I hope I am not the only person in the world who has an office slash craft room! In my world business and art and storage and sales and organizing all have to live together in one beautiful jumble of coolness.
My office is our converted dining room, set up with bookcases backing up to it to make the 4th “wall” and a little entryway between those shelves and a repurposed dresser I use for storage.
I am always on the lookout for cool new ways use to vintage in my office so I thought I would get some great ideas from around the webs!
related post… Super Cool Tim Holtz Inspired Vintage Office Organizing
1. Your Desk
I KNOW, your desk is supposed to be super utilitarian and boring, but if you are going for an eclectic look, then you don’t have to settle for stodgy and old!
I love this piece from tokkamadera that combines “desk” functionality and creative storage! It looks like they have replaced some of the doors with hand tooled front pieces and painted some of the fronts to look like suitcases!
Nichole Samuels went over and above for her desk/craft station, adding flying buttresses off the sides in order to be able to increase the size of the work space above. The beauty of converting a dresser to a desk is the massive amount of storage that is in all those drawers!
2. Ball Jars
I couldn’t do this post without getting some cool examples of my favorite… Ball Jars! Use old ball jars to store supplies like paper clips, pencils, pens and other odds and ends. Find different sizes for different things.
What is so neat about this example from TwoTwentyOne is that she used small mason jars in the front and taller blue jars in the back that added a bit of color!
The gal from Addicted2DIY is super creative about how to make her mason jars even more effective! A double decker mason jar holder that is on a swivel base and has a cool vintage looking divider in the middle.
3. Plain Old Jars
There are A LOT of cool old jars out there with lids that are not so cool or just fun shapes that might not have lids that are in great shape. I LOVE how Lollyjane took old jars and “vintage-d them up” with cute old handles and pastel painted tops.
Now, these might not be vintage, I think I see a pickle jar in that mix! BUT when you go eclectic, you can pick and choose what you want to have around you. DO NOT get so fixated on “vintage” that you lose the forest for the trees!
4. Cork Boards
I love a fun pin board that lets you display your stuff! Being a visual person, having a mishmash of fun stuff around me is super inspiring!
This is a cool vintage frame that Brittany, of the Painted Parsonage has added an insert with a burlap cover over it. Super pretty and such a vintage flare.
5. Flower Frogs
Flower frogs harken back to a time when ladies spent a lot of time arranging flowers in their homes. I found out about these little darlings a few years ago when I started selling on my Etsy store and now I am obsessed with them! I use them to arrange flowers and for organizing my desktop!
This is a super neat vintage glass flower frog. I am on the lookout for one that is tall like this one (most of the ones that I find are much shorter and flater). source thegiftsoflife on tumblr
YAY! I finally found on of these old tall green metal flower frogs! It is brilliant for holding scissors, pens and paintbrushes! source CottonRidgeVintage
6. Match Holder
Back in the day when you had to light your stove (or your cigarette) homes all had matches hanging out on the wall in wicked cute holders!
How fun is this little match holder for keeping your pencils and office supplies handy! source TrishaBrinkDesign
This one is a little plainer but probably more of what I would like in my home. The chippy paint and rusty bits just make my heart happy! source LaVieEnRose
7. Small Tin Cans
When I saw this idea I was immediately charmed! Such a fun little way to make your magnet board more functional and add a wee bit of additional storage!
Okay, I admit it, I am a Martha Stewart addict! I want to live a Martha life (without all the work that would entail!) source Martha Stewart
8. Large Urns
There are a BUNCH of these big kinds of urns around. This one looks like it might have been out in a garden somewhere in its life!
Doing this post I am starting to realize that I have a fixation on chippy paint! This black painted cement urn is brilliant for keeping Patricia’s paintbrushes organized! source Apartment Therapy – Patricia’s Whimsical Cottage
9. Rolodex
I LOVE when someone repurposes an obsolete item to make it super fun and creative!
Tuscan Rose has used an old Rolodex to make creative cards from the pages of of a vintage Rolodex!
10. Lamps
There are some really neat ways to use vintage kitchen items. This may be one of the most creative things I have ever seen!
OMG… who would ever think of something this cool! Well Lillie Dale it seems! This is a gorgeous table lamp made from a new lamp covered with a vintage cake cover tin. source Lillie Dale
11. Pyrex Dishes
You don’t always have to change things to make them cool! This bowl of thread stored in a pretty Pyrex bowl is a work of art in itself!
source Cora Heartfelt and Homemade
12. Old Drawers
I once spent a month or so picking out the perfect old drawer to use in my bookshelf for storage! I ultimately found the perfect orange drawer with chippy paint and a super old patina.
I love how this is both an old drawer AND a cute little footed magazine rack! source etsy
13. Stacked Tins
Vintage tins have SUCH a cool vibe and are also excellent for holding all your bits and bobs!
This cool project from Better Homes and Gardens is such a neat way to to take old tins and make the contents visible (you KNOW that visual people LOVE this!)
14. Shutters
We had such a cool shutter at our home in Colorado that was right inside the door. Instead of dropping mail and keys on the table, we had hooks and holders that gathered up all that detritus!
I love how many things are going on here! There is a chalkboard, mail holder, hooks and a basket to keep all kinds of things corralled in one place! source Table and Hearth
15. Wire Boxes
Old wire boxes are such a cool, light way to add a bit of vintage to your home! Whether you have them on your desktop, wall or in a bookshelf they are great for organizing in a really neat way!
If you don’t know about the Bowl Full of Lemons lady yet, you are in a for a treat! Super cool house ideas and beautiful pictures!
Fun and Vintage Office Decorating Ideas Wrapup
