Week Six | November 7 | A Place for Everything
I am taking on the room where I spend more time than any other: my Workroom. Part library, part sewing room, part home office, and part art studio, my Workroom has to do it all. This week: the big reveal! It is all done, and here’s how it turned out!
Hello! In case we haven’t met before, I’m Angela aka Mid Modern Mama. I’m a writer and author of several books by day, and a passionate DIY-er by night. Assisted by my architect husband and our power-tool-savvy Bambino, I am out to transform our Mid Century Atomic Ranch one room at a time. Welcome! In case you need to catch up, here are the previous weeks’ links for this One Room Challenge! Enjoy!
With introductions covered, let’s jump right in. The Workroom Makeover is DONE — without a minute to spare, I might add! A quick review of where I started: my Workroom is my home office and library first and foremost. This is where I spend my day writing and editing. But it is also my art studio, sewing room, and craft room, too. Additionally, I manage some inventory for my book sales here as well as the inventory of Bambino’s outgrown clothing that I sell online.
So there’s a LOT going on in this room! And in the “before” photos you will see, it was not a pretty picture. When we moved in two years ago, I barely unpacked and then got to work. So the entire room needed to be KonMari’d, organized, and freshened up. It also lacked color, good lighting, and functional furniture. The bones were there, but it needed help!
At the onset, I outlined six goals for this project:
Treat the room as a studio apartment. Go through the entire KonMari process, and eliminate the clutter.
Create distinct working zones for each function of the room.
Bring in unifying colors.
Bring in plants and elements of the natural world.
Improve the lighting for all tasks.
Complete the makeover with a low environmental impact.
If you are interested in the specifics on how I accomplished each of those goals, the details are spelled out in weeks 2-5.
The room’s scheme was inspired by my three passions: art, books, and travel. And that inspiration came together in this idea board and space plan before I began:
The Workroom Makeover inspiration board
The multi-functional space plan changed a bit, but all of the major functions are present.
My Green Workroom
So, here it is! Verdant and full of life — and tidy!
While I was in the midst of the KonMari process, I painted one accent wall and wallpapered another. Can you have two accent walls in one room? In this case, the answer is YES! The other walls and trim I left their original colors. They were just painted two years ago and are in good shape.
I absolutely love the cactus wallpaper! It is so cheerful, colorful, and inviting.
After finishing the KonMari process, the space plan changed a bit. I have significantly less stuff to stow and accommodate, which freed up room in this 11’ x 16’ space.
I spent a lot of time working on the lighting in this room. I have layers upon layers of lighting for every kind of task and activity — something that was sorely lacking before I began. I can’t believe how much brighter this room is now!
The first big project was my desk which now runs all the way along the 16’ wall on one end of the room. We made it from butcher block countertop which is mounted to the wall and rests on two hairpin legs at the front. Tucked underneath the countertop are the elfa drawer units which I already had. I reorganized and reconfigured them once the KonMari process was done. Each drawer now has a specific purpose and is tidied using containers, bins, and boxes from around the house.
The desk is so long that I can’t capture it all in one image — even with my wide-angle lens — in this somewhat narrow room!
Not only did I put up a botanical wallpaper, but I also brought in a garden of plants so I am not alone all day anymore. #plantparenthood
This little birds are souvenirs from my travels to Korea and Austria.
The Writing Spot
With so many functions centered in this room, I needed to plan designated places for each activity type. First and foremost: writing. I kept my computer centered by the window for both daylight exposure and a chance to watch the squirrels and cats — my daily entertainment.
I surrounded my workspace with elements of beauty and reminders of my favorite place: Italy.
On my left: my Muses, a vintage lamp, my little Italian village, and a photo of me with my dearest girlfriends.
On my right: some new friends of the botanical variety and the Bocca della Verita — the Mouth of Truth — from Rome. The Mexican Milgra on the wall was one of the inspiration pieces for the room.
From a leftover length of countertop, I also made a table with hairpin legs. This table floats, so it can be moved around the room as needed. Generally, however, it sits at the right of the writing area creating an L-shaped desk for planning or research materials.
