The Delightful Home {Family Office}

UPDATED MARCH 2020 HERE

I’m so excited to be back today with the next installment of The Delightful Home room by room tour!!  As you know, I like to start with where I started…  the room on move-in day was full of promise, but outdated, the door was cracked in multiple places and the white carpet was just gross.

This is the most versatile space in the house, I think. It is the first room off the foyer and cleans up nicely to look like a sitting room. But most hours of most days it looks a lot more like this…  Hence, why we call it our family office!

Let’s start with the sitting area. The rug is from Ballard Designs and, as usual, I stalked the outlet until I found it. I can’t for the life of me recall where I picked up the little needlepoint stool, but it too was up in the attic just waiting to be returned to it’s former glory. (I actually can’t remember where it was at my old house either.)  When the littles aren’t home or we are entertaining, this makes a great space for more people to gather.

The two slipper chairs came out of the baby’s nursery and were originally from Ballard Designs circa 2006ish. They are in a mini diamond matelasse and I adore them. Rescuing them from my attic was pure pleasure. The Shades of Light chandy was a huge splurge, but since I already had the chairs and table I went for it. Speaking of the table, it also came out of my attic and was originally from the living room in our old house.

Mother made the two throw pillows for me in egret in blue heaven. I carted the same fabric off to the upholsterer to fashion gathered chair cushions for the ghosties. The garden stool was a lucky Home Goods find. Don’t you just love those?!? I really don’t go in there much because when I do I always leave with something I shouldn’t.

I purchased the two ghost chairs on ebay and both came slightly damaged on the seats.  When the seller couldn’t replace them she told me to trash them and returned my money. Well, I obvi didn’t trash them. I just skirted them instead!  They are lightweight and easy for the littles to move to their desks when in use. When they aren’t being used as desk seats, they turn around to complete a conversation area.

The oyster painting is by Amy Fogg and was the first purchase I made with my blog proceeds (after saving for months on end.) The name of it is “And Then There Were Three” and it immediately reminded me of my three boys, including my angel baby. I was her first etsy store sale last year and she cut me a deal that I couldn’t refuse :-)

Moving right along, tucked in the closet is the World Headquarters for my little Dixie Delights operation.  When The Container Store had their elfa closet systems on sale, I bit the bullet and splurged on what is now the nicest, most expensive closet I’ve ever (and might ever) own. But, after working out of it for the last couple of years, it was worth every penny. I emptied out TWO other closets to perfectly put everything in its place in the new space. If you’re wondering, the folks at Container Store were a pure pleasure to work with. I made an appointment in advance and came armed with my measurements and a short list of things I wanted to see in the space. I emailed the plan they sent me home with to two other companies for competitive price quotes and Container Store blew them out of the water. Honey installed everything in a few hours but they do have people that can do it for you. It took about six weeks for everything to come in, but I was in no rush – just be warned.

I’ve got two complete rows of shelves at the top for baskets. I was able to reuse all of the Pottery Barn Kids Sabrina baskets with scalloped liners from our playroom here and they work perfectly. I have stored all of my party wares (plates, cups, napkins, straws, favor bags and such) on the very top shelf in the larger baskets. The smaller baskets hold craft supplies like paints, glues, tapes, etc. There is room for my printer off to the left as well – this was previously located on the floor of my closet and it was always a pain in the neck to print anything. I adore the versatility of the peg board for keeping things of all shapes and sizes that I use almost every day just an arms reach away. I can’t tell you how much time I spent standing on my head trying to get something out from the bottom of stacked bins in my guest room closet for the last five years.

I’ve had the best time collecting pretty, preppy desk supplies. The gold tape dispenser, file holder, stapler and scissors are all Nate Berkus for Target. The little vase is an upcycled candle holder from Christmas.

The little canvas was painted by Mother as a Valentine’s gift, and the framed Kate Spade card was a gift from a dear friend after a lovely day spent together.

The glass jars on the top shelf were Haven swag that I glittered with more Haven swag. You can see the full how-to here. The scalloped holders were something Sister had in her stash. I made the pin board out of a cork board from Target and left over pillow fabric and ribbon. It literally took me two minutes. My kind of project!

