#PinterestHouseProject: The Study

The first installment of The #PinterestHouseProject is here!

I am starting with my favourite room in the house – The Study. That’s saying a lot considering my master ensuite and walk-in-closet…

My study is a home office and library, all rolled into one beautiful room. A room that I always dreamed of having in my home.

First up, my crate bookshelf. I’m in love with my crates. The one on the bottom was actually a Christmas gift from my mom when I was just 16.

I have to admit, I didn’t actually get this idea from Pinterest. I had crates to use as shelves over 4 years ago, long before Pinterest even existed. However, I loved when I spotted pictures of the same idea popping up on home decor and DIY boards. It reaffirmed my awesome design style. Here is a great pin of a crate bookshelf that caught my eye.

My working area is made up of an antique desk and exposed shelves. With the shelves visible from the front door, I wanted to ensure that I organized them to look clean & colourful.

I purchased a number of Martha Stewart Home Office accessories, including the brown magazine holder on the top shelf, and nearly bought more. I also found a great tutorial on making my own magazine holder from a cereal box.

But I was both cheap and lazy. So I bought a 2 pack of the double sized magazine holders from Staples for under $10 and spray painted them aqua. Done and done.

Likewise, I was also cheap when it came to other accessories for my desk. I jumped all over this tutorial for turning recycled cans into a DIY desk organizer.

And the gorgeous desk in the center of all this organized beauty? This gem was a find when walking through an old empty century home 4 years ago. I spotted this genuine typerwriter desk (complete with cast iron typerwriter inside) and asked the owner if it was for sale.

I took it apart and refinished it piece by piece. Once again, Pinterest wasn’t around at the time, but I do recommend this very detailed tutorial for restoring old furniture.

Moving clockwise around the room, we come to my home library. I have just a small collection of books.

It’s not an addiction. Not at all.

There are two other bookshelves elsewhere in the house, plus a full nightstand in the bedroom. I may have a problem…

When a bookshelf is this full, it really is just about making it all fit. But I did get some good inspiration on how to make a full bookshelf look organized.

My Mama was also sitting in the room while I worked on the bookshelf and gave me pointers about turning some books on their side. This helps to break up some of the blocking that can happen in a full library.

Many of the decorations – old antique books, trinket boxes, candles, etc, – I have had for ages. But I knew I wanted a few vases that blended perfectly with the room.

Now, I had intended these vases to look like these beautiful dipped votives, but this was a #PinterestFail. They looked terrible. I am sure it is because I choose glasses that were far too large.

Instead, I simply used brushes meant for glass and gently applied multiple layers of acrylic paint to give them a smoother texture.

The other half of this very spacious room is used up with a lovely quiet seating area.

I wanted something unique and personal above the one loveseat. When I spotted this amazing DIY Instagram photo frame, I knew I had found the perfect project.

With a huge bay window – one of my favourite features of the whole house – there is a lot of natural light to take advantage of.

When looking at the overall colour theme in this room, I noticed a growing trend of brown, aqua and red used together.

When we bought our leather sofa set, we scored a deal by accepting the chair in a contrasting colour. I love it that way. From there, it was just a matter of accessorizing around it & pulling it into the room.

In the end, I gained a creative, warm and inviting space. I think we found a great way to utilize a very spacious and bright room to its full potential.

Ideally speaking, every room in my house will be this easy to design and fall in love with.