This turntable is meant for a refrigerator, but it holds all of my essentials and has handles, so I can move it from place to place easily.
Antique glass ink bottles line the windowsill and catch the morning light.
The Library
As a writer I am naturally a reader. I spend my day bathing in words, surrounded by words, eating words. And I read voraciously. I also tend to buy books because I know all too well that’s how writers earn their livings. So our house is filled with books. This is my personal library — books I use professionally, for the most part. They are organized by subject. I did reduce my library slightly in the KonMari process which allowed me a bit more room for accessorizing.
I used the same Billy bookcases from Ikea that I already had. However, we removed the backs, painted the wall, and installed the bookcases creating a detail which makes them look a bit more custom. I also filled the holes for the shelves and hid the back channel which gives the bookcases a built-in look.
There are two tutorials for how to achieve this look.
In the middle of the bookcases, I created two symmetrical alcoves. They are filled with my favorite things gathered on my travels around the world and photographs from my trips, too.
An antique photograph of the Colosseum in Rome from the 1800s centers this alcove surrounded by items collected from Japan and Norway and photographs from other travels.
As I collected some of my favorite artifacts together, I focused on blending natural elements — wood, stone — with handmade items as well. My husband cut some slices of wood from felled branches in our backyard to create levels and height for some of the smaller items.
Each alcove features a horizontal art piece collected with photographs from my travels. Most of the photos are from Rome, Florence, and Venice.
Russian nesting dolls including a set given to me by my grandparents and a set from my trip to the USSR with them — my first trip abroad.
Other artifacts are scattered amongst the books for variety and texture. Each chosen for its sentiment.
The wooden troll is from Norway. The green vase was made by a potter in Japan. And the mailbox door is from my time teaching at a boarding school.
I found the fossil when I was in middle school, and I have collected the vintage books over the years.
My books are arranged by subject. One entire bookcase is devoted to Italy. Other travel books are arranged by country. Sadly, in our move from Los Angeles, several boxes of books were lost including my entire collection of books about Korea and Korean history.
A Welsh dragon keeps watch over the books about Great Britain.
The Sewing Room
I don’t sew every day or even every week, but I do sew regularly, and now I have a place for everything. I gave the sewing area a good test run in the midst of this makeover while making Bambino’s Harry Potter costume for Halloween. I made a few tweaks, but in general it works very well, and I am pleased to be able to work on a project, leave it, and return to it without having to completely upend the rest of the room. The alcove makes a perfect little sewing room.
I made the sewing machine cover a few summers ago from a shirt that was accidentally torn.
The drawers at the left of the sewing spot hold notions, thread, needles, and my scrap fabrics. I reconfigured the elfa wall unit so that it is easier to reach. Elfa is incredibly flexible. I was able to completely reconfigure the entire unit for under $25. I purchased one more standard and had the staff at the Container Store cut my other standards down in length — which they did for free. By making the elfa unit horizontal across the wall rather than vertical, more of it is accessible now that the wall is lined with a desk. Case in point: scissors and pins are all within easy reach now.
The floating table makes a great cutting surface for sewing projects.
When working on a large sewing project, I can move the tall tower of drawers out of the way for more room.
Above the sewing area, I hung a gorgeous signed print by Irving Amen which I found on the Facebook Marketplace. I love these women making music and surrounded by elements of nature and daily life. It is a Mid Century piece and was already framed. The colors are absolutely stunning, too.
I do a lot of visible mending, and I have never had a dedicated mending basket until now!
My mending basket is full! Time to get back to work.
The Art Studio and Craft Room
Art supplies can be tricky to store. They are odd shapes, often messy, and can take up a lot of room. After KonMari-ing my art supplies, I found that the upper cupboard and the drawers below were perfectly adequate for storing all of my art supplies. I keep an art journal and dabble in watercolors amongst other projects.
With supplies in bins and neatly labeled using my Cricut, everything is organized and easy to find. Magazine files hold reams of paper, magazines, and other projects.
I absolutely love using my Cricut to make labels. These were made using four different coordinating colors of vinyl — all of which I had on hand.
