Upstairs Office/ Bonus Room Updates

Its been awhile since I have updated on the progress of our upstairs bonus room / office.

When I last left off it looked like this...

We had just painted the whole upstairs in Martha Stewart Sandpiper and I had grand plans of bringing in a seating area and small TV for the kids to use. I really didn't expect to use the space unless I was working in the office.

Then something happened. We decided to give the TV downstairs the boot! That's right, we decided to try living without a TV in the main living space. Our goal was to create a TV free zone so we could actually have conversations now and then! ha! (btw, I am super struggling with the layout of the living room..)

(old before, but you get the idea!)

Our big sectional needed a new home and obviously the TV did too. So it all got moved upstairs. The easiest thing to do with the TV was plop it on the little mid century credenza that I made over  (top picture), but it wasn't exactly the safest thing in the world...

Any guess why I didn't blog about that hot mess!? #fail

We had a very clear problem and I was trying to come up with all sorts of ideas to make sense of it all - think built ins or a giant floating shelf - but we had much bigger projects we need to tackle, so it kept getting the shaft. Until we ran across this baby at an estate sale in Boise...

Its a gorgeous pecan mid century dresser (with a mirror, too!) that we snagged with a few other things for just over $100! Score!!. We both agreed it would be perfect for our huge TV and could also provide awesome storage for movies and art supplies!

And it does!!

The scale of the dresser is much better suited to the TV and I love how it fills the wall space between the hallway and the weird little wall shelf. Much better!

The sectional fit perfect too!

I still have a long ways to go in here. I want to bring in a few other colors (coral!) so that it has some of the same vibe as the kid's bathroom. I want it to be happy, bright and fun up here since its our family zone. Nothing too serious.

The other side of the office pretty much looks the same, other than I added shelves to the opposite wall, but its kind of a hot mess so we will ignore it for now. Hopefully soon I can do a whole office / bonus room reveal!

Gotta just keep chugging along!

DIY Wood Mounted Photos {tutorial}

I first shared this project at The Benson Street a couple weeks ago!

Today I am sharing a fun project with you...it's actually what I made for my husband's new office (only they turned out so cute, they may have to go in our home when we find one)! Its super quick and so EASY!

I love big photos and this is an inexpensive way to get big impact for not very much money. I did these 3 photos and two others for grandpas for less than $20!

Here's what you will need:

Practically FREE Office Desk {part 1}

I said I would share my office makeover with you and guess what!? Today is the day!!

A long while back I scored some amazing hardwood floors that had just been torn out of a old Victorian in town. My husband and I decided we could totally build an office desk with it. This was kind of a shoot from the hip project...no, we had never built a desk...nor did we even really know where to start.

This is the room before...with this lovely lovely border...

good riddance!

House Tour

So we have been in our house a little over a year! Woo hoo!

Since I am feeling nostalgic I thought I would take you on the BEFORE tour of our house. I took pictures of my own, but they seem to be missing- they are probably on my laptop-which lately has been talking to me and playing strange music..scary! Yea, so, these old real estate pics and some cell phone ones will have to suffice.

Don't judge.

HOUSE

- Facing the Bay- we are not ON the lake, but close on just over an acre.