J. Carpenter & Co. Part II

For anybody’s that been following me for awhile, you may recall that last June I finally got my husband to move out of his home “office” and into his new office space right here in our town. I did all of the decorating in the space and some of the design. It was a fun project and Jim is really pleased with the results. If you want to check it out again click here.

Just to give a quick update on his space, the conference room table did finally arrive on it’s slow boat from Africa (literally), and when paired with the bright green leather chairs that I fought hard for and the orange walls it really is a stunning conference room. The table was Jim’s choice. It’s made of antique South African hardwood railroad ties and it is so heavy it took 4 professional movers to get it up the stairs. Honestly we were glad the building was made with cement floors or the thing might go crashing through to the 1st floor it’s so heavy.

And much to my astonishment I.T. is still alive! Jim was mad at me when I bought him as the company mascot but I think everyone has grown quite fond of him.

His office is located on the second floor of a fairly new building in town and when you walked out of the elevator you exited into this large square hall with a smaller hallway off to the left. It was completely empty; there wasn’t a stick of furniture in it or a piece of art on the walls. It looked terrible and was unwelcoming. When he first complained about it I bought 3 little pieces to put under the window so it wasn’t completely barren, but it still looked pretty bad.



Jim got together with the other two companies that share the space and they decided on a budget to decorate the hall. Somehow I got appointed decorator. I didn’t want the job. I didn’t need the job. Lord knows I have enough to do already. And I wasn’t getting paid to do the job. When he first asked me to do it I thought he just meant a trip or two to Home Goods and throw some pieces around. But when they got together to discuss it the budget was actually pretty decent. Not decent enough that I could spend wildly, but decent enough that I could make it look pretty good I thought. The only condition I had was that there would be no “approval process”. I would do it and all choices would be mine and if they didn’t like it too bad, they could return it all and hire someone else.

If I had known how time consuming the job would actually become I would have turned it down flat.

I did let Jim choose from 3 pieces the main hallway table that you saw right as you exited the elevator. Based on his choice I decorated around that piece. It’s kind of a modern/asian theme I guess. I couldn’t seen to get a great shot with the afternoon light, but this is what that space looks like now.



This is what it looked like when you were facing the elevator. Jim’s office entry is on the left and the smaller hallway shoots off on the right in the middle of this square entryway. That’s my dad. He graciously agreed to help me pick up and deliver all of the Home Goods pieces with his pickup truck. He’s too old to be doing this stuff anymore. He kept saying “Three Men & A Truck, that’s what they’re for.” Poor dad.



This is what it looks like to the left of the elevator now by the entrance to Jim’s office.



And this is what it looks like to the right of the elevator.

This was what the smaller hallway leading down to the other offices looked like before.



And this is what it looks like now.



This piece of art (can you call it art when you buy it at Home Goods?) was in the clearance section. I’d actually noticed it there for a long time because it was so unusual and textural. It had some damage to it though, but I thought I could fix it. I did and you can’t even tell anymore. It’s a great piece right over the water fountain.



This is at the very end of the hall centered right in a doorway leading to a smaller hall with the fire exit in it. All of this stuff was from Home Goods and I loved it. I would put that hutch in my own home in a heartbeat.



Actually, everything in this hallway with the exception of the circles mirror is from Home Goods. If you go there regularly you can really get some amazing stuff.





So I’m happy to say that my work at J. Carpenter & Co. is now done. I’m pleased with the results and delighted that it’s over.