I have a stack of bins labeled WIP — Work in Progress — for projects that need to be put away mid-creativity.
The turntable holds glue of all kinds and a jar of paintbrushes making this cabinet efficient and tidy.
The tall elfa drawer unit holds my child’s artwork to be saved and archived. The top three drawers are empty for unfinished projects to dry or to be tucked away until they are finished.
The Gift Wrapping Station
I have wanted a gift wrapping station since Martha Stewart introduced me to the concept long, long ago, and I’ve come close in a few houses, but this is by far the best dedicated spot ever. If you’ve been following me, you know I love Christmas, gift giving, and beautiful wrapping. I even wrote a Christmas planner! This year wrapping gifts will be amazing — and so much easier.
The station itself is designed to be self-sufficient for smaller gifts.
I’ve included storage for smaller off-cuts of wrapping paper — rolled to prevent crushing. Scissors and tape are right at hand. The glass jar holds cuts of ribbons to be reused. I always use real ribbon — not plastic or paper ribbon — so it can be used again and again. Gift cards, note cards, pens, and markers are all right there, too.
More wrapping materials are stored in the closet. Smaller items are in drawers while wrapping paper is tucked in the closet’s corner in a hamper.
The Printing, Shipping, and Cricut Zone
The only furniture I purchased for this room, in the end, was a vintage teacher’s desk from the 1950s which I bought on the Facebook Marketplace for $25. It was even the right color! It makes the perfect station under the window for my printer, Cricut, files, and supplies. The trash, recycling, and shredder fit underneath as well.
The desk needed a thorough cleaning, and I replaced the cracked trim around the top with new trim in a chrome finish.
My husband built a stand to go over the Cricut which created space for a lamp and plant on the desktop as well.
The desk drawers each got a makeover and a new function: Cricut tools, shipping supplies, and files. The drawers are all lined with off-cuts from the cactus wallpaper in the alcove.
In the middle of the ORC, I also gave the shipping function a good test as I had to ship out the pre-orders and retail orders for The Nice List, my Christmas planner. The floating table again worked perfectly, this time for packaging orders and writing the accompanying thank you notes.
No Mid Century office space is complete without a rotary phone.
The Closet and Inventory Storage
The closet in this room was partially done before I began. We had already installed shelving and the rolling carts have been in our family for many years performing one duty or another. But I KonMari’d the entire closet which allowed me to move my book inventory into the closet. I also spruced up the storage for Bambino’s Closet — where I sell Bambino’s gently-used clothing.
New labels make these boxes full of clothing more attractive.
My changing art gallery: clipboards mounted on the wall.
At last there is a place for everything,
and everything is in its place!
The Final Numbers
I haven’t done all of the final finances yet, but I can tell you one very important thing…
For this entire project, I bought a grand total of FIVE containers. That’s right. Five. And I only bought two of them so that they would match others I already had. Other than that, every drawer, every bin, every box — they were all things we already had around the house. Marie Kondo is right, and this room proves it again. I used boxes and jars and baskets and bins and containers that I already had — and it all looks so tidy. Here’s a peek into the elfa drawers as proof!
Thank You Notes
A big thank you to Kelly-Moore Paints who provided the paint for this project. That yummy green color is KM5106 | Prickly Pear Cactus.
Thanks to Linda of The One Room Challenge for organizing the One Room Challenge! Thanks also to Better Homes and Gardens, the ORC media sponsor. On Instagram, check out #oneroomchallenge and #bhgorc to see all of the amazing room reveals, or visit the One Room Challenge Blog where you’ll find the link-up to all of the participating blogs. There are rooms of every kind, aesthetic, and design. It is an amazing thing to explore and get inspiration!
If you are interested in ordering a copy of my Christmas organizer and planner, The Nice List, there are some available in my store! I’d love to ship a copy to you this week while I am filling orders! The Nice List is a fabulous way to give yourself a peaceful, organized, and more joyful Christmas season.
You can follow along on Instagram or like Mid Modern Mama on Facebook for more about my ORC projects and all kinds of other fun.
Thanks for stopping by!
Ciao!
Angela
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