Hello you all! I’ve been wanting to post about one of my latest projects for a while now and haven’t gotten around to it. So finally, here I am writing after midnight, since that’s when I enjoy it the most. :)
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I can hardly believe we are in that time of the year again. To me, it seems like it just was! I’d be lying if I said I’m not already thinking about the next season, right around the corner, but for now, I will try and enjoy Ohio’s winter season, which can often be described in a few words, GRAY and a bit BLEAK. :(
Before getting into the topic at hand, I wanted to share my latest Etsy listings. I have a box of interesting books, old documents, checks, etc. from my great grandparents that I like to rummage through now and then. I found these cool old book pages that I felt were worth printing out. I thought they would make a neat vintage farmhouse wall decoration. You can view the listing here.
![IMG_0817 IMG_0817](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtBDhyphenhyphenVZoJy9covq-75_fUz7bZALLo0Ll5cf1IACiT13FxV7nWPV3pn77MOyinVT7eE62x6Etxo8p5JQhkS8r_0uKmzK2omRQc-ldEo2evFTw-N3XDBc1b5SBJx4xsnPijPyRZUqitMep/?imgmax=800)
And I also found some old books at a local thrift store that I used some illustration pictures to frame. You can see them on my shop here.
![IMG_0780 IMG_0780](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeB2bo-D97CDnkyqJKK3TuwqNIJcqtZyis1zXSpnS3K9x_7QsZNipQVSUiaC7hCXn_qnbLVuExAJQcvfVf8y0w7w7S7EOY3ZlTVp734Z_mCw84-ScUM0rALbNd6YyBodKqKMcSbvaxzCyu/?imgmax=800)
I have also been busy creating scrolls and I am presently doing some research on different papers and sizes to use.
![IMG_0989 IMG_0989](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VLqQqqJpwBc14pCS_I-Z4hOHORSypGEWs5KNBZrLye9Rlu_rGMA9s6X7zTrrQ_uOI4Ktihhc6UdLnuNrhTzdBNmBHVJgGaZFm0jxC7EO5gxekXoqp6uhUCBS1B64Uv1_2UohNdOW3lmh/?imgmax=800)
Here is Twinkle doing his best Sphinx impression as he watches me work..:)
![IMG_0697 IMG_0697](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEYeESHbmwuRGFus8fQhZF97RxbMs33y25FbFYFx8DFn447iEPQ3iVNkQcFA_jZrwvnnBvIMkUWQRqnDEexVSq_HqhlBphKfLOc7X_meMx6pyqEB_pW0TePvbHQ3piLIkptjPgU-FYdHA/?imgmax=800)
Now, for the featured project..
Starting at the beginning…this summer I added shiplap to a section of our living room wall, which you can read about here.
![cropped cropped](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMX90pSZKS56iZ5_RvIhJThiRzneOew96rYFvoRXMlHqlHvh0KdYcNP7VvDJtMZm7QAh0vRtRRJFotJ_jiqOW3o-8fCLs-O6pypye_0flgytwOQlwSpb5-t3Ibe5r-oF5YfimOVcsJ5lY/?imgmax=800)
Even though it’s in our living room, I had plans to add an office area along the one wall eventually. Sure, a nice big studio would be nice to work in with all kinds of space but for now it won’t happen so I decided to make use of the space I have.
![IMG_0043 IMG_0043](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWd59GE5YAqXDiIMXNJwjGaX6dbpOuCUrOnFdivNcp9h1FNPdbtWRXe2UHzr1JL9__E4uAh6fyr1Lbr5iU7CY-Me2NG0SV3lJ-nNoLIYfGd2RLjtyD0FH_VQQtPrFepshpCTQZB84_CdQ/?imgmax=800)
I wanted to remain as thrifty as possible with this project so I dug through my stock of wood out in the shop and managed to find a few nice, long boards to use for my desk top. I didn’t get a picture of how I fastened them together but I basically just used short boards and screwed them on the bottom side, holding the planks together.
![IMG_0652 IMG_0652](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7-zLVRV-ljlZ5KhAJ5zB9pBeE1Fv8Suv0_GVhqKMKac526uCM38K48ZuZ67y0RMLz1Cu1Vq-pa3IIKMPLFkdj-TJCtmHIQETtBtCB8XG5ZU3S4Ualmcau4k9a7rGAT3EN_l37g3v7QmiU/?imgmax=800)
I had a little “end of the summer” visitor watching me as I stained the boards…
![IMG_0651 IMG_0651](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1Ll1pBux7t6CMiFpSvO8gqOhvyXAnw98aqMAXT0TBwkdob2-TDLXOfOPvAtOKVc2r7mRxGsT5vyoaPHQgWXrcZQMeKSlsKS0N8he1CIsqteTcjYxPkg77fiCdQztcjgjBZWTCRSvKj5Z/?imgmax=800)
I got my inspiration from this pin on Pinterest..
