modern – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

This project had been bouncing around in my head for quite some time, so when the Hubs was in the mood for a project I decided it was the perfect opportunity to direct his motivation to this update. I’d previously had a ladder shelf in this spot holding all my crafting projects, but it wasn’t super sturdy and it didn’t really fit my style so I wanted to replace it with an industrial style rolling bookcase. I showed the Hubs this and this style to give him an idea of what I wanted and we talked through the pros and cons of the two. He took a few measurements and within two days I had this beauty.

I forgot to get a picture of it as bare wood, but I’m sure you can imagine it. This is what it looked like with two coats of the same grey stain I used on the barn wood frames he made me. He spray painted the metal corner brackets he’d picked up for the project and added those to complete the look. And here it is all filled and in use!

With the new shelves done I was finally ready to hang the “create” art I got forever ago. It looks great with the shelves and coordinates with the dark bed frame and baskets. Now that it’s up I’ll have to share the story behind it soon.

My often used paints and stains found a home on the top shelf for easy access. I reused the baskets I already had and filled in the extra spot with a gym basket I already had as well.

I’m still debating painting the screw heads on the corner brackets, so I’ll live with it for a while and if it bothers me in a few weeks I’ll make them match. The Hubs also got wooden dowels to make faux steel rods along the back of the shelves like the inspiration pieces had, but we haven’t added them yet. I really liked that detail, but because I’m using baskets rather than styling it with decor they wouldn’t be super noticeable, so it may not be worth doing. I’ll decide on that eventually. 🙂

This whole area has seen several updates since we moved in 4 years ago including revamping the shelves, painting the cart knobs, adding the craft paper roll, moving the day bed out to this space and adding the DIY frame. I’m loving how it’s all looking together. And how it compliments the wall-to-wall desk on the other side of the room, which has also seen several updates since this post. I’ll have to share that soon!

If you’re looking for more tutorials for these style of shelves, check here, here, here, here and here. It’s a popular style so there are many variations available out there. I hope yours turns out great!

Since I’m transitioning into a new role at work, someone had to take over my old position. Luckily we had someone within the department who was interested and ready for a change, plus she already knows how we operate and the history of many projects. She’s had to share a desk at every job she’s ever had so having her own desk in this new position is a big deal for her. I decided to really make it special with a few fun accessories she can use to set up her own space. I picked up a cute mouse pad and some note pads at Target for a few dollars and then found this inspirational free printable online to continue the pink theme. I asked a friend to pick up a simple IKEA frame on her trip down south for the holidays and printed the artwork to fit.

While these couple of pieces were nice, I wished I could buy her a whole new set of accessories to really make her desk snazzy, but that just wasn’t in my monthly budget after the holidays. Then inspiration struck – I remembered I had a can of gold spray paint at home and because I made my own DIY paper clip jar for my new desk I didn’t need the metal mesh clip cup I’d used at my old desk. So I decided to give spray painting it a try since it worked so well on my desk caddy organizer at home.

It worked pretty well and coordinated with the mouse pad’s gold dots. That’s when I knew I was on to something. I took the business card holder and tape dispenser home over the weekend to give them the same makeover.

The card holder was pretty simple, but the tape dispenser needed a good cleaning along the little groove and a bit of taping off so the tooth part where you tear the tape didn’t get painted. Now both look like the fancy desk accessories you buy new at the stores, rather than the boring bankers black they used to be.

Finally I painted an IKEA metal bucket I had on hand for a pen cup to complete the set. I had run out of spray paint at that point and had to buy another can, which wasn’t an exact match to the first but it all still works together.

When I presented her with the spread she was very surprised and loved the whole set. She officially starts the new position next month and is excited to get her space set up with her new bling. It was a simple way to give her an extra little bit of motivation for the challenges she will encounter as she learns her new duties and it didn’t ‘break the bank’! 😉