Creative workspace

Creative ideas to liven up your workspace or office. You spend a lot of time here- be inspired by your surroundings.

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Guest Project -- Create a His/Her Office and PB-Inspired Calendar Wall!!

 

Hey there tatertots!

My name is Karly Barker and I come to you from The Married Life.

I like to call myself a make do crafter and party planner.

I am no perfectionist but love to create a fun space, party, and even a little organization.

Like many of you my husband and I are newlyweds and just set up our first apartment.

And this very task required us to learn how to compromise for the first time.

(Boy are we getting used to that now)

 

 One of our first challenges was our second bedroom.

At the time we were both wrapping up our college degrees at BYU 

and my husband was planning to spend the next year studying for the CPA test.

So our second bedroom was turned into our office.

Only one problem...

I like color and a messy creative set up - while my husband prefers the structured life.

I set out to create a space where we could both work - a His and Hers office!

A room nearly split in half.

His personality on one end - mine on the other.

 

I decided to create a knock off pottery barn calendar and pinboard to help us stay on the same page.

  The cork board allows us to pin up wedding invitations on the correct dates

or even bills when they are due.

So without further to do -

here is a simple and affordable way to make a giant calendar.

 

Step #1: Tools

Most of the tools you will have right at home.

1. Giant slab of white board.  You can pick this up at home depot. Ask them to cut it into 12 x 12 squares. They will do this for free and its far cheaper than buying pre-cut squares. One slab will do the trick for a month calendar.

2. Next pick up three packages of 12 x 12 cork board squares.  These can also be found at home depot wal mart etc. You will need about 12 of these squares.  So proximately 3 or 4 packages depending.

3. Sharpie marker

4. Hot glue gun

5. Scissors

6. 30 velcro squares.

7. 31 circles/squares/scallops for numbering

8. 7 large circles/squares/scallops for labeling the days

9. Ruler 

10. Push pins

 Step #2

Using the ruler draw straight lines 1 1/2 inches apart on the cork board squares.

Step #3

Cut the cork board.

From each square you should get 7 cork board strips.

You will need 73 total.

This is by far the most time consuming part of the project.

So grab a good movie a start cutting!

 

 

Step #4

Gluing!

Line the edge of the cork board with a strip of hot glue.

Hold directly to the side of the white board.

Here is when math gets involved.

You are going to need:

18 white board squares that are lined with 2 cork board strips.

3 white board squares that are lined with 3 cork board strips

and 7 white board squares that are lined with 4 cork board strips.

Totaling 28 squares and 73 strips.

Following?

Just trust me.

It works!

 Step # 5

Place the velcro on the back of each square.

I found that if you place them at the top of the white board it holds well.

Step #6

Start velcroing to the wall.

Start with the top left square.

Place a square with two of the cork board strips there.

If you work from left to right through each week you will find that you will use the 

two sided squares until the 7th day.

On the 7th day you will use the 3 sided square.

Once you get to the 4th week you will use the 4th sided squares for the entire week.

As you go along this will make sense.

Step #7

The numbers and days.

You will notice the holes in between each of the squares.

This is where your number circles/squares come in.

Use your pins to pin the numbers right over the holes.

This not only hides the holes 

but also allows you to easily switch the numbers to the proper days each month.

Attach the labels for the days of the week using your velcro.

Voila!

It is a great way for this newlywed couple to stay on the same schedule.

And for more party ideas, crafts, 

and mostly newlywed laughs head on over to The Married Life.



Thanks Karly!!!



Isn't she the cutest??? 

I just love her PB-inspired board and her blog!!



Be sure to check out her blog and say hi at  The Married Life.

xxoxo

My Dining Room Turned Craft Room/Office and show off YOUR space!

 The most emailed questions that I get are about my Dining Room that we turned into my Office/Craft Room. It's one of my favorite rooms in the house and definitely the room I spend the most time in. So I thought I'd write a little post about what we did!

Before it was a plain dining room. It's a great shape -- kind of square and has a pretty detailed ceiling with lots of molding. The problem was that we are very casual people and only used the room maybe 2 times a year. And it's such premium space in our home. The light is great and instead of making an office in the basement, I thought it would be a great place for my office/craft room. Plus, it's right next to the kitchen, so I can work on dinner while working on a project.

I knew I didn't want it to be on full display like it was as a dining room. But I also didn't want to close up that space completely, because the light flows from the front of the house to the back through that space and also, if we ever sold the house, maybe someone would want a formal dining room.

