Hi Friends! Happy Monday!
It was unseasonably cool and rainy here in Michigan this weekend but we enjoyed spending it at our last baseball tournament of the season. Our summer schedule just got a whole lot more clear and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that. I like being busy and the kids staying active and engaged all summer. But before you know it it’ll be school, band, and hockey rinks so I guess I should just embrace the calm.
Speaking of school, I have a very exciting and extra special mood board monday today!
A few months ago I was asked by my daughter’s middle school to help them make over their teacher lounge as a back to school surprise for their staff. I was super flattered they asked and was anxious to get a look at the space.
So, we met up at the school one morning and it was clear we had our hands full and luckily a whole summer to spruce it up.
I’ll just get started with the before’s:
Pretty boring eh? It was essentially a square brick box. Also there is zero natural light so I apologize for the yellow looking pictures! As I sat and talked with the ladies the ideas started flowing and before you know it we had a clear vision for the space. In my mind I divided the room into a lounge area, gallery wall, work station wall, and kitchen. Our goals were to have the room be inviting, warm, and cozy (within a set budget) and who doesn’t deserve a gorgeous space more than teachers?! They shape the minds of our children day in and day out and are often under appreciated. Having an opportunity to collaborate on this space is so heart warming.
So, I pulled together ideas from our brainstorming sessions and came up with this mood board for the lounge with those goals in mind.
This is the vision for the “lounge” space of the room. For the paint color I chose Sherwin Williams “Olympus White” because its clean and simple with just a hint of color. The ladies had already put together some pieces from Ikea they wanted to use (the couch and chairs) and I embellished from there. Because we had a large wall to fill, I added in these super versatile and inexpensive vittsjo shelves. They can be customized to virtually any color (thank you spray paint) and will look cozy with the addition of sea grass baskets, faux plants, and other decorative accessories.
You all know how much I heart rugs so selecting the perfect one was no small feat. I really wanted to infuse some color into the space since there’s no natural light, but in a way that wasn’t crazy and chaotic. This rug was the PERFECT fit to bring everything together.
What do you guys think so far? Hey, I’d wanna hang out in here and flip through a magazine on my lunch break!
The other area of the room needing some attention was a very large brick wall. It currently has two large cork boards attached to it but I can see the potential beyond that. My idea was to create a focal gallery wall to showcase photographs, kids artwork, and inspirational messages. What better way to do that than a striped wall?
By using various size frames and decorative elements this wall will stand out as the feature of the room. I’m super excited about the potential of this space and can’t wait to see this wall come to life!
The other area of the room needing a serious update was the kitchen wall. With mauve pink formica counters and cabinets this space was begging for a makeover. Without a budget to remove and replace cabinets we had to create a vision with using the existing structure. So, paint and new hardware to the rescue! Oh, and we do get to update the appliances to stainless steel so that’s a huge bonus!
And the vision for the space:
We agreed on white on the uppers (Sherwin Williams Alabaster) and dark grey on the lowers in the same color as the stripe on the wall to be more economical. For the countertops we discussed using the Rustoleum Countertop Kit because at $20 it was definitely in the budget. After a lot of research, we did paint the counter but thats a whole other post I’ll share with you guys! Oh, and that vending machine in the corner? Don’t think I haven’t been thinking of ways to cover that up. Can you wallpaper a vending machine? hmmm.
The final wall will house their industrial size copy machine and work table so I didn’t think that space was worthy of its own mood board 🙂 BUT, we still have plans to make it pretty!
Fast forward a few months and we’ve been working hard in that room along with some staff at the school to transform this lounge. I’m SO excited with how things are coming along and I can’t wait to share the progress. I will definitely be working on the Rustoleum countertop post to share with you guys.
It feels so good to spend time doing something for others doesn’t it? Anyone else spending their summers helping others?
I’ll be back later this week with some updates in the ‘ol bedroom.
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