I was so happy with how the office was turning out that when it came time to tackle the daunting task of putting 4 coats of paint on the bookcase Matt built for me, I grabbed it by the horns.
I was giddy from how great the white trim looked against the bagel and couldn’t wait to get that bad boy done and curing.
For a week straight I would come home after work and prime and paint to my heart’s content. I primed a coat and then painted 3 coats of Behr Premium’s Ultra Pure White (same color as trim).
It was tedious and a pain in the a** with all of the different surfaces, but so worth it! Besides, I had beer to get me through!
I used fans and open air to help cure the paint for almost a week. I wanted to makes sure that the paint was completely dry and set before I put books and trinkets up on the shelves. The wait was agonizing but I did it. I picked up the baskets on the top shelf to keep our DVDs and Blu-rays corralled and looking snazzy and organized. You’ll also see a corner of a rug peeking out… it’s a brown-bordered sisal rug from Pier 1. I bought it for our bedroom a couple of years back, so it’s a place holder until I can get something with some more detail like this. I am in love with that rug for this room. Well, I love that rug but have no where else to put it but this room. Same thing, right?
I had so much fun (and continue to have fun) arranging books and such to where I want them. I love all the space to keep frames, seasonal decor and memories of trips, such as this wooden cable car reminding me of our trip to San Francisco.
Now that all of the painting was done, I was ready for some furniture. It just so happened that my mother-in-law was looking to downsize on her furniture a bit, and we scored two of her beautiful wingbacks. They may not be permanent, but they fill our space for now, and it lessens the amount of furniture in her living room, which was her goal. They are a simple blue plaid, with subtle hues of white, green and BAGEL throughout. How perfect! We didn’t know at the time she was loaning us the chairs, and we went with bagel anyway. It was fate. I picked up some throw pillows from West Elm to tie in the white trim while adding texture and Bam! A place to sit in our half-way complete office!
Once I had the chairs in there, I knew I wanted to keep the room private and add some window treatments. Because the desk and printer overlap the front window a bit, I knew roman shades would be the way to go. They would stop right at the top of the desk, and add some more texture and detail to the space. I ended up buying two of these guys at Country Curtains for a number of reasons. I loved the textured look, the border around the edges, the ability to morph with any color scheme, and the insulation factor since the office doesn’t get a ton of heat in the winter. I added “hang shades” to the honey-do list and he was on it. Love that guy.
It’s looking much more like an (almost) finished room!
Next up? “Bagel Office, Part 3” with framing updates and some furniture additions.