So we decided to drywall in the arch and install some wide french doors. I love the way it turned out. The only problem is that you can still pretty much see through the doors in to my mess. And let's face it -- that room is always a mess with all of the projects I have going on LOL! So I am in the process of putting Silhouette frosted vinyl on the panes. That way the light can still come in but you can't see through as well.

I have had a lot of questions about the furniture for this room. The desk is from PB Teen.  It's the Mega desk.

We used a tax refund to pay for it one year. And, yes, it is expensive, but I think totally worth the money because of the quality and the piece is a great size! I love that I can be working on a project and have my kids in there with me doing their homework. And if we have a big poster or something like that to work on, it totally fits on that desktop.



Another idea -- I bet you could make this table with 4 file cabinets and 2 doors cut down a little. I'd love to see if anyone tries this!!! 

The top is wood and was getting pretty banged up, so I had a glass installer make a piece of glass to fit over the top. And I love the way it looks. It protects the top and it's easy to clean too.

The tall and short cabinets are all from Ikea. Totally affordable. I love the white, clean look and the scrolly design.

The paint color is Behr Sparkling Apple. A very happy green!

If you would like to share your office/craft space, I'd love for people to see it. I've made a linky where you can add your space and show it off!! 

I will do an Creative Space Feature on Wednesday the 30th!!

Have a wonderful day!!! 

xoxo

This post sponsored by

Interiors: Work Spaces

Whenever a new book comes out featuring artists' or writers' work spaces, I dissect the pictures for ideas and insight into the people who spend their days in those rooms. I'm fascinated by the places where creative people do their work. A good work space requires a blend of functionality and inspiration. In my own office, I first need a large desk with lots of leg room underneath. As cute as some vintage desks are, I wouldn't last long at a desk that hemmed me in. Once I have room to spread my mess around, I need items of inspiration nearby--an industrial lamp, a bulletin board to pin photos of my latest obsessions, and a cool container with lots of pens. A globe is also a must for the moments when my mind wanders to places outside of my cocoon.

Images: Recycled Home by Mark and Sally Bailey, published by Ryland, Peters & Small 2009. Maisons de Campagne magazine, July/August 2010 issue. House Beautiful magazine, July/August 2010 issue. Living etc magazine, September 2010 issue.

Interiors: Work Spaces

Whenever a new book comes out featuring artists' or writers' work spaces, I dissect the pictures for ideas and insight into the people who spend their days in those rooms. I'm fascinated by the places where creative people do their work. A good work space requires a blend of functionality and inspiration. In my own office, I first need a large desk with lots of leg room underneath. As cute as some vintage desks are, I wouldn't last long at a desk that hemmed me in. Once I have room to spread my mess around, I need items of inspiration nearby--an industrial lamp, a bulletin board to pin photos of my latest obsessions, and a cool container with lots of pens. A globe is also a must for the moments when my mind wanders to places outside of my cocoon.

Images: Recycled Home by Mark and Sally Bailey, published by Ryland, Peters & Small 2009. Maisons de Campagne magazine, July/August 2010 issue. House Beautiful magazine, July/August 2010 issue. Living etc magazine, September 2010 issue.

Free Internet Business Organization Tools

I've spent days, weeks and months browsing internet sites searching for the perfect business organization spreadsheets, tax prep-work etc. and have finally found a system that I'm completely happy about.




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Outright.com is possibly the most genius site ever. It will link your paypal, shoeboxed, and business bank accounts and organize, chart, evaluate everything from profit and loss statements, tax paperwork, and evaluations



Google Analytics tracks your traffic to all your sites from bogs, personal web-pages, and online venues



Picnik.com is a free website to brighten and edit your photography



I’m working on a few spreadsheets and will be posting them shortly.

Free Internet Business Organization Tools

I've spent days, weeks and months browsing internet sites searching for the perfect business organization spreadsheets, tax prep-work etc. and have finally found a system that I'm completely happy about.




Shoeboxed.com categorizes, dates, and organizes your receipts and other expenses for free

Outright.com is possibly the most genius site ever. It will link your paypal, shoeboxed, and business bank accounts and organize, chart, evaluate everything from profit and loss statements, tax paperwork, and evaluations



Google Analytics tracks your traffic to all your sites from bogs, personal web-pages, and online venues



Picnik.com is a free website to brighten and edit your photography



I’m working on a few spreadsheets and will be posting them shortly.