Before and After: Home Office

This week’s “Before and After” features our home office. You may have read some about this project when I reviewed paint brand options.

When we moved into our house this room was the least offensive to the eye. I really liked the chair rail and didn’t mind the sage green color. Two years later, I’m bored with the color and HATE the off-white trim. The walls were chipping in spots and damaged from lots of nail holes. So we decided it was time to redesign!

One day, the office will become a baby nursery (no, we are not pregnant) and since Ethan and I both dislike painting, I wanted to choose a design that could easily be converted. I originally fell in love with the color below the chair rail, Cheyenne Rock by Behr, and in order to add more light to the room, chose two shades lighter on the color spectrum for above the chair rail. The top color has more of a purple hew than I pictured, but I added more green accents to the room in order to neutralize this.

With the walls no longer green, the hunter green hand-me-down dresser and end-table no longer fit the decor. I refinished them by lightly sanding, priming, and painting them. I highly recommend using a small roller designed for painting cabinets. The furniture looks brand new and I even surprised myself with how good they look painted.

So after painting the walls and trim, refinishing the furniture, getting rid of the clutter, and changing out the wall art (with Photography by Chris Paulis), the room finally feels finished. I am really enjoying the fresh, new feel, especially with the white furniture and new accents.

What do you think? What would you have done differently? Any suggestions to help complete the design?