Goodbye January, Hello February! Seriously, raise your hand if you're glad THAT month is over. I know my hand's up. January was a doozy! But, while a lot of the days teamed up and acted really snotty to me, there were still a few good things to come out of the month. One thing in particular is Allison's new kitchen nook.
Allison is lucky enough to get to work in her pajamas from home everyday. Until recently, her home office has been in her extra bedroom upstairs. While the room worked just fine for her working needs, she was ready for something different. We talked a lot about new desks and rearranging the room, yadda yadda yadda. But then one day, Allison had an epiphany...she should set up her office downstairs in her kitchen nook!
What nook? Glad you asked. See, off to the side of Allison's kitchen is this little space.
Cute and cozy, right? The only problem is that this space wasn't getting used to its full potential. Allison can correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt anyone ever really stretched out on that big chair to relax, especially since the living room is just on the other side of the kitchen.
And you can see from this angle that the nook is equipped with windows that let in lots of good natural light during the day...perfect for a working environment.
I thought the idea sounded great and was on board with the plan. Because the new work space would still be sorta in the kitchen, Allison wanted a piece of furniture that looked more table-y and not too desk-y. We found plans online for a farmhouse style kitchen table and decided to try to scale it down to fit her nook.
This was my part of the Nook Renovation. I was in charge of making the table. With all the straight cuts, it was really pretty simple to make. If I had bought the right sized wood on my first trip to Home Depot instead of having to make a return trip later, I would've been able to knock the building out in an hour or less.
Allison chose the color - white - and gave me a can of paint she found in her garage. Our fingers were crossed that it was the same color as her trim and woodwork.
A coat of brown paint, three coats of white, some sanding, and one and half coats of polyurethane later, the table was ready to be delivered to its new home! Doc was there to help with all the heavy lifting since Chris was out of town. The big comfy chair got moved upstairs and in came the new white table.
Doc and I left it there just like that - naked and all by itself. Decorating the area was Allison's part of the Nook Renovation.
Last Saturday, the Reno was complete so we headed over to see it.
(And also to have dinner. In my opinion, it was one of the best meals Allison's made yet...beef brisket, grits, and bacon and brussel sprouts. It was so freaking good!)
(Then we had homemade tiramisu. Just typing this right now makes me want to go back and eat it all over again.)
Where were we? Right - the Nook Renovation. Just a reminder, here's the before:
And here's how it looks now with all it's new work space accessories.
Pretty snazzy, dontcha think? I'm loving the chair. I would've never thought to go with a dining chair (I was picturing a wooden desk chair) but it makes perfect sense. It is technically a farmhouse kitchen table afterall.
Just so we can all visualize how Allison spends most of her days, here's a view from her side of the desk, er table. (Except that cutie in the background belongs to me.)
The good news is that the new setup seems to be both Porter and Grace approved!
Next on the ol' to-do list are a set of matching bookshelves to go upstairs with that big comfy chair. I'll post pictures when it gets done!
