinyl wall decal for me in just the right size to fit the $1.99 Rusch clock I picked up at Ikea. I used a level to mark the wall, carefully applied the decal, and hung the clock. Waaalaaa could it be any cuter!?

Mid Century goes 21st Century

Have you noticed the resurgence of mid century modern furniture? I sort of stumbled onto it while designing my office space and am worried it could become a new obsession. I knew I wanted a good sized storage piece to house all the necessary office supplies, reference materials, and some electronics. I decided a long and low piece would fit the layout of the room and show off the design inspiration, the wallpaper. I’m really attracted to simple, clean lines, a minimalist look… mid century modern fits the bill perfectly!

After weeks of scouring the internet and local vintage shops, I found this dresser on Craig’s List. It was in great structural shape and original vintage condition which was important because I didn’t want to have to re-re-furbish a piece someone had already put a lot of work into. I started by taking all the hardware and the door off, numbering the bottom of the drawers (so that I would know where they went when it was time to put it back together), and lightly sanding the entire piece. This was a dresser, not a credenza, so when you open the middle door there were 3 smaller drawers inside. I wanted to have an open space to store books and binders upright, so my Dad cut out the frames for the center drawers and reinforced the sides so that the rest of the drawers were still solid.



Then I spray painted a coat of primer on the cabinet, drawer fronts, and door and gave it another light sanding to make sure the whole thing was really smooth.



I wanted my office to be fun, whimsical, a really happy place so I decided to paint the storage piece a bright color in a high gloss finish. After speaking with a couple people at local body shops who thought I was out of my mind, I was able to convince someone to let me bring it in so they could spray it with automotive paint in their spray booth.



This isn’t the completely finished product because it doesn’t have the new hardware on it and it’s not in its permanent home, but I think this gives you a pretty good idea of the transformation without spoiling the office's big reveal.  You’ll have to come back to see it in its full glory.

Just me and my blog

I'm pretty sure I've never, in the history of this blog, dedicated an entire post to just me... no craft project... just me and my thoughts.  This is it, this is the scoop, the background, the reason I haven't posted as frequently as usual, and consequently the precursor to lots of really exciting posts to come.  I hope you'll humor me this one picture free, just me and my blog post. 

I started working when I was 15 and haven't stopped since.  My first job was part-time at the Sears in my small home town's mall.  As soon as I graduated high school I started full time at a local Professional Employer Organization (PEO - they provide payroll and HR services to other companies), then I moved to a new town and worked for State Farm's corporate office for a few years.  I decided FL was the place for me, and after a short stint as a waitress (I personally think everyone should be a waiter/waitress at least once in their life time... it's fun, responsibility free, and eye opening!) worked for another PEO.  I started out in customer service and despised every single moment of it!  I did everything non-customer service related I could get my hands on.  It took me 2 years, but I moved out of customer service and made a place for myself working on projects and whatever other "fun stuff" the company had in the works.  I had no idea at that time, that the job I thought I created out of thin air, would grow into the business analyst role. 

I love everything about being a business analyst! I get to work collaboratively, improve the way my co-workers do their jobs, be innovative, make the company a better place to work and do business, and influence change. 

So many wonderful friendships, a wedding, a house, a blog, 2 children, and almost 12 years later, I quit that job I loved.  I didn't quit being a business analyst, but I did quit working for the company that I sort of "grew up" in and where I discover my passion for it.  Even though I was so excited about my new opportunity, I knew leaving my comfort zone and the people I loved working with was going to be difficult.  What better coping mechanism/diversion could a creative girl hope for than a design challenge?!  In the new position I would work from home full time, so I decided to funnel all the energy I could've spent worrying "am I gonna get the new job? how is my leaving going to impact my co-workers? will my current projects be okay without me? How will the transition from working at home part time to full time go?" into designing a new home office. 

I've been working in my new job, from my new office, for the last 4 weeks and I absolutely can.not.wait. to show you my amazing office space! My darling husband and I and every aunt, uncle, parent, and friend who would come to our aid have been turning my happy place into a reality every available minute since the day I got the official job offer almost 2 months ago.  Frankly, we all just needed a break, so it's not quite photo shoot ready yet.  There's still a door to be painted, a chair to be upholstered, a clock to be hung, and a deck to be built, but I'm gonna start showing you pieces of it and by the time it's ready for its close up I'll have made it through all the preliminary posts... at least that's my plan.  Oh and if design isn't really your thing you'll be happy to know a grand opening party is in the works too :) Stay tuned! 

Toy Car Playmat/Bag

Oh boys!  It's so hard to come up with adorable handmade boy stuff.  I was super excited when I found this fabric panel:

I knew it would make the perfect toy car playmat/bag!  It was so easy too!  Just pick a fun fabric for the back, a solid fabric for the bag part and follow this tutorial I put together for the beach towel backpack.

Check out this fun HotWheels fabric:

All wrapped up and pulled tight, it's the perfect place to store all those toy cars and a great way to tote your favorite toys to Grandma & Grandpa's house!

Ikea hack -PAX wardrobe

Our room was a disaster area! Seriously our clothes were out of control!! I was so over living out of laundry baskets, we decided it was worth the money to rearrange our room and install an Ikea wardrobe. We spent an entire weekend putting together the Pax wardrobe... it took a Saturday evening until 3am and the majority of a Sunday to complete. The part I want to tell you about though is how we modified it to accommodate an electrical outlet and gave me the ability to charge my phone and iPad.

We used a rotary saw to cut away the cabinet around the outlet that was behind the wardrobe.

Next we cut a hole in the side between to two cabinets of the wardrobe and hot glued a curtain grommet to each side of the rough cut hole.






Then all we had to do was mount a power strip on the inside of the wardrobe and plug all my chargers in.






Now my clothes are all hung neatly in their place, shoes nestled on their slide out rack, iPad softly displays the time, and my precious (a.k.a. iPhone)charges all night while I sleep peacefully.













It was a happy day when I was able to wrangle my clothes and shoes and relinquish the closet to my Doug! Good thing because cleaning up this mess was a giant pain!!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

More PJs

 

So did you catch in my last post that I said I made 8 sets of pajamas but there were only 7 accounted for? Ok, yeah probably not, but anyway… I wanted to post these separately because they’re not Christmasy and would make a really great gift (especially for hard-to-make-for boys) for any occasion.

Did you know there’s a line of fabric from the beautifully illustrated books of the famous children’s author Eric Carle? Yep, just Google it and bask in the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Grouchy Ladybug, and 10 Rubber Ducks goodness! I scooped up two coordinating prints from the Brown Bear Brown Bear line to make these simple drawstring lounge pants & a matching appliquéd T. I included the Brown Bear Brown Bear book and shipped it off to my little nephew in Germany for Christmas.