Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Finishing The Office Makeover

Our office continues to creep towards the finish line (tortoise style) with the addition of an overhead light…

Chairs Light Detail

… and new desk chairs.

Chairs President Business

You might recognize the light because it’s none other than the one we used to have hanging in our kitchen (loosely meeting both the “old” and “borrowed” criteria from this post’s title). We loved the light itself, but mentioned a few times in the comments that after living with it for a little while, we weren’t sure we loved it as much as we initially thought we would in the kitchen. So we figured we’d try it in the office.

Chairs Light Horizontal

The second it was up, we were sold. It feels polished and traditional to us, so it’s a nice mix with the clean-lined furnishings and colorful art (the more modern counterparts of the room) and the paned bay window and thick crown molding (the other more traditional elements that are already present). Functionally speaking, it’s nice and bright (it’s a two-bulb fixture) and we’re both soaking up the luxury of finally having a ceiling fixture to flick on when we enter the room. We’ve even talked about going to a glass place (or a lighting place) and having them cut a quatrefoil-shaped diffuser to fit it, so we’ll keep you posted if we get around to that.

Of course now that we stole that light from the kitchen we just have a bare bulb dangling in there, but we’re glad to have found our big quatrefoil shade a more permanent home.

Chairs Light In Kitchen

Now for the chairs. Don’t you remember them from our kitchen too?

Just kidding, they’re new. And blue.

Chairs John Detail

It all started when a reader named Sabrina tipped me off to a big sale going on at PB Teen and mentioned they had some pretty nice stuff. Lately I’ve noticed a bunch of designers using stuff from PB Teen in adult spaces. In other words, don’t let the name scare you. Oh and check out PB Kids too (they have some gorgeous lights right now). In fact, Real Simple had an awesome living room a few months back and the thing I loved most and swore was probably super expensive ended up being like $150 at PB Teen.

But I digress. These chairs caught my eye the second I headed over to the site – especially because of the awesome button tufting and curved arms (traditional) and those sleek legs with wheels (the more modern counterpart). Although the light gray and teal one were completely charming, the navy one screamed my name the loudest (less worry about stains, and a nice dark/rich color to ground our light and airy office) so I showed John and held my breath. John is somewhat of a chair diva. He wanted our new office chairs to be adjustable (check), have arms (check), be on wheels (check), and not have a ton of cumbersome levers and handles under them (we looked at a lot of prior chair options looked like an oversized eight-armed spider lived under them). These actually checked all of his chair diva boxes. BIIIIIG SIGH. He was in.

Office Chairs

Actually, I loved them enough to pull the trigger, but it wasn’t until I called a local Pottery Barn store to check if we could return them there (instead of having to pay to ship them back if we didn’t like them) that Practical John was completely with me on the whole “add to cart” step. They still weren’t cheap, but we certainly appreciated that they were marked down by $50 each and their friends & family sale got us 20% off on top of that (we ended up saving $118 per chair).

We did that obligatory worrying thing until they arrived on our doorstep. Would they be comfy? Would they tilt at a weird angle? Would they feel scratchy? Would they come with a nicely labeled empty box in the packaging? Turns out they did.

Chairs 2 Empty Box

The good news is that they’re also comfy, they adjust so we both can have them at the height we like, the wheels glide like butter, and the sloped arms are really nice. You’re probably wondering “how does it feel to breastfeed in this desk chair?” Well, I can tell you in all sincerity that it’s quite cozy indeed.

The fabric feels almost identical to what’s on the armchair in Teddy’s room, which has lived through both food-related abuse (remember it was in the corner of our last house’s kitchen by the fireplace for a few years?) and baby-related projectiles, so we have high hopes for their durability.

Chairs Sherrys Chair

Our only slight surprise was that they looked a little less blue in real life to us (they’re definitely navy, but the website photo looked almost cobalt, so we expected a little more intensity I think). But the art, the plant, and the items on the bookshelf in the office are pretty colorful, so we figure some handsome tufted navy chairs are nice classic “foundation” pieces to ground the room and balance out all the light/modern/happy stuff. Since they’re not these super bright focal points we figure that frees us up to have fun with curtains or a rug in a bolder color or pattern if we want. So although they look a little whoa-those-are-dark-chairs-in-a-light-room now, I think they’ll make more sense when we bring in those other items.

Chairs Main After Shot

Maybe something like this? Depends on what we find. But this is a good example of how something that might look out of place in an unfinished room (the cream color of the light or the deep tone of the chairs) can sort of “gel” more as the room fills in (the tone of the light is also in the West Elm rug, and the dark curtain rod and bold curtains seem to balance out the deep color of the chairs).

