The She Shed Office has been completed for almost a month now and can I just tell you how much I love this space? If you didn't get a chance to see the exterior reveal hop over and do that first so you'll know why I chose to convert my storage building into the perfect office space before I walk you through the inside.
The interior feels like a little treasure trove and is a collection of vintage finds from all over the place, making the space feel like home, and most importantly, a reflection of my personality and the heartbeat of my business.
The Before
Before we delve too far into the after, let's take a quick look back at what we started with and the steps taken before I got the chance to work on the fun stuff.
The inside was a standard 12'x15' storage building that was built off site and delivered to my property. It was a basic framed building and ended up storing all of the items that wouldn't fit into my garage (but that's another story on hoarding).
After the new salvage door and windows were installed, we trenched down the back yard to add power to the building and then roughed in the electrical including a dedicated panel. Next we added insulation to the walls and ceilings and then drywalled both for a finished look.
When to Hire vs. DIY
While I did help minimally with the electrical rough-in, I ended up hiring guys to do everything else up to this point - framing/installing the windows and doors, electrical, and drywall. I think hiring an electrician goes without saying and while I'm sure those with DIY electrical skills could handle a job of this small size with ease, I didn't feel comfortable connecting everything myself and had no idea how to tie into the main breaker panel. I also could have installed the drywall but I knew it would have taken me five times as long plus I would have to recruit a helper for the ceilings. At the end of the day I have learned that there are areas where it pays to hire certain trades of a job out especially if you're working alone but all project costs you something - either your time or your money. Once these items were completed, the rest was up to me.
One of the perks of my job is that I often have leftover materials and in the case of the Queen Anne, we had a lot of extra materials including 6" tongue and groove beadboard and 3.5" pine tongue and groove flooring. I used the beadboard along the back wall as a focal point and the pine on the floors. After a light sanding, my favorite stain mix for pine floors - half Mahogany/half Honey, and a couple of coats of polyeurethane, the floors looked warm and beautiful.
I also wanted to mention that in order to make sure I had heat and air, I purchased a small unit that sits in the corner of the office and vents outside. So far it's worked well and with the ceiling fan and large trees overhead, I find that I haven't had to use it as much as I anticipated this summer. I'll circle back and share a review of the heat once it cools down.
Here's a similar model if you're looking for a portable heat/air unit for a small space:
Everything was painted a bright white to serve as a backdrop for all of my vintage items.
The After
And so the fun began - furnishing and decorating. Believe it or not, almost everything in this office I already had. Remember the hoarding garage I mentioned earlier? Every single piece of furniture was pulled from there along with some of the accessories and then I purchased a few additional items to make the office both organized and efficient to run my business.
This cool vintage desk was found in The Americana when I moved in and just as a reminder, this is the house I lived in before my current one. I just couldn't bear to part with it for years even though this is the first time I've actually put it to good use. In full disclosure I'm not 100% certain I'm keeping it. While I love the way it looks and the vintage appeal it has, the drawers make it hard to sit underneath so I'm still trying to decide whether it stays or goes. Underneath is a sisal rug with a simple black stripe pattern that ties the room together without being too busy.
Braided Striped 5x8 Jute Rug
Oh and the Ikea desk on the back wall - I found on the side of the road. I'm not kidding. Like I saw it on the side of the road one morning, called my dad to come help me pick it up, and stuck it in storage until now. The only change I made was to swap out the hardware for these cool antique gold knobs.
Brass Antique Drawer Pulls
The bookshelf was one I built several years ago and have used in my two previous homes. When there wasn't a place for it in my home this time, I kept it in the garage with the intention of using it down the road. I painted it a deep shade of green in HGSW 3251 Coriander and filled it with all of my books, notebooks, files, and other items. The chalkboard is flat black paint painted directly on the wall and trimmed out in some salvage trim I had left over from another renovation.
The Vintage Sign
The vintage sign on the feature wall was always intended to be the focal point of the space and it did not disappoint once installed. Five years ago I found it in the basement of the Cecil House when I was cleaning up to sell. It was flipped over so I thought it was just a piece of plywood that had been sitting in water for a while rotting away. Imagine my surprise when I turned it over and saw this. I was immediately in love and while the entire sign couldn't be saved, we were able to trim it down, add a sealer coat for protection, and trimmed it out to make it the perfect focal point of the office with a vintage wall sconce above.
Vintage Wall Sconce
The rest of the room is a display of vintage finds, organizational items, and little things that are personal to me and reflect my journey of renovating houses over the years.
One of my favorite items on the gallery wall is the blue print of the house my dad grew up in.
Easy to Hang Gallery Wall Frames
9 Piece 4x4 Frames
Set of 10 White Frames 8x10
18 x 24 White Poster Frame
And this clever little display of vintage keys I've collected over the years covers the electrical panel.
So as you can probably tell I really love this space. It's separate from my house which creates a little space between personal and professional, displays some of my favorite things, and provides me with a creative place to do the work I love.
