Functional Vintage Home Office Changes and an Announcement

TAKE A TOUR OF A STYLISH AND FUNCTIONAL VINTAGE-DECORATED HOME OFFICE!

Back in August, I shared my new vintage modern home office. 

Earlier in the year, we moved my daughter's bedroom downstairs, which allowed me to turn her old bedroom into my new home office. 

I still end up working primarily from my $70 Facebook Marketplace leather RH chair, but having a designated office and additional space to display more of my favorite thrift, vintage, and antique finds has been really nice.

I had no plans of changing the current furniture and decor in my home office, but in December I decided to make a business change that required a few office tweaks. 

After five years of sanding, repairing, painting, staining, hauling, and staging, I decided to take a step back from having a vintage booth.  It wasn't an easy decision and there are many aspects of having a booth that I'll miss.  I met so many wonderful people, made great friends, and accomplished things I never thought I was capable of.   Ultimately, I felt it was time to take a step back and shift my focus to selling online.

You can find my online vintage shop by clicking on the "Shop The Store" tab on my blog. The first vintage drop will be on January 27th (THIS FRIDAY!) at 12:00pm EST. 

*Inventory won't be visible until the 27th, but you can follow me on Instagram for tons of sneak peeks! 

The change in my vintage business also meant changes to my office!  The previous setup was more for working and lounging than for a functional, efficient, and productive online vintage business.  

Over the past week, I moved my Eames-style chair back to the basement and then brought in a work table to make it easier to wrap, pack, label, and ship products efficiently.  I also needed to make sure inventory was safe, visible, and easily accessible, so I used some of my favorite items to decorate my office.  

I still need to build shelves in the closet, where I'll eventually keep most of my inventory.  For now, I have vintage inventory stored in and on the vintage wood card catalog, in a basket next to the card catalog, throughout my office, and in the garage. 

It's like having my very own vintage booth in my home! 

Resource: DIY Fluted File Cabinet Makeover

The other side of my office is where most of the changes happened. 

I love using vintage finds for both decorating and organizing, so it was a must that I find and use vintage and antique items to get my office organized and set up for packing and shipping.  

Previously, all my packing materials were stored in a large vintage canvas laundry tote in the basement.  I needed to move the supplies upstairs, but the laundry tote was a little too big for my office and I really loved how it looked under my 18 drawer oak card catalog.  That meant I had to find another vintage storage solution for my upstairs office. 

It was meant to be that later in the week I found and won a smaller vintage canvas laundry tote.  I bought it sight unseen and had no idea how big it was, but for $22.50 it was well worth the risk.

I was pleasantly surprised by its size when I went to pick it up and crossed my fingers it would fit under my work table. 

Spoiler alert.....it fit! 

Not only did it fit perfectly under the work table, but it was exactly what I was looking for. 

I loaded the tote with bubble wrap and heavy-weight packing material and then brought in an old metal crate to keep shipping boxes organized. 

On top of the table, I used an old metal advertising display to keep business cards, tape measure, string, scissors, tape, pens, and other packing and shipping necessities organized and easily accessible.  

(You know I don't do red, so I spray painted the packing tape dispenser black)

I absolutely love how my updated and organized vintage home office came together!  It has everything I need to be successful and is the perfect combination of stylish and functional!

     

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Distressed Vintage-Inspired Wood Drawers

Learn how to beautifully age, distress and transform new wood drawers into perfectly distressed vintage-inspired storage. 

Happy Monday, Friends!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  I just got back from a week in Myrtle Beach and it was just what this girl needed.  Lots of sunshine, amazing food, relaxation and much needed time away from work and social media.

As much as I enjoyed the break, I was definitely ready to get home and back to work.  As soon as the car was unpacked, I started on a dresser makeover then gave new storage drawers a cool vintage-inspired makeover. 

I love green and I love vintage, so I combined the two to turn new wood drawers into beautifully aged vintage-inspired storage.  