Future Office Idea

So our few remaining items on the office list are those aforementioned window treatments and a rug along with getting a frame for Clara’s monster and possibly adding that diffuser to the light along with a desk lamp or two and then we should be finished in here.

It’s pretty exciting to be creeping towards a mostly-completed space since the only other rooms that are worthy of that description might be Teddy’s room and Clara’s room along with our sunroom-turned-veranda. The funny thing is that I’d bet the laundry room will be a pretty finished-looking space in a few more weeks, which is hilarious since it came out of nowhere while some other rooms we’ve been slowly upgrading for over a year still feel SO FAR from being done. Houses like to keep you on your toes like that I think.

Comments

  1. Amy says

    Where you do suggest buying rugs like the one you have in this post? I have the hardest time finding rugs. Right now I’m looking for one for my daughter’s room – we just painted it Radiant Orchid last night (the color of the year).

    Reply

  2. Pat S says

    Office is looking terrific. I was going to ask about that handsome exec sitting in the chair (Burger) but I see someone beat me to it. He looks right at home there. Does he ever write articles for the blog?

    Reply

  3. Allison says

    I have a similar overhead light that needed to fit better in the room. I had read somewhere about Washi tape. I bought a thick (2 1/2″) navy wash tape and trimmed top and bottom of the light shade and it looks great. No one can tell it’s ribbon tape. If you hate it, you can just take it off again without damaging the shade. I didn’t even take the shade down. Just got up on a chair and bada-boom – done in 1 minute

    Reply

  4. Kendra says

    The house we moved into had a rolling chair on our original hardwood floors and it ruined them. There were huge gouges where the chair rolled. They lived here 5 years but I’m not sure how many years the chair rolled over and over the poor floors. Just be careful with yours or consider a protection for the floors.

    Reply

  5. Megan says

    The chair’s accommodation of breastfeeding was really my first concern. No not really, but I totally identify with needing furniture to accommodate feeding a tiny human with your body. Props for being real! :)

    Reply

  8. Lauren @ Bless'er House says

    Those chairs are perfect! I love the tufting…so fancy (insert Iggy Azalea lyrics here). I really like the West Elm rug too. And it makes me feel better when I see awesome rooms come together “tortoise style”. Maybe my snail-paced living room might get there one day too. :) Can’t wait for the final reveal!

    Reply

  9. Erin says

    That is so funny you got that chair! I was JUST telling my husband we needed to get that chair for our home office! I heard about PB Teen being a great choice for some stuff because its usually on a smaller scale and we have a tiny house so thats exactly what we need. Its PB so you know its going to be great quality and the sizing is just right for us. Maybe seeing it in your office will convince him that its the perfect chair for us!!

    Reply

  10. Kati says

    Despite my opinion (I love the final mockup… not that it matters. :-)) I just encourage you to “do you in your own home” a phrase I learned from some couple who writes about DIY in their home… it was a phrase I read when they painted their office desk a beautiful white… oh wait, it was you Youngsters!!! :-) I just read through all the comments (confession: I always read through all the comments – your readers always have such good ideas!) and had to laugh at the: “Love the rug!” “No rug!” “Whoa, those curtains rock!” “Do NOT do the green curtains” etc etc. So… good luck finding exactly what YOU want in the space!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Those were from Pinterest and linked through to Wayfair but just the main page (so I don’t have a direct link). Maybe try searching there though?

      xo
      s

  12. Nik says

    I love PB Teen and Kids . . . and don’t forget The Land of Nod! There are so many hip pieces, and they are not to be overlooked just because they’re “for kids!” I keep looking at John’s desk and thinking . . . the backside needs something. Have you considered painting it? Upholstering it? Covering it with wallpaper? Maybe just putting more corkboard on it for displaying artwork, notes, etc.? I like the desk location and the white paint job, but I keep thinking the backside needs a little love of some kind :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re debating a blonde wood one or a deep colored one (most of ours are white, and are either too narrow or too tall). I’m weirdly excited about a trip to the frame store for that monster. Might even get a custom mat cut for it like our swimming lady over John’s desk…

      xo
      s

  15. yvette says

    Have you considered cutting a diffuser yourself from the plexi panels sold for ceiling tile lighting and replacement for florescent fixtures that you can pick up at Home Depot or Lowes? Easy to cut with a jigsaw, lighter than glass and minimal investment in time or material if you don’t like it.

