Hello Fall 2014: Mantel

 It's our favorite time of year again.

My Desk Transformation

    I spend much of my day in my office at my desk. It's important for me to have a functional space that gives the right energy. Hubby and I find it hard to be productive in drab spaces, that's why we set the mood everywhere we go. If we have to dig roots somewhere, Lord knows, we will begin transforming it.

    God does the same thing in our lives. He slowly begins cleaning, decorating and putting value in our lives. He cleans out old dusty closets, he hangs reminders of His love on our walls, and makes our lives a place He can comfortably dwell with us. Transformation is part of who we are as Christians. Our new nature causes us to bring life to every area of our lives.

      Anyway, back to my office. I purchased a traditional writing desk on Amazon. It had a vintage map inlay. I really love it. The only problem is that it's small and lacks storage. I don't have enough work space to lay out all my paper work etc. When I first bought my desk I didn't really know what I needed - I had never had my own official desk before. After almost 2 years using this desk I have a better idea about what I need. My goal is to find a door to use as my desk. Here are some pictures I found online for inspiration. :-) 

 Current Desk:

I love my desk, but it's not functional. 

Subscribe to my blog and follow my desk transformation.

Future Desk Inspiration: 

 Love her stylization 

 Love the amount of work space a door desk would give me 

I love how they used cabinets for for extra storage. I've seen some that used bookshelves. 

Both great ideas.

Burplap Storage

It's no secret my hubby and I love Kirklands. We recently purchased a few organizational items. We have an eclectic taste. We mix patterns, fabrics and metals throughout our home. My office is no different. Here are pics of a few of our burlap purchases.

 

Black Ikat Burlap Storage Bins, set of 3  

I'm currently using the larger one in my living room for decorative pillows we don't want the dogs playing with. The medium size one is in our spare bed room, and the small one in my office.

Black Tabatha Qua-trefoil Storage Bins , set of 3 

We are using these in our closet to store pictures and other "memory lane" items.

Damask Burlap File Tote 

I'm using this as a book holder in my little reading corner in my office. It sits on the floor next to my chair.

 

Damask Burlap Letter Sorter 

I love this letter sorter on my desk.

Damask Burlap Paper Organizer 

I purchased 3 of these organizers. I have one tucked in my book shelf and two on my desk. One of hubby's real-estate paper work, and the other for my editor's book notes etc.

New Lamp

My hubby has a lamp addiction. This is our newest edition from Kirklands. Stay tuned for a post about all the lamps in our house. :-)

Office Reading Nook

My office reading nook, also known as the dog's lounging chair while I'm working at my desk. I'll do a post on my entire office in the near future. :-)

Rustic Angels

I found a set of 3 rustic angels at Kirklands and had to have them. I've been looking for angels for awhile now but couldn't find any I loved. These are perfect for our space.

The yellow angel is holding a Bible, the teal is holding a flower and the green is holding a dove. You wont believe how much they were. ;-) Kirklands is having amazing sales lately. 

 

Summer: Back yard

     My husband and I have truly enjoy our outdoor space this spring and summer. The only major thing we did was paint the deck. Thanks to my hubby and dad! They did great!  Other than that we did a lot of fun stuff like adding potted plants and decorating the yard. 

      I'm proud of all our hard work maintaining such a large yard - watering all the plants, the grass, trimming trees and bushes etc. Summers are crazy hot in the south, thankfully this year we didn't  hit triple digits. :-) 

Our deck before we painted it. Hi, Winston! :-) 

(Before we moved in)

 Our deck after we painted it with a taupe weather sealer from Home Depot.

 

We have a huge back yard. The picture is taken from the side of the house where the deck is. As you can see along the ride side of the picture our yard goes around the back of the house as well. We have a small patio and fountain (pictures of patio and fountain area).

As friends and family know, my husband and I are in love with roses. We have about 12-14 roses bushes throughout our yard.  These are a few of our Double Knockout Roses.

 Angel Face roses

Cupcake roses 

 I'm not sure with this rose is called but we love it.

Our blooming Crepe Myrtle in the front yard.

Flash Back: Christmas

Here's a flash back to last Christmas. My husband's enjoying a crisp morning by the fire. This year I plan on sharing more of our Holiday decor. :-)