SUPPLIES NEEDED TO AGE NEW WOOD

- Small storage drawers (I got mine free from a friend, but yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets are great secondhand sources)

- Paint (I used Shackteau Interiors Milk Paint in Village Green)

- Clear Wax 

- Old English (for dark woods) or Dark Antique Wax

- Paint Brush

- Multi-Purpose Cleaner

- Medium Grit Sandpaper

- Screwdriver

- Hardware (mini antique knobs, bronze label holders) 

- Tools For Distressing (hammer, multiple size screws, drill bit, etc.)

- Paper Towels 

I got these little storage drawers from a friend who was moving.  She offered them to me and as soon as I saw them I knew they would be perfect for an aged wood, vintage-inspired makeover. 

I started by removing the hardware but kept it aside to use later.  

Once I had a clean slate it was time to make these new wood drawers look old, aged and worn. 

How to make new wood look old

STEP ONE: Clean

Prepare the wood for painting by cleaning with a good cleaner. 

STEP TWO: Mix Paint

Milk paint is my favorite paint to use to achieve the perfect chippy look.   Milk paint will adhere to unfinished wood, but will typically resist some finishes, resulting in a beautiful chippy finish.  

True milk paint comes in a powdered form and needs to be mixed with water and then left to sit for about 10 minutes before using.   

STEP THREE:  beat up wood 

Beating up and damaging new wood is my favorite part of creating the look of old, damaged and aged wood.  Screws, drill bits, nail punches and hammers are great tools to use to create holes, knicks, dents and dings for the perfect aged look.

Simply lay the screws and drill bits down then hit them hard on top with a hammer to create nice long impressions.  Use the same tools to poke into the wood to create different random holes.  The hammer can then be used to make gashes, dings, dents and perfectly imperfect imperfections.

STEP FOUR: Paint

Apply two-three coats of milk paint to stained or unfinished wood.  I purposely did not sand my wood drawers before painting in hopes that the paint would resist and chip.  Milk paint can be very unpredictable though and in this case, the paint adhered to the wood and did not chip. 

If you want to ensure chipping, apply clear wax to your wood in the areas you want it to chip and resist.  

STEP FIVE: Sand

Once the paint is dry, lightly sand and distress with medium grit sandpaper. 

STEP SIX: Wax and Age

Seal the milk paint with clear wax then apply a light coat of dark antique wax or Old English.  The Old English will enhance the knicks and gashes and will give the paint a darker aged look.

In the picture below, the first 3 drawers were treated with Old English and you can see that it gives the green paint a darker and more worn look.

STEP SEVEN: Add hardware

Finish off your project by adding vintage or vintage-inspired hardware. 

Fortunately, the storage drawers I was updating had great hardware, so I reused the original hardware and then added additional mini antique knobs.

Helpful Resource: The Best Places to Buy Metal Label Holders and Pulls.

I couldn't be happier with how these little vintage-inspired storage drawers turned out.  From new and basic to perfectly worn and aged.  They would make a unique vintage-inspired addition to any office or craft room. 

For even more vintage-inspired storage inspiration, check out these fabulous faux apothecary cabinets and multi-drawer pieces! 

     

    

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The Best Storage Containers For Every Room (and Budget!)

Keep your home organized in style with practical storage crates, baskets and bins for every room and budget!

Happy New Year! 

Does the start of a new year motivate you to declutter and get organized?  I'm not the most organized person, but a new year always has me itching to declutter and get the house a little more organized.

This year, my daughter has decided to move her bedroom to the basement, so clearing out the back storage room, rearranging rooms, organizing, minimizing and decluttering has literally taken over the entire house.

I've been really focused on her new room, but today, I want to share a few of my favorite storage items in my mudroom and pantry as well as my favorite stylish storage picks for every room and budget. 

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Creative 20 Genius Storage Ideas

Creative 20 Genius Storage Ideas