    Reply

  16. Carrie @ The Rookie Domestic Goddess says

    LOVE those chairs. After reading your post the first place I went was PB Teen to take a look at them in more detail. I have a basic office chair that is soooo uncomfortable to sit on all day. This chair would look so great with the grey walls we have in our home office (I work from home). Thank you for opening my eyes to a new resource :)

    Reply

  17. Catherine says

    Looking good! The rendering helps me imagine it all put together – I am always amazed by your vision!

    I can imagine you doing something cool to add a bit of detail to the front of the desk there. Even just white but textural somehow to add interest. Food for thought :-)

    Reply

  18. Katherine says

    Love the look! Can you remind me where you got the light from again? I can’t find the old post. Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That was from a local outlet called The Decorating Outlet (originally from Shades of Light I think) that we turned into a pendant with a light kit.

      xo
      s

  20. Susan says

    We have a bay window in our kitchen that I’ve wanted to put curtains on for the five years we’ve lived here and I had no idea how. Thanks for showing me with those photoshoped ones!!

    Reply

  21. Cassidy says

    I love how you have a space in your office for your kids. Joy Cho posted a cool article last week about having to go to work on one the days she usually reserves for off-time with her daughter, and feeling guilty about having to drag her along — her daughter was fascinated by her work, though, and was obviously proud of her mom when she saw the resulting photo shoot on display at Target. I’m sure it’s really hard for you to keep work and home life separate, if you can at all . . . the balance you have is beautiful, though, and I’m sure your kids are going to have some great memories of your unique jobs!

    Reply

  22. Michelle says

    I’m a faithful reader, but this is my first comment! How exciting. : )
    Anyway, love the idea of a real glass diffuser, but wanted to share a DIY that I have done. My lamp shades were much smaller, but it could still work…I bought the biggest opaque clear/white plastic folders I could find from target (like from school supply section) and traced the shade (adding some little tabs for extra umph to help them stay in)Then just popped the diffuser in. They are held in place by the lip of the shade and the tabs help.
    Your shade looks much bigger so you would need a large section of similar material for this quatrefoil shade. But it’s light weight and inexpensive. I have 2 lamps on top of bookshelves in my son’s nursery, so all the ‘guts’ of the light were visible when you walked into the room and looked up – until I hid them behind these DIY diffusers! Would love to share a photo – how might I do that?

    Michelle from Chicago, IL

    Reply

  23. Rachel H. says

    The chairs look great! On a side note…have you ever thought about adding something to the face of the desk that’s in front of the bay window? I haven’t been following along with all of the changes, so forgive me if this was already a topic of discussion. My eyes were immediately drawn to the big white space on the desk, especially after looking at it with the rug and curtains added to the mix. I’d be curious to see what a pop of color or pattern would do for the room.

    Reply

  25. Maya says

    I’m on team green curtains!! I love the way they bring out the green shades throughout the room (kind making the teal marry the green and navy!) AND the green in the gorgeous view outside.

    Love how the room is shaping up!

    Reply

  27. Salma says

    Okay, so I’m not American and I’m probably asking a really obvious question, but why is there an empty box supplied? Is it for returns? If so, can’t you use the original box?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s one of those packing boxes to keep things from shifting, but I guess they labeled it as empty to make sure you didn’t think some part should have been in there and call them and say “there’s a piece missing!” or something!

      xo
      s

  28. Em says

    I like the kitchen light so much better in the office! Have you thought about doing a recessed light (or lights) in it’s place? I kinda felt like having three hanging lights in the kitchen was a lot (at least in pictures, maybe not in real life). Might make it feel more airy too!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeah we definitely would love a bunch of strategically placed recessed lights in the kitchen when we do our big gut-job in there, but are hesitant to rip up the ceiling and have to re-drywall before then :)

      xo
      s

  29. Erin says

    Thank you for this!!! I have been casually looking for a chair like this for ages – I might just order one of these for myself!

    Reply

  30. Jessica says

    I love those chairs! Might be heading over to the website right now to buy one of my own… :) I can’t wait to see what you do with the rest of the room.
    xoxo,
    Jessica

    Reply

  31. Dana@chocolateandsunshine says

    Your office is so bright and large! I’m a firm believer in looking outside of the norm for home pieces. I just placed an order today to PB Teen for my 13 yr old daughter. Also, love to move pieces around my house (probably too often) so I understand the love of your light fixture. Looks great in the office.

    Always cool at your home! Hope little baby boy is doing great.

    Reply

  32. Kierstin says

    I’m glad to see the quatrefoil lamp migrate to your office. It’s a beautiful, stylish lamp that will get the solo spotlight it deserves. I felt it was contributing to a bit of confusion in your kitchen trio of lighting, and usually your spaces are very thoughtful and cohesive.

