Welcome to the Annex

Welcome to the Annex! This little room in the basement was a big project that I’m happy to say is now finished. Most of it was done before I started grad school at the end of January, but I’m only now posting pictures. (Grad school is a busy thing!)

I was excited to transform this oddly-shaped storage room in the depths of the basement into a usable, inspiring space. When I went into it, I had basically one thing in mind – make it MINE. I’ve wanted a place I can hide away to work, keep my projects out of the reach of little hands, and decorate in any way I please.

Once I got going on the painting and decorating, it didn’t take long to get it to a comfortable point. I found a lot of the last pieces at Target, my go-to for just about everything. My pens and scissors are in a rotating utensil container while the tray works for easily carrying projects from the annex to the dinning room. The lamp, joy cut out, and glass bowls are also from Target. The pewter frame was something I bought in Honduras when I was living there in 2002.

This spice rack was a wedding gift that is now keeping my assorted button collection in order.

Once a place for delivered milk, this box was transformed into a mail box, which is where we found it when we moved into our house. Now it is used to store extra bits of fabric.

I made this mask in my college costuming class in 2001. I’ve always been somewhat proud of it. It was cast to my own face and is completely wearable. Now it has a place in my art space. Maybe I love it so much because it reminds me of my college theatre days. Yup, that’s probably it. The butterfly is a wall sticker from the Dollar Tree. They fit together nicely.

Randomness collected through the years. One of my faves: the green pitcher. I bought it at a market in Honduras in 2005.

The wedding picture is of my great-grandparents. I wore her wedding ring as my engagement ring and am now saving it to give to Ella someday. The two bowls belonged to another one of my great-grandmothers.

I put the hooks up to hang current projects and display little pieces of inspiration. The pink apron was handmade by one of my great-grandmothers. The painting is something we bought shortly after getting married, and the curtain is something I found at GoodWill (originally from Target).

Lots of supplies hidden behind the curtain on a shelving unit we bought at Target a couple years ago. It was a perfect fit for the space since the ceiling is a little higher there.

Miss Ella’s hand print on an extension of one wall.

This shelving unit is a fun way that I can store many of my supplies and still display them. The glass jars and two wreaths came from Target at different times. The silver photo boxes and black magazine keepers all came from Ikea.

The “rubies” sign was a Christmas gift this year from Pete. I absolutely love it. Pete used part of Proverbs 31 that speaks of a wife of noble character being more valuable than rubies in his vows and made my wedding ring with a ruby. (He’s incredibly thoughtful!) The sign came from this great shop on Etsy.

Who isn’t inspired by a red door? I’ve always been, so I painted this door between the annex and a storage room with paint remaining from our dining room.

On the other side of the door I hung this clear shoe organizer to hold all of my office supplies. It’s a very easy way to keep everything in an easy-to-access place and still be able to see everything. The organizer came from Target.

I do have before pictures as well, but I’m determined not to continue putting off posting these pictures, so I’ll add them soon. Ella helped out a bit with the painting and was completely adorable. Like I said…pics to come.

So now I have a very comfy, cozy place to study and work. I don’t have to pack everything away after each use and I can decorate however I please. I’ve already added quite a few pictures to the bulletin board above the table and have framed others for the adjacent wall. The annex is exactly what I hoped it would be!