I really had no idea what I was getting into, so I was heading in blind, with no preconceived notions of how to proceed with the project. I had no conception of how big the space was, or what items Matt already had to work with, or what his desires for the space were. We only had about an hour to get the project in a near complete state, as I would not be returning for any further decorating sessions. No pressure.
To say I was a little shocked with what I saw when I arrived in his new digs might be a bit of an understatement. What I found was a museum of sorts. A very dusty museum of all the bizarre little chotchkies that my mother has given him over the years (we still love you, Mom!), all the little notes and cards our children have made him, every little "freebie" sales people have given him and some very outdated photos of our kids.
Two very sickly looking plants were amongst the timeworn objects. One plant was still in the original gift basket in which Matt received it, complete with very bedraggled decorative ribbon. I asked, "Who gave you this thing?" He said, "You did--the last time I moved offices." (About eight years ago). The other plant was a severely overgrown monstrosity. Matt had jerry-rigged it with a big plastic lion that my mom had given him in order to keep the whole pot from toppling over onto his computer.
First things first. I went through everything. All objects were scrutinized. I started a Goodwill pile, a "going home" pile and a garbage pile. Then we dusted the shelves and I began arranging items on them. I kept the things that had sentimental value as well as a few things that were pleasing to the eye. I suggested to Matt where to hang his many pictures, some of which were inherited from his grandparents (an etching of a hunting scene, a painting of a pheasant as well as framed photos of the town of Macduff). He got all of the pictures hung. An hour later, we loaded the boxes of culled items into the car as well as the plants, so that I could give them a much overdo repotting at home.
The next day, I repotted the monstrosity into the biggest ceramic pot I had. I was concerned that it would be too heavy for Matt's desk, but he said that it wasn't. His office has no windows, so the plants offer a bit of greenery in what otherwise would be a box of four white walls.
I then ordered some prints of recent shots of the kids and family outings, including Macduff Peak, and put them in frames. Matt was concerned about the huge blank wall at the back of his office, so we ordered a big map of the world from Amazon to cover that space. Incidentally, we kept the big plastic lion my mom gave him. I figured he could be a stand in for the Scottish Rampant Lion.
All in all, I think we did pretty well. We got rid of a lot of junk, but still kept the place from looking purely functional and sterile. Matt wanted a more "professional" feel to his office as he now holds meetings in there, but he also wanted a few personal touches. I think we hit the balance. Matt is pleased with the finished project and I'm happy that he's happy. And, as an added bonus, we had our life lesson project for my Five Aspects Bible study the very next day. I was able to present my "lifegiver" project to the ladies as well as share about my bonus "helper-completer" project--the successful redo of Matt's office.
No comments:
Post a Comment