A Vanilla Bean Office Reveal

Happy Monday! It's my first day back in the office after more than a week off and I am feeling refreshed, recharged and ready to start decorating (and baking) for Christmas. Mr. VB and I were able to spend some time with my family, then headed to Charlotte, NC to spend the holiday with my brother-in-law. We had a fabulous southern Thanksgiving and even took in a tour of the Biltmore Estate (Here I am, posing in front of my new pad. Just kidding! I can't imagine trying to decorate this thing).

I wanted to share with you the recent photos of our new office, before I got knee-deep in garland and lights. Two weeks ago I gave you a peek of the new room....well, here it is!

 

I am absolutely in love with it. We made a collage out of the assortment of old windows, shutters and screen doors we found at a local antique store (each was about $9-11 each). A piece of jute is stretched across the window and shutter, making it a great place to hang my favorite vacation pics and postcards.

Remember this piece of furniture I showed you last time?

Well...here it is now! I put in some shelves, painted it white and distressed the edges. The knobs were found at Hobby Lobby for about $3.

Last, but certainly not least, is this little guy. My mom embroidered this from a drawing I did when I was 4 years old. If you ask me, it is the star of the room!

Home Office Sneak Peek...Again

You've probably noticed, but I've definitely been in a blogging/decorating rut lately. For the last several months, work around the house and in the kitchen has been almost nonexistent. I'm trying my hardest to change that...so hang in there with me!

With that said -- I am super excited to show you a peek at my new home office. I'm sure you remember, but not too long ago, I created a home office/blogging area. Well, I am finding myself working from home a lot more now, and I decided it was time to renovate one of our spare rooms.

This was a quick and dirty makeover. I didn't hate the color of the room (it's basically tan), so I decided to stick with it. The three major things we focused on was building a new desk, transforming my Grandma's secretary hutch (I'm sure that's not the technical name...but it sounds good to me) and decorating.

The Cast of Characters

I knew I didn't want a standard desk. So, I asked Mr. VB to build me something simple...this is what he came up with:

 It's hard to tell in this picture, but it is huge! About 6 feet by 3.5 feet. The old chair is something Mr. VB has had since we first moved in together. It's old and worn and I love it. You can buy a "newer" version at Pottery Barn for $399.

Then there was this guy. It was my Grandma's. And, I think was in my mom's room when she was growing up. When I was younger, I remember playing with it, putting stuff in the drawers, and using the little writing desk. I struggled with how I should transform it (without stepping on any toes), but I really love how it turned out. But, you can't see that yet ;-)

As promised, here are a few shots around the office now. A full report will be up soon. I promise!