styleNorth

Last fall, I studied the history of furniture from ancient civilizations (Egyptian, Greek, Roman) through to the Georgian period. That’s a lot of design history to draw inspiration from, and it was certainly on my mind as I plotted, planned and painted my home office/guest bedroom. The photos above show the basement/storage room canvas from which I would create the monochromatic, classical-inspired, brocante-style vibe I was going for. I wanted an office where I could work on school projects but one that also doubled as a guest bedroom.

Our house is nestled among two acres of trees. It’s a cozy, cottage-style home with a laid-back, natural woodsy feel and décor to match. However, at project time, I was steeped in the glorious past with visions of cabriole legs dancing in my head.

Above and below are three views of what I managed to achieve on a strict budget. I’m very pleased as the results are quite close to what I saw in my head. My goal was to create an uncluttered, light, fresh ambiance using many of the things I already owned.

Can you spot the desktop and one of the drawers of the keyhole desk in the “before” shots? And the grille hides a nasty security bar that just HAD to go. Discontinued fabric books are great for school projects AND décor (fabric swatches work well in frames too). I made the mirror shelf in a woodworking class, which explains the Mastercraft workbench—had to incorporate everything!

Here’s that ugly blue dresser (I had two!) with new hardware. I love my dollar store finds: tassels and a simple striped box. The pretty botanical prints (other one over the desk) I picked up at an antique show for $10 each.

The bed, below, matched the blue dressers, but I gave it different hardware and small oval mouldings. I’ve also placed decorative paper cards in empty frames (a last minute idea when my mirror project cracked-up). And finally, my tiny side table with cabriole legs that never seemed right anywhere has finally found the perfect spot.