One Small Step For Organization, One Giant Leap For...

So I'm happy to say I am coming to you from a clean and organized office. That feels wonderful to say considering last week you would have thought a tornado went through here. It looked like the craft box (You know the one you keep to entertain children) straight up regurgitated in here. In the midst of doing this project, I got fully inspired by my Halloween costume (more on that later) and just went into sheer project madness. The fact that I can fully see the floor now, makes me happy. One small step for organization, one giant leap towards world domination. Well maybe not that far, but my office is definitely coming together.

So on to the project at hand. I decided to add a Command Center type area next to my desk. Well actually it was already there, I just decided to give it a face lift.

Sorry for the terrible before picture. In my haste to start the project, I just got up and started taking everything down. Kind of one of those...start it now before you get lazy and talk yourself out of it type things. The picture you see now was taken months ago. First thing was to measure the space. I did some image searching on Command Centers. A lot of the ones I saw used the existing wall color. However, since I am trying to cut up the red I decided to go with a different color and a border to distinguish it from the rest of the wall. I came up with 39"x40". I made a trip to Home Depot to pick up white molding strips, and cut the pieces to the correct length. Then I put them in a square and used wood glue and tape for reinforcement. 

Next it was on to the actual wall. Before I could start I had to do some patchwork. I created a few unsightly holes in the original placement. Unfortunately, taking anything off of this wall is difficult seeing as how there are 4 coats of paint on it (Lesson learned: Never paint red unless you are SURE). Once the wall was patched I added the color. I debated a few techniques. The biggest concern was that I was adding floating shelves, so the wall needed to be able to accommodate that. The obvious thing to do was just to paint the wall itself, but then I felt if I ever changed my mind I would have to paint it back red and getting the same tone could be a bit of a pain. I debated using paper, but then I would run into the rippling issue when painting. I also contemplated fabric, but finding the exact color or pattern I wanted would have probably been a little more difficult than I cared for it to be. I ended up having a Eureka moment and using adhesive shelf liner. I had some leftover from doing my bathroom drawer dividers, and adhesive liner will stick and then peel off easily if need be. I placed it on the wall, and gave it a coat of all surface primer to prepare for painting.

   

I have a few other elements going up so I didn't want the background to be too busy. That meant no patterns, prints, or bright colors. I ended up going with a very subtle gray tinted white. (I know SUPER boring)

I know it looks pure white in the pictures, but trust me it isn't. Once the background was done I attacked the shelves. Before I just had one at the bottom. This time I decided to add a second one at the top. So I grabbed an extra pair of shelves from the craft closet (because we all have extra shelves laying around in random closets). The length I needed was longer than the actual shelf so I had to put 2 together. 

...And somewhere in my infinite of wisdom I decided to get interesting. I was feeling that there were just too many squared shelves in here, and I wanted something a little different. Don't judge me people! Tanaira madness is very real. I decided to cut the shelves at an angle. I made a mark a couple of inches in, cut them on the miter saw, and used balsa wood and wood filler to finish the edges. Then I sprayed both shelves with all surface primer so the paint would stick.

I gave the shelves a couple coats of white paint and rehung them on the wall. 

Now that the wall was painted and the shelves up, it was time to finish this thing. It was in dire need of color. I added the rest of the pieces and knick knacks and PRESTO...a brand new Command Center

For the bottom shelf I pretty much kept it the same. I did decide to move my quote. With the addition of the top shelf there was no place for it over the magnetic board. So I hot glued magnets to the back and placed it at the bottom of the magnetic board.

The magnetic board got added back in the same spot. I was going to make a new one that was a little smaller however it was hard to find a piece that was either the right size or easy to cut. So, I just worked with what I had.

As for the top shelf I added my cool clock from Z Gallerie. It was supposed to go in the bookshelf, but much to my disappointment when I got home and realized it was too tall. Sadly it is really too tall to go in anything. So, on top of something is where it has to be. The name sign is something I worked on a while back. I did an ink pen doodle, and used the drawing to cut out the letters. Then I glued the letters onto scrapbook paper, and put it in a frame.

On the other side I added a pegboard. I bought a pack of cork board, and cut it to the size I needed. Then I wrapped it in black and white chevron fabric. 

Lastly, can't forget my new marker holder. I found a random decorative piece at Homegoods. Not really sure what the intended use for it was, but I thought it fit my markers very nicely. I turned the piece on its side, added some legs, and VOILA there you have it. 

 What do you think? I love that it keeps me organized, and it's pretty too. I’m one of those out of sight, out of mind type people. If you don’t see me write it down or set a reminder, it’s probably not going to get done. So one more project and the desk area is complete. It’s kind of exciting to be getting closer to the end of this office redecorate. 

Oh and what about Halloween?  

I decided to do Black Swan. I have a list of Halloween ideas, and every year I never leave myself enough time to do the most elaborate ones. So I contemplated several things, and finally about a week before Halloween I settled on this one. It actually was pretty easy. I already had a tulle skirt and black corset. So I used those as my base, and then just embellished the heck out of them. For the skirt I took the one I had and made an extra one to add fluffiness. For the corset I added rhinestones and feathers. For the crown, I did some Google-tubing and found lots of different tutorials on how to create one. I could have just bought one, but I really wanted it to look authentic. I saw a Youtube video that used glue sticks. The girl on the video made it look a lot easier than it actually was, but I pulled it off. Once it was all said and done, I absolutely loved my costume. I felt fabulous and pretty all night. It is definitely one of my favorites to date.

So with another large project done, I am exhaling. These large ones seem easy at the beginning, and then here I am a month later still working on it. I’m on vacation this week so hopefully I can be super productive, and get lots done. Until then….It’s on to the next project.