Hello everyone,
It’s been awhile. For those of you who have been around since the early days, thank you for sticking around. If you are new here, I’m Vanessa and I’m an Interior Decorator based in Milton, ON, Canada.
If you follow me on Instagram, then you may have seen that I bought a new house last year, renovated it and moved in at the end of January, 2023.
While I completely renovated the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms prior to moving in, I have decided to take the decorating of the other spaces at a much slower pace. If you have ever built your own home or renovated every single inch of your home, then you know that there are hundreds of decisions to make regarding function, layout and finishes. And it can be overwhelming. So stepping back and tackling the remaining spaces one room at a time, seems to make sense for me.
The first space I am tackling is my home office and I thought why not join the One Room Challenge which will motivate me to get it done. This is my first blog post in case you were looking for the previous weeks. I shared the before photos and inspiration photos already on Instagram. Posting updates on Instagram and TikTok weren’t options when I was participating in prior years so it’s nice to see this feature now. I haven’t posted too many updates because the transformation relies almost exclusively on two things – my cabinetmaker building my desk and storage on one side of the room and a beautiful mural being installed on the other side. Pretty straightforward.
Just a little backstory for anyone new here. I participated in my first One Room Challenge in 2014 and continued to do eleven in a row until 2019 when I ran out of spaces in my former home. I’m happy to join back in again.
This is my home office in my former home which I transformed six years ago for the Spring 2017 One Room Challenge. I needed a desktop to work at and storage for books, product info and client files. I loved that this home office was on the first floor with a large window overlooking the front of the house. Unfortunately in my new house, I don’t have a dedicated space like this so I am turning an unused bedroom into a home office.
This is the concept for the home office. The inspiration image is close to what my new home office will look like – an L shaped desk with storage on one side. I have a window in the same spot which unfortunately is lower than desk height so I have to remove the shutter I just installed and replace it with a woven wood shade which will add a lot of texture.
My first concept iteration was to wallpaper all of the walls in a small print wallpaper. I even contemplated block printing the wall myself but finding a block that would work on walls, rather than fabric, proved challenging. I switched gears when I saw the Grandiflora Mural from Milton and King. I have always wanted a painterly mural like this in my previous homes but I didn’t have the right wall for it.
The mural will be on one wall facing the desk storage and I think it will add so much prettiness to that side. I chose the Sable colourway because it is neutral and quiet. But I also like the juxtaposition of quiet and vibrant so I think this striped pink rug will work well. This beautiful light and comfortable chair will complete the space.
The built in is being installed this week and I cannot wait. I’m using Concept Cabinets, a local company who I have worked with many times over the years, to fabricate and install the built in. In fact, the first time I was in print in House & Home magazine in 2013, a bathroom project was featured with a beautiful vanity that they built for me.
The wallpaper mural is to arrive at the end of the week and be installed on the weekend. 🤞🏽 And then the space will be professionally photographed on May 24th in time to share. Stay tuned!
Check out what everyone is up to here. Have a great week!
Vanessa xo
What do you think?