House Tour: His and Hers Shared Office

Have I ever told you about my lovely obsession with all things Ikea?  I would seriously buy the entire store if it weren’t for my partner of reason, aka…… The Hubster.

I have had to pull him back a few times on things, but mostly, it is him doing the tugging.

It was no different for our office.  In our past home, I was the only one “operating” out of the office area, so I made it 100% girly!  I take care of the office portion of our company so it was pretty much my say in how we decorated the space before.

I’m talking hot pink chair meets aqua blue walls …….  you get the picture.  😉

Since then, things have morphed into the hubster spending more time in the office with me, so I knew that in the new space, it was going to have to be gender friendly, which I knew was going to totally cramp my style.  I mean, how dare he make me feel like I have to get rid of my pink chair???  LOL!

First, I’d like to start with the desk.  When the hubster and I work together, we usually are having to brainstorm with each other on projects and such so I knew that facing away from each other was not going to work for us.  We needed a  desk that we could both use and would allow us to gaze into one another’s eyes and think deeply about ……………….  painting estimates.  😉

I purchased two of these beauties from Ikea from their Alex line.

We placed them back to back with each other and hired our awesome contractor, Steve Egloff to make us a table top.  I really liked the feel of a modern look for the space so I asked him to do an industrial feel for the legs.  After looking for the material and figuring out that the legs were going to cost more than we wanted to spend, Steve had a great idea to use closet rods for the area.

Absolutely GENIUS!!!!  It allowed us to still have the look we wanted without the cost.

Not only cool, but anything that saves me money is a SUPER PLUS!  …………..  HOLLA!

For the top, we went with a nice soft gray stain at Sherwin Williams.  Now, I love being able to just say what the name of a color is, but for this stain, it wasn’t that easy.  They have an area that has basic stains and since I didn’t want to wait for stain that I chose due to us having to order it, I chose, instead, to go with a clear stain that they added gray to until we got it the shade I wanted.

I wish I could have had an exact color to reference, but to be honest, it is kind of fun experimenting with the colors and knowing that you came up with the shade on your own, so if you are looking to choose a gray stain color, go to your local paint store and ask them to do the clear stain and then find a shade of gray you like in a paint color and ask them to make it as close to that color as possible and HAVE FUN!

Here is a close up of the color and natural wood peeking through from underneath.

If you haven’t figured out by now, I am really into the look and feel of invoking a coastal meets rustic meets industrial meets farm style in my house…………  not complicated at all, right?  Otherwise known as, tastefully eclectic.  Or at least, I hope tastefully.

We knew we wanted to do a focal point in the room with an accent wall.  I am a HUGE Fixer Upper fan.  (*WHO ISN’T????)

I love the look of Shiplap and I wanted to bring that look into my own home, so I called on Steve, once again to install tongue and groove on the wall next to our desk.

He started out with an unfinished wood because we weren’t sure if we were going to stain it or white wash it.

Well,

it looks like white washing won out in the end.

P.S. PLEASE do NOT tell Steve.  He would have a HEART ATTACK if he knew we white washed his beautiful unfinished wood. (*Conversation I had with Steve during the install:    Steve:  So what do you think you will do to the accent wall?  Are you going to leave it as is?  I think it looks great the way it is now.  Me:  Not sure yet?  Maybe stain it, maybe white wash it?   Steve:  Oh NO!  You never white wash perfectly beautiful unfinished oak planks.)

Ummmmmmmm,  yeah…………  So, please don’t tell him.  It can be our secret.

We wanted to make it look weathered and not too perfectly white washed, so we tried to make it not as uniformed.

I absolutely love love love it.  Sometimes our company can stress both of us out and this space is just so relaxing.

In order to get the color of the white wash, we took a small amount of paint and thinned it out significantly with water until we got it to the color we wanted.

Then finished it off with a sweet picture I picked up from Homegoods.  I like to say it is more on my side so technically, I am more “like a boss” than him, but who is counting……………..  😉

On the opposite wall, we placed the filing cabinet/shelving unit I had been eyeing for months and months.  It finally went on sale at Pottery Barn and I pounced.  I ended up saving almost $500!!!!  From what I have seen, they usually keep it in stock.  It is part of their modular Bedford line.

I am not disappointed at all.  It is very sturdy and seems to be very well made.  I have not regretted any purchase I have made from Pottery Barn so far.  The only thing is, I have to really plan and save for the items I purchase due to their prices, but it is worth it.

In the corner, I placed a wall file holder I had in our last home that I also picked up from Ikea.  Paint color on wall is the main color in our house:  Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, which is a “graige”.  Gray/Beige.

I love that it stays on the wall and does not take up any counter space.

On the wall by the door, is our planning center for the upcoming projects that we are doing and our current projects we are working on.

These magnetic boards are also from Ikea and have white magnets that you can purchase separately there for it.  I chose to use my label maker and do categories for the planning board that helps me stay on top of everything.  (*I removed a lot to protect information on the projects, but you get the idea.)

I literally planned this entire room around this light fixture.  Like I mentioned before, I knew I wanted that industrial feel in here and this was the only light fixture I could picture in here.  Since the desk is more to the side and the light fixture is centered in the room, we swagged it over with a ceiling hook to have it centered over the desk.  The best thing about the light fixture is the price.  For a light fixture like this, you would probably pay a lot!  Not at Ikea!  Here is a link to the fixture from their Hektar line.  We paid only $69 for this huge monster!

I really wanted to be able to walk in to the room and feel that it had a female presence as well as a male so I decided to go with these two chairs they sell at Costco.  I purchased one white for me and……

one black for him.  I am so glad that I did.  He has a tendency to show up splattered in paint or some foreign matter from time to time, so the black helps to hide that.  😉  *LOVE YOU, BABE!  

And last but certainly not least, here is my disorganized closet.  Can I just tell how much I love having a closet in my office?  I know it seems so simple.  A little closet in a room.  However, I did not have this in my last office and it REALLY makes a difference.  I can hide stuff in there like a printer!  Mine always became an eyesore and even though I needed it, I didn’t like the junky look it had.  Now, I can just close the door and forget about it.  It is wireless, so it isn’t necessary to attach to my computer and I just sneak the extension power cord under the door and plug it in right next to my desk.  Problem solved!

Well, my lovely friends, thank you thank you thank you for spending more time with me and taking another peak into this crazy thing I call a home.

I hope you have enjoyed another installment of the new house tour.

That fall time air is really calling my name and I hope to share a new recipe with you next time as well as a post about the true heart of our home……… THE KITCHEN!  

Until next time,

XOXO,

ESTHER