My Office Redo

It’s been a few months in the making and I’m finally ready to reveal my semi-finished office redo.  It was more of a purge than anything else.

I found since I was wanted to go more towards simplicity and have a more sophisticated look to keep my mind clutter free and to reflect the direction of my business and how I’m taking my style, fashion and career in a different direction, I wanted my office space to reflect the same.  I spend most of my day in here and so it was so important for me to love everything in my space.

I also felt that the gallery wrapped images didn’t reflect who I was any longer – I’m still a wedding photographer but I do lots of other things.  So I have bits of pieces of things that remind me of all my passions.

This is what it used to look like and I did love it so much. I have to say it went a little too cluttery for me by my own fault of collecting things over the years so that last tour was very clean.  My office is a third bedroom turned into an office – I ripped out the carpet and painted the concrete and added a Pottery Barn jute rug.  The french doors add privacy when I teach life workshops or Skype sessions.

I look forward to showing you the inside of my drawers and how I organize, once I get organized.  I wouldn’t deny that some things are shoved quite nicely in the drawers you see.

Right now this is the only photo of mine displayed – I need to add the cover I shot for PHOENIX magazine and probably my cover but that will be later when I find two frames that look great together.

For those who don’t know photography, this is what we call mixed lighting (below) you can see the natural light in the living room is blue (cool) and the light in my office is very yellow (warm).  This is a photographer’s nightmare and that’s often why you see photographers turn off lights or turn images black and white.  There’s not much I can do unless I turned on a light in other room or decided to shoot at night and turned on all the lights in our home (there’s a thought).

My serger and sewing machine is always out since I do sew pretty often and I have both petals marked and plugged in.  Always keep things you use often within arms reach and the things you don’t in a drawer (like my scanner).

And just in case you were wondering where things were from…

Farm house dining table: Ballard Designs / White desk: Vintage, Dad’s / Bird chandelier: The French Bee / Three drawer dresser and wire trays: Rust and Roses / Crystal knobs: spray painted black crystal knobs from Cool Knobs and Pulls / White chairs with blue damask fabric: Restoration Plantation / Jute rug: Pottery Barn / Bulletin board: DIY Staples board covered in white duck cloth and upholstery nails / Key hole door knobs on closet and wall knobs: Anthropologie / Cubby Organizer: Pottery Barn / French door installation contractor: Steven D Chochran, Inc. / Handyman and Painter: Dennis of Lowan Handyman Services, LLC / Curtain Rod and clips: Pottery Barn / Curtains: Target / Ladder shelf: Sweet Salvage, refinished by Ricki / Clock: Magpie Lovely / Vintage architecture frame: Scottsdale Marketplace / Modern gold clip lamp: Land of Nod / Pink greek key chairs, chair sketch reproduction prints + blue ottoman: One Kings Lane / Gold frames for reproduction prints: Aaron Brothers / LOVE sign: Made by Girl / Pillows: Target (diamond), Pottery Barn (dog), Ballard Designs (custom initial) / White laser cut magazine holders: The Container Store / White tray: Crate and Barrel (similar) / White metal side cabinet: IKEA

Equipment used: Canon 5D Mark III / 50mm f/1.2L /85 f/1.4EX / 35mm f/1.4 L

Diana Elizabeth says she’s ready to start purging in her drawers soon.  She’ll keep you updated on that.