Makeover: From junk room to office, part 4

The Tropical G office reveal!

At last, I’m free from the catch-all junk room and can work in an inspiring environment. This is Part 4 of the makeover journey from junk room to peaceful tropical office with Kathleen Mapson & Co. [See part 1, part 2, and part 3 here!]

I’ve gone back over all the texts and emails between Kathleen and me as we virtually collaborated on my home office. There were definitely some lessons learned!

• Purging and emptying the room was the first step. So much paper that was no longer needed! The Gardener found a local company that would bring a truck to our house to shred and it was well worth it. And now we have two shredders in strategic spots in the house and we’ve vowed to never let the paper mail deluge get to us again. [Tip: go for a 10- or 12-page shredder. It will shred whole unopened credit card offer envelopes!]
• Almost all the furniture just appeared in my driveway, in giant boxes blocking my garage door. Quite a surprise when I would go out needing to leave in the morning! Having a moving dolly was a saving grace.
• I needed to buy all the items on Kathleen’s source list quickly. When working with stores like World Market, Container Store, and Target, seasonal items disappear quickly. Fortunately I had time to go online, make purchases, and check store availability for pick up. I had a great time the day I was visiting the stores. I learned it was brilliant of me to have the item numbers with me on my phone (yay Evernote!): sometimes things are not on display but someone can go get them “from the back.”
• Assembling furniture takes longer than you think. It is good to have “handyman” assistance. One chair had to be taken apart and started over because the slipcover just wouldn’t fit!
• A funny discussion: “I’ve found this perfect fabric for your drapes. It’s $25 a yard.” “Oh no, I never pay more than $13! I can’t do this!” “But it fits in the budget.” Trust your designer! Kathleen had the whole design budget in hand. The fabric for the drapes was absolutely worth it.
• One of the hardest parts for me was the organizing of ALL THE THINGS. Office paper, ribbon, buttons, sewing tools, all had not been rethought in years. I love upgrading from mismatched tubs and milk crates and plastic reclosable storage bags to ginger jars, baskets, and pretty magazine files!

We are thrilled to show you the results of this home office makeover. Can you imagine me sitting here writing, with my palm tree framed by coral shades, my books and videos on the shelves with pieces I love, and my flower photos framed on the wall? Many thanks, sweet Kathleen, for my peaceful place to work and create!

Now here’s the story and reveal from Kathleen:

Her love for Hawaii and her home being known as the Tropical Cottage directed me to design her space with some white furniture pieces for the cottage feel, mixed with bold colors for the tropical look and feel. Although the room was going to be punched up with color, the overall feeling was to be calm and relaxed – a long way from where we began.

Lisa is one of my virtual clients and we are separated by many, many miles, like over 500! Working with a client virtually is no easy feat – the main reason – because we (the designers) want to get our hands on the space to see everything in person, to touch everything, and to style everything. Luckily for me, all the major items had arrived and she had begun putting things together. I was planning a trip home to my beautiful state, North Carolina, and planned to make a special trip to her home to finish things off as much as I could. My mom, sister, and little baby boy accompanied me and let me just say, were God Sent for this project. Love you mom and sis!

The Reveal

[Be sure to hop over to Kathleen Mapson & Co. to see the reveal photos!] Can’t you just feel the tropical vibe?! I absolutely adore this space. Removing the doors literally gave us just about half of the room back, it is packed with storage, and she has a great work surface to lay everything out for her work, crafting, sewing, and the list goes on. Read the rest of the post here!

 “Hi there! I’m Kathleen and I blog over at Kathleen Mapson & Co.  I am an interior designer and artist based in metro Atlanta. I love all things creative and artsy and the blog is my virtual creative space. I share my design projects and throw in a dose of design facts and rules over at my blog. I hope you enjoy viewing some of my latest projects and are inspired to turn your house into a home.”