Down below I have SO much storage for all sorts of paper, stationery, ribbons, packing supplies and more party stuff. The schoolhouse bar stool is from World Market and I have had the trash can for eons. Tricia at HKL Designscut the gold monograms for me!

And one of my favorite features is the roll-out homework cart for the littles (pictured left)! It neatly holds all of our markers, crayons, stickers, papers, scissors, pencils, erasers and notebook paper. Everything has a place, it’s easy to get to and there’s no question where it should go when we are finished with it.

Thanks to a fantastic reader suggestion, I ordered the capiz hanging lantern from World Market to cover the bare bulb. I found the vintage gold tassel pull at Paris Market in Savannah and it was the perfect finishing touch. (Can’t explain why this pic makes everything look orange…)

I also love having my littles homecoming gowns framed in this space. When they were sitting in here the other night with me doing homework and studying for a social studies test on maps, I couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly they grow and change. You can see how I framed them here.

We currently have our Let Your Life Change the World paper chain hanging around the pictures.  It tends to move around a bit.

We’ve covered my workspace so it’s finally time to reveal the desks that came from my brain to my office over the course of a year and through the blood, sweat and tears of Dan Hodge (This was a total custom piece and his work was incredible. He can be reached through Creative Interiors and Consignment: (678) 402-8386 / [email protected].)  I think I drove him batty on this project, so I’m not sure he’d sign up for another :-)

I swoon a little every time I look at the hardware on this piece. I originally ordered something much pricier and then exchanged them for these and couldn’t be happier. They are from Lowe’s and I used the Sumner Street 6” pulls for the big doors and the 4” pulls for the upper cabinet.

Inside, there are two side by side units with closed storage, basket storage, bulletin boards, dry erase boards and computer desks. There is a basket for the week’s homework and projects, a basket for school work to save and a basket for notes home from the school/teacher about events, dates, etc. All of that for EACH child!

I picked up the square bulletin boards and dry erase calendars at Target. Both are by Board Dudes. The baskets are from Michael’s and you can see how I easily made the chalk tags here.

We had quite a little collection of old laptops from Honey’s work that have been put to use for the littles.

The last little piece of the room is the wall with the windows. After a lengthy, across the state search, I ended up going with the Santerno dresser from Home Decorators Collection (in grigio carmine). It was about twice what I wanted to spend but went on sale and had free shipping so I carted it and never looked back. When it came I was quite impressed with how heavy, sizeable and well made it was, and in no time flat we had it fit right between the windows!!

I shared the story of the mirror a while back. It came from my late neighbor, Miss J and I truly couldn’t love it more. You can almost always find something hanging from it – hearts at Valentine’s Day, a boo bunting at Halloween and a merry version at Christmas.  Right now it’s dolled up with the tissue bunting Mother made for my 40th birthday!  The lamp came from my attic but is by Pottery Barn and was saved from a dull life at the outlet two years ago (only to find itself in an even worse predicament in my attic.) I kept holding on to, just knowing it would one day fit somewhere. I made the shade for a floor lamp in Whit’s nursery eons ago with trims from Lewis & Sheron. It makes me smile to see it back in a room that I use every day.

I wanted a place to frame inspirational or seasonal word art and rotate through different things at the holidays.  However, my every-day art of choice is a painting Mother did of my monogram in pink and gold!! My Lilly books finally came off the bookshelf as well. The blue ball is from Home Goods and the brass turtle box is Nate Berkus for Target.

Not only are these pieces easy on the eyes, but they are functional to boot. We keep a set of coasters brought home from a trip by Honey’s mama in the turtle box, and the drawers offer loads of storage for school work, sports papers and more.

Mother helped me make the curtains on a summer visit to Savannah. They are a basic white canvas fabric with velvet ribbon trim in a fretwork design. The velvet ribbon is gorgeous and much, much cheaper than actual trim. I ordered it from M&J Trimming with a 25% off coupon (currently still running). The color is light gray. The rods are by Antique Drapery Rod Company.

As for the room itself, we use it every single day.  There’s no TV, it’s comfortable and it’s light and bright.  The boys do their homework and projects in here and I love being able to keep an eye on their computers.

The Delightful Home {Dixie Delights Home Tour}

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