![desk desk](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimorq48_TY-n3JDoxty6v6gOX-k_5BDr9EQYEjwrveUgy37My3ZMjJaO23eIVT9VKVD8656scQPGRtZ50vZLQ22zt6pXnb7bjoEseP4zMX5vbIvKZKIgk9OyyHjNj9DzMIeg8hKc8TZ8OC/?imgmax=800)
So, again, here is the “before”…
![IMG_0043 IMG_0043](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-6R680Ku7yFuEqc5ymNqHpSbfKWpofBbN4cpJOa7-PY0lbuP5WtPFcNfk3XLJSoEmWRIWKthgcTPATvgPlHIXGwwuRc_vBB2oGr-ak2UYURWed_qJLBUCUthVDIvJRS9cQgO6DuC5U23S/?imgmax=800)
And now the “after”…
![IMG_1041 IMG_1041](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFW-G8hCkU1awB1O_kBVF3LmfVeezk5Wt5maMvML-fPoWn7cHu4H7g_C2v1qY3eSO6Ztb0yRUgxZriC4u6YfrPdhZO-fNMLSNmYgkpDymMjwXFBEDdhPsEq30TSMc7mH_zS9B18YcdjJDj/?imgmax=800)
I spend a lot of time in this little corner! I do in home secretary work and also work on my Etsy designs here. I love it since it’s on the same floor as the kitchen, so I can multi task without having to go too far.
As you can see, I used three black filing cabinets from Walmart as the base. I was going to paint them gray and give them a “zinck” look as pictured in the Pinterest image but I haven’t gotten around to it. I still feel like they are too black but for now they will do.
![IMG_1040 IMG_1040](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-RfDxey8pFDTYIkl_YsMPp_EIH1BQhMBXkwvHoxbyu1WbNB-OBXGwxKheHO1-1Juv7KSEgm7stjFbvJ-NrniVC026cC8ziXPTqnRb_U0jJq3t_kFU4rLMOzcwj69SGjlrD-X6moKpdb_/?imgmax=800)
I am really attracted to the color charcoal, white and stained wood combinations these days so I tried to incorporate those three into this area.
![IMG_1027 IMG_1027](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3d6PpN8PtO6C6XPY43ZhjMkxi9trSoZ16CP6lVoNTizrEVXEoOQUuX2YfkLo1c5GkprioneS98DfBsg9N2vhqdFL8fLuwWch22EWJyJ-IQWJ9udAg2DO7eRbYzDcfjrwl0fWjmgc6KGeY/?imgmax=800)
![IMG_1028 IMG_1028](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief5rYGPfH0PAXhHsKqsjjDPD5tJJtBVsZPrnBb-m-nuhLswGAnKmFqQ9qHv0t7rlrgJ6j9ZBoW2wrVQSxVdTba0SrIeVR-Pva1IPQbcJ-dIzbgT13x7DloFLvyr3kjQjKc6Q7hjl-Rj9I/?imgmax=800)
My youngest son, who is eleven made this pretty wood sign for me this summer. Doesn’t it fit in perfectly? :)
I was impressed how smooth I was able to get the planks, using only my little electric sander. After the top was stained, I gave it a few coats of Polycrylic, which helps with getting it smooth.
![IMG_1024 IMG_1024](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UP32Tm6n1uHAZg5IShcU8lNDzKIIrcFjhKIRbxXY4NlzxZE9W0caS3DsrpKL7tTucc-4T7IMXr-42sOtEqblO_-EhrU7WFJpgZERLcHVJ6MvolIog7r2IweiWvB-870UUp3-3WcXH3iy/?imgmax=800)
![IMG_1033 IMG_1033](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIpgOJcv5RTJBbJCiyf9Ew5Cz3lLHAa8diBbTUJ3G6XTAgsopCphqdqdQO6gqXNUtFYkySLeivpPcByq9CV-8nEjn9INr8X8rZY6D_lnIqag2MF4zW2L-F9a5WgG15RRn-gKpL_CSZVRZ/?imgmax=800)
A scroll ready to ship out.
![IMG_1042 IMG_1042](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjynu9DrUep6suB4UAdc8zY44fwJbhRi9g-4q1C9YoCagjL0v1vG44IhXuX9H-nCWM85Fr9vdsQF-Qh_OtTmmlPZDjZXQsi_6oxRNVHnhMnn9_1g0eBcUIcYRQLJA8dSA5Lo4C16LXLPsTC/?imgmax=800)
So, all in all, I didn’t spend a fortune to get this much needed space set up. The biggest expense would have been the filing cabinets, which were around $40 each. Coming in second is the chair, which I ordered from Amazon for around $110 for a set of two. The lights are from IKEA and I believe they were $20 each. I won’t count the wood since it was just left over from a former project. All the wall decor I made spending next to nothing.
I hope I can inspire you to create things using what you have, or spending nearly nothing, but still getting something useful out of it! It’s a good feeling!
Thanks you all for visiting my blog and I hope you are having a great day!
-Mary