I am so happy to finally share with you my home office! It’s been a long time in the making. You may remember reading about my DIY chandelier not too long ago. It brightened up the office so much, but it still had a way to go.
I started fixing up a home office in our old rental in Georgia. By that I mean, painting dingy walls that had the old hunter green and navy blue paint showing through a peach-beige paint color. Before I could even finish up decorating that office, it was time to pack up and move into our first home.
For a while my office was, again, a peach-beige box. All I’m asking is, what is it with the universe continually throwing that horrible color at me? Remember when I had about 14 paint color swatches on our living room walls? I did the same here. This time, I added SW Sea Salt into the mix because I fell in love with Heather’s home office. Big mistake.
If there’s one thing you have to know about me, it’s that I tend to favor muted colors when it comes to my surroundings. Not white, per se, but bright colors completely overwhelm me and I have the urge to sit in a corner and rock myself in hopes it goes away. That’s only a slight exaggeration, but the feeling is there. So when I slapped on Sea Salt on my walls and the green was large and in charge, I left it up thinking…maybe it will grow on me. I should’ve known better. It did not grow on me. Which then led to me trying out more colors on the walls.
And…that’s an understatement. See what I mean about the peach beige? Blegh. Sometimes I really do how indecisive I can be. As if all of those paint swatches on the wall weren’t bad enough, I then added old grey paint into Sea Salt to “lighten it.” That just made it pastel and made dislike it more. To be clear, the color actually is gorgeous, but since I have lots of dark rooms, the colors I end up with are much lighter than originally planned. (I took a stab at a light blue in our windowless laundry room and it’s still too dark for my liking.)
I finally decided on BM Athena for my home office, one of the original samples I bought months before for our living room. It was too pink for the lighting in there, but in my office it worked perfectly!
I decided to curate a gallery wall behind my office desk. I don’t particularly like gallery walls of family photos, although that might change once we start a family, but I knew I wanted a feminine look in here. I started out the DIY route: leopard print scrapbook paper, a dotted print, a diamond freebie, and my Get it Girl freebie. Some of these I applied a gold foil effect. But I still wanted soft watercolor prints to complement the edgier pieces.
I came across Niki Kingsmill’s watercolor paintings on Instagram, tagged An Artwork a Day, and they totally captured the soft look I was going for in my home office. When I saw she had an Etsy shop I almost did cartwheels.
The first print I fell in love with was the Coco Chanel Mademoiselle print. And then I saw the other adorable prints and I knew I had to have them. It was so hard to decide! The mirrored frames add much needed clarity to this dark corner of my office. As soon as I find another one the mojito print is getting a touch of glam.
After a week of seeing those prints on the wall, I felt that something was missing. I spoke to Niki and we both agreed that the perfect solution to that “missing ingredient” on the wall was her artistic interpretation of Christian Louboutins heels. I ordered the 11 x 14 and framed it in a mirror frame I found at Michael’s for 70% off. I’m truly in love with this gallery wall and I’m SO HAPPY I found Niki’s artwork!
Niki lives in Ontario, Canada and, since January 1, 2015, she has created a new artwork every single day. Niki has a true gift for painting. Despite their watercolor effect, the images look so real that you almost reach into the frame to touch the subject. She began her project, #AnArtworkADay as a New Year’s resolution that has since grown into an artistic marathon. These are her original watercolor works printed on 120lb silk coated stock ready for framing. She also works with acrylic and oil paint mediums and her work is just so so gorgeous. I could fill my entire house with them. Next up? Bar cart décor!
I love supporting small businesses, and I told Niki I’d love to host a giveaway for her. Niki was One lucky reader will win a 5 x 7 special edition Sprinkled Doughnut print from the collection of An Artwork a Day series.
Closed!
April says
I would pick the Ampersand &
Sara G says
I love the CL Heels print!
Edye says
I love the tea cups art work :)
jennifer w says
I think the Cow is so cute.
Ashlee Michelle says
I LOVE IT! I love the color scheme, its so bright and girly! I love white and gold together, that’s the color scheme of our living room with a little bit of taupe!!
Kate says
I love the Macaroons print!
Macy says
WOW!! Your office looks amazing. I love everything. The Veuve or the Sea Shells are my favorite prints, they are both beautiful!
DJ says
I love the Moka Pot print.
Yara Miora says
Oh I absolutely LOVE your gallery! I have been saving prints and some pictures of things I love so I can build my own some day soon!! Thanks for the inspo :) <3
Meegan says
I love the Pluto print!
latanya says
CL Heels
Caroline L. says
A tossup between the CL heels print & the Veuve Cliquot!!
Carol Hanson says
I love the sprinkles!
frances hopkins says
I love the pineapple x
Josephine says
I LOVE the Dream Catcher print!
Jackie says
Your office looks so amazing! I love the gallery wall and I’m sure it’s so inspiring for you. I would love to win the Verve print – so cute and classy.
Emily says
Wow serious office space envy right here. This room is to die for. I hope I can create a space like this one day. The prints are lovely. Always looking for a new shop to buy them from xx
Emily
http://Www.stylelobster.com
Susan Christy says
Oh! The Avocado!!! So cute.
Wanda Patterson says
The Sea Shell, their colors would go great in my bedroom.
Lisa Bowman says
Love EVERYTHING about your office! Where did you get your chair? Can you give me any details?
Lisette says
Thank you Lisa! I got my chair from Amazon. It is this one: http://amzn.to/1UapbKQ. It’s held up really well!