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New Home Reveal: The Peppy Home Office

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM vintage tanker desk black white gold silver decor workspace Hyllis bookshelf cork whitewashed bulletin board

The vibe: Peppy, bright, and organized.

The style: Natural, mid-century modern with contrasting touches of glam.

The palette: Emerald green, black and white, and metallics.

What I love about this room: It’s the only room in the house in which I used such a vivid color. I also love the storage–there are two closets in here, perfect for hiding my arsenal of creative supplies & decor.

What I don’t love so much: The positioning of the closets. Since they’re on the longest wall, it makes rearranging difficult on the other walls. And yes, I’ve already rearranged this room since I moved here in June.

How this space is ME: While I found my niche with neutrals, I still me some super-saturated color. This room honors that love but only in pops of color plus I tempered it with the neutrals. Also, I’ve decorated with a few pieces from my family: a counted cross-stitch piece from my mother and an old photo of my great-grandparents.


I am a very lucky lady to have the chance to work from home. I’ve done it for about 7 years now, and it’s been heavenly. No fluorescent lighting! No recycled air and the germs it contains! As little or as much noise as I want!

Of course, the best part about working at home is decorating that space however I desire. Since I’ve worked from home, I’ve always used a bright color in my office. That’s because I believe in color psychology, and want the color here to keep my brain energized and alert. I also aimed to decorate this room in a way that doesn’t feel like I’m stuck at work. I want this to feel as far away from a cubicle as possible.

My vintage tanker desk is a piece I don’t think I can ever part with. It’s so heavy but durable. They just don’t make (affordable) furniture like that anymore. I reincarnated the desk from teal into a lush emerald hue (Soapstone by Behr). To do this, I used a DIY chalk paint recipe with latex paint and calcium carbonate, which you can view here at In My Own Style.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM vintage tanker desk black white gold silver decor workspace Hyllis bookshelf cork whitewashed bulletin board

My office chair also received a revamp. First, I glammed up the base and legs with several coats of a light gold spraypaint. (It’s worn off a little in spots, but I’m still content with it.) However, my fave part of the revamp is the fabric, which I scored from Joann’s. It’s a black and white crosshatch pattern that pairs wonderfully with the MCM desk.

It was very easy to recover the chair, because I only used a staple gun and hot glue. First, I disassembled the chair and traced the back (x 2) and seat onto my fabric, allowing extra inches all around. I then used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the seat.

For the chair’s back, I glued fabric onto one side of the chair back and then trimmed the excess off the edges. I then glued the other piece to the opposite side, folding the fabric edges under and over the first panel. It was a little tricky through the curved parts, but I was very pleased with the results. Plus, this was far easier and quicker than sewing a cover for the chair back.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM vintage tanker desk black white gold silver decor workspace cork whitewashed bulletin board

Obviously an organized workspace also lends to the vibe of order. I have two metal bookshelves in which I store my most commonly used items in white boxes and magazine files. I also favor decorating offices with white, since it helps the color stand out and creates a feeling of cleanliness.

This table is a very cheap desk from IKEA that also a leg makeover with the same gold spraypaint. The stool is–surprise!–also from IKEA and was originally black. I painted it with the same chalk paint as the desk.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM black white gold silver decor workspace Hyllis bookshelf cork whitewashed bulletin board

This piece is one of my mother’s counted cross-stitch creations. I inherited it years ago when she passed, but never found a proper home for it since it didn’t coordinate with my past color schemes. But it has a home now. It was always one of my favorites because I love birds and all the colors in it. I had to make a place for it so this room seemed best.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM desk black white gold silver decor workspace parrot tropical counted cross-stitch decor

I also added houseplants like pothos, Vick’s plant, and a lemon fern to complement the bright green from the desk. While the office is not as brightly lit as my last home office, it’s still a decent place for them. A wood letter tray with a DIY whitewash treatment frames the plants nicely.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM black white gold silver decor workspace Hyllis bookshelf cork whitewashed wood letter tray Vick's plant Button fern succulent houseplants

The final wall is pretty uneventful, but practical. I cut out circles of dry erase paper and applied them to the walls. These help me organize my various to-do lists. On each side, I hung various rulers I use for my projects.

New home peppy office reveal The Decor Guru emerald green soapstone behr chalk paint mid-century modern MCM black white gold silver decor workspace cork whitewashed bulletin board dry erase paper walls to-do lists

That’s all, folks! It’s a pretty small room, so with the powerful green of my desk, I didn’t want the rest of the decor to compete with it. It’s a fairly simple space that I keep cleaner than any other room because it’s my workspace.

Sources:

  • Table: IKEA/DIY
  • Desk: secondhand find/DIY
  • Desk color: Behr Soapstone MQ4-14
  • Wall color: Sherwin Williams Divine White #6105
  • Office chair: IKEA
  • Magazine files, storage boxes: IKEA/Michaels
  • Bookshelves: IKEA
  • Table: IKEA/DIY
  • Stool: IKEA/DIY
  • Parrot counted cross-stitch – secondhand/DIY
  • Dry erase paper: Joann Fabrics
  • Wood candle holder: Lowes
  • Paper tray: Target/DIY whitewashing
  • Fox: secondhand
  • Curtains: unknown

Do you have a space dedicated in your home for an office? How do you like it decorated? Do you prefer neutral colors or bold colors for decorating?

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Filed under: Color, Furniture, Office, Organizing & Storage, Rental Decorating, Reveals + Makeovers, Textiles