Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Inspiration For A Closet Office

Curt and I have been working on this huge closet switch-a-roo to make some space for me to have an office/craft area.  I wish I could say room, but well, its only a 750 square foot condo!
So we finally converted our hallway pantry into a walk in closet, leaving our bedroom closet as PRIME CRAFTING SPACE!!
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I'd show you pictures, but I really just shoved all of our tools and building supplies in there and it looks horible!  But esentually the space looked like this.


Narrow but long.  My closet is only a few feet deep but there is a considerable amount of space on ether side of the closet doors.  So its longer then the doors lead on to be. It also originally had thos horrible sliding doors.  I always hated them, they were always in the way.  I ripped them out years ago and just hung up a curtain in front of it.
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So now that it's finally time to start working on the office.  I really wanted to take some time and think about what I really want the space to be like. Today it all seemed to come together.
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Here is my inspiration.

This picture was the starting spark of my inspiration.
BLACK WALLS!
Black is scary, and honestly I'm way too scared to ever consider putting it on any of my main living area walls.  It would probably make my space seem even smaller then it is now, and considering there technically is only 2 windows in this little beach condo, it would just turn into a dungeon.  But, in the closet, I think it could do wonders.  Its already a tiny space so it can't do any more damage, and I think in the end its going to compliment our dark grey undertones in the bedroom, and just pop.
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This picture above really made me see how complimentary black, brown and white are together.


I was able to find this Besta Burs desk from Ikea on Craigslist for less than half the price I would have paid for it in the store.  It was in perfect condition, and best yet, ALREADY ASSEMBLED!
Those Ikea instructions can drive a person completely mad.
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I love this desk because it is clean, crisp, shiny white.  Its also very narrow and very long, so its a perfect fit for my tiny closet.  It also has two really long drawers that will fit lots of stuff in them.


Keeping with the black, brown and white concept, I'm going to build some thick stained wooden shelving like in the picture above.  I think the stained wood will be a nice contrast against the black wall.


For the space between the desk and the shelves, I want to carry on the science/nature theme we've been working on throughout the house.  I have a great old typeset drawer that I was originally going to use to hold all my sewing bobbins.  The bobbins don't fit, and probably would have looked way too messy for me anyway.  I've been admiring this table on etsy made from an old typeset drawer.  I love the different shells and specimens.  I'm going to mimic this and put it on the wall.  I really wanted to use that drawer for something, so this is perfect!


I also love this idea of putting air plants in the drawer sections.  So cool!
Along with the shell display, I'm going to find a few more butterfly taxidermy to hang along with it.
They are so pretty against this black wall.  Stunning!

I'd like to find lots of industrial bins, baskets and vintage looking jars to house all of my craft and office supplies.


Like I said, I tore the closet doors out years ago.  I've always just kept a curtain in front of it, but I think now, I'm just going to embrace the hole!
I love these old wooden architectural pillars, and I have a nifty little salvage shop in Seattle where I can find tons of them.  I'm going to line each side of the closet opening with a fun decorative architectural pillar.

I have a great pharmacy lamp that I found at a rummage sale that will look great on top of the desk!


I also found an awesome old wired in box, similar to this one except double deckred.  Found at the Funky Junk Sisters, Junk Salvation show they put on a few times a year in Puyallup Washington.  Always find great stuff at that show!
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So there you have it.  I know it looks like a Mich Match of photos... but in the end I know its going to look great! I'm so excited about it, I want to get started NOW!!
First step is to find a good shade of black..... HA HA HA!
Honestly though, I think I'm not going to go totally solid black.  I'm thinking REALLY dark ALMOST BLACK gray.
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I would love to hear any of your thoughts!



"Beep Beep!" from The Little Road!!

3 comments:

Terry said...

I LOVE your ideas! I think a dark charcoal grey would be really nice. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Denniel said...

keep an eye on the wuslu daily deals, they've done some cute wire baskets and other functional organizational stuff that would look awesome with the theme you're going for :)

Liesl Ayers-Southwell said...

Den, I've been checking them out time to time. Thanks for letting me know about it. Today I just picked up this perfect metal milk box that will work perfectly... Im going to have to scower Craigslist for more of these!