The Office REVEALED!! | Personal
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 10:39AM 
ast summer I was wasting time perusing the latest Craigslist listings, and thought I'd dream a little. I thought I'd see what kind of office spaces were available in Fredericksburg; Namely, downtown Fredericksburg :) I mean, what was I doing?! I had JUST moved my business to F'burg and was already looking at spaces?! CRAZY if you ask me. I get excited easily :) Anyways, it was just my luck, I found a listing that struck my fancy with the tiniest little thumbnail image. What I could tell of it was cute, but I couldn't remember the building for the life of me. Turns out, I pass it every Sunday on our way home from church!
After lots of thought, prayer, budgeting, late nights laying awake thinking about the possibilities...we signed the lease :) YESSS!!! I HAVE AN OFFICE DOWNTOWN!!
The next phase...making it mine. This has been the HARDEST part of the whole process, but I couldn't be happier with the result. I figured since I studied interior design in college, I might as well put that part of my degree to use...I thought I'd do space planning and render my dream office by hand. Did it happen?! Nope. Haha, but I did do Pinterest board to keep me focused! It helped SOOO much! Does that count?!
The place came with white walls and beautiful new hardwood floors. I knew the first thing had to be PAINT. So what did I do?! Rally up the troops and have a paint party!! YAY!! I'm so thankful to everyone who could make it on such short notice that night! It was so great! HUGE thanks to Rachel and Justin, Ray and Sarah, Melissa, and my dear sweet Joel! The office got painted in record time! I'm talking 45 minutes for the whole thing....maybe :) Awesome right?! I'm thinking anytime I need a space painted I'm having a painting party!
After the walls were painted Montpelier Ashlar Grey (best color EVER), It still didn't feel right. I even woke up one morning thinking I needed to repaint the walls electric blue, like Carrie's new apartment on the Sex and the City movie...I'm not going to add that I just had watched it the night before :) I'm so glad I didn't make that mistake. Anyways, long story short on the walls, I ended up painting 2 accent walls. One with golden and cream striped, and the other a dusty, warm purple...mmm, so pretty :) I got the idea to paint the purple wall from my friend, Heather, because it was such an awkward wall to work with; it had a wall change midway through the main wall, and a thermostat right in the middle. And voila! She's so smart! She also got me my office keychain...the cute little owl! I LOVE it so much! :)
As far as the furnishings in the office, they just came together. SCRATCH THAT. They did NOT just come together. I ordered chairs, would send them back, purchase new ones, then find some somewhere else that I just NEEDED to have. So many purchases, mind changes, and returns...it was getting quite annoying. And I know Joel thought I was a CRAZY person! The desk, table, and one-drawer stand all have silver accents and are clean and modern. I knew I wanted those elements for the big pieces. Then, I mixed in some Tiffany's blue antique furniture from the guy down the street for my office. I pass his antique store everyday on my way home, so it just worked out so nice :) And no, he didn't have the furniture already that color, he kindly painted it for me, and ended up loving the color so much he bought a gallon of it for himself! HAH!
What I'm most excited about is that the space is mine...it looks like KORIE exploded in here and I love it. Plus, it's a space for me to create, work, and just be...rather than be at home. I feel like I'm part of the working world just being out of the house :) It also gives me the chance to have work be at work, and home be at home...rather than mixing them. I found that I used to work so many nights when Joel would be home, rather than spend that time with him. So this will make me get my work done during the day, and when I'm home....I can do just that...be at home.
So, without further adieu, WELCOME TO MY OFFICE!! Hope you enjoy!
A couple before and afters:
Reader Comments (19)
Exquisite.
LOVE! I have to know where you got that "flowboard" from?! I am dying for something like that :) I love everything about it and it makes me excited to have a space of my own someday!
Korie! You are toooo CUTE!!!! I love your space and it does reflect your style in every way :) Congrats to you and your new office :)
Good for you! It's just beautiful!!!!! :)
So when can I move in? :)
Absolutely love this! PS- Saw that your name was on the Amelia Lyon email & that you're attending her workshop next month. Definitely did a little bit of blog stalking...love your work! love your brand! love your studio! Very much so looking forward to meeting you in Laguna.
Love how it turned out!!! keep rocking it :)
Oh my goodness! I have to say I am so impressed and I am SOOOOOO proud of you!! You are amazing! You have amazing vision and the ability to make things happen! Next - a reality tv show.
Congratulations! That is so exciting and it looks fantastic! I'm s0 happy for you (and 10% jealous! :-)
AH! SOOOO pretty! The owl is my favorite lol... you would....
It's gorgeous!! :)
I LOVE your office, Korie! Seriously, everything about it! even your push pins are adorable....anthropologie?!
You sure you're not an interior designer? ;)
Thanks so much for all the love everyone!! :) @Ashley, I made the flowboard in photoshop because I just couldn't justify buying one when I could easily make one! @Hannah, I made the pushpins! I saw some on Etsy and figured I could make them...They're all vintage earrings and I just pulled the backs off of them and glued pushpins on them. So much cuter than regular pushpins :)
I absolutely love your study! You did an amazing job Korie! Cannot wait to work with you again soon!1
Korie!!!!! Your creativity makes me so envious! I love the space! Me and Julia will have to come and visit because I really want to check it out!
Also, your husband reminds me of Benny Gold! Does Joel skateboard? Lol. Congrats!
This is Super Cute
I neeeeed to know the name of the beige color you used... it's absolutely perfect and I have been driving myself crazy trying to pick one that I like for our new house. Help? :-)
Hi Elisa! It's actually a warm grey color I got at Lowe's called Montpelier Ashlar Grey :) Hope that helps!