    Re. your navy chairs, they have a lovely, traditional aesthetic, and I’m with John in being anti-spider (under chairs and in general). If you ever want to “get crazy”, you could paint a stencil on the back only. Moroccan trellis perhaps?

    I love the potential carpet in the mockup picture toward the bottom, and agree that it ties in with the natural straw/linen tone of the new-to-the-office lamp, however, I find the green curtains to be a bit strong. I realize this is only a mockup, and in real life things can look different, but they remind me of the green curtains that once occupied Teddy’s nursery, and then (thankfully) were changed out. I love green, many many shades of green, but I would encourage you to continue brainstorming and shopping. Good luck – it’s such a fun process!

    Reply

  33. Nat says

    You seem to be getting through your task lists pretty quickly on this house. I am scared once this is done there will be no more cool updates. Will you buy another one?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We might fix up a house and then rent it or something (John’s dad bought investment properties to help put his four kids through college) but this is our house for the long haul. No more moving for at least a decade or two!

      xo
      s

  34. Beth says

    Kind of random, but do you have any suggestions on where to find an extra long curtain rod? Like say 145″ plus?

    Reply

  35. S says

    Oh my gosh, I saw the photo of the chair on the front and thought it was more purple, which would make it EXACTLY what I was hoping to buy for an office chair! As it is, I think the light blue pool color may do nicely instead since I haven’t found any other chairs this style (swivel chairs, but upholstered like real furniture, and with arms) that I’ve liked, If the 20% off sale was still on I’d buy it this minute! If you’re ever looking for post ideas when actual home reno/redecorating is going slow, I’d love to just read about the various items you find for sale online, like this or other chair options you were considering! Seriously, finding a stylish but legit desk chair isn’t that easy!

    Reply

  36. Lisa says

    What did you do with the chairs from your old office…the green Chippendales! I love them. Can I buy them from you?

    Reply

  37. Marilyn P says

    What!!! ….no mention of the office assistant modeling the new chair???
    Sheez……try to get some attention around here and nobody notices…..

    Reply

  39. Iryna says

    Looks great! Burger makes a great office model!
    I still lean more towards that pretty blue color for the curtains, but I like that rug!

    Reply

  43. Jenny says

    Love how the room is turning out and these chairs are beautiful! I was wondering though if you worry about the wheels wearing out the floor. We have a chair on wheels by our desk and it wasn’t long before we had a light patch on the ground of worn out wood and now after living here for 5 years it’s terrible. We do plan on refinishing the floors so i think I kind of gave up worrying about it, but i’ve said as soon as we can get the floors done the chair on wheels has got to go. I am a photographer though and spend lots of time editing in this chair and love wheels, just can’t think of a way to keep them with out the floors being worn down.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      There are some great tips about this in previous comments on this post! Someone said there are wheels they sell for hardwood floors that you can switch out that don’t scratch, and someone else said there are glass mats you can use that are pretty and they protect the floor. Never knew about either of those!

      xo
      s

  45. Aoife says

    I love those chairs, though they look purple on my screen! I just love how light and airy the office is turning out and I’m really excited to see how the new laundry room will turn out.

    Reply

  46. tawnya says

    I am a huge lover of your site and writing. I know you’ve probably posted this but I’d love to get a view of your floor plan (as in, where is the office in relation to the rest of the house etc?) – I’ve got four kids and I work from home in my basement, which I detest – unless I’m traveling, and I always think about re-purposing rooms to work better for me/work life. It’s probably somewhere in your site but with four kids, I don’t have time to file through them all! link? THANK YOU!

    Reply

  47. tawnya says

    PS. My BFF is Joanne Palmisano of Salvage Secrets (two books by that name) and she mentioned you all had corresponded about her books. THANK YOU for your enthusiasm for her work. She’s a rock star (like you two!).

    Reply

  48. Jenna says

    I love the idea someone mentioned about goldfish curtains! I think some sort of patterned curtain with navy in it would look great and maybe a solid rug. Your home is beautiful!

    Reply

  49. Robin Stephens says

    Love thinking outside of the (big) box… Using the PB Teen chairs are a simple, beautiful addition to your space. Nice!! Beautifully done room, you two. I have a Restoration Hardware chandelier from their baby and child catalog…and I use it in an adult guest bedroom. It’s darling hung over the bed….and the perfect size since it’s a teeny room!

    Reply

  50. amy says

    the office looks great! where do you guys store your printer? it’s such a bulky eye sore, i’m looking for a way to keep it out of sight yet accesible. you guys always keep things classy, so hoping you have figured this out for yourselves and can share your secret:)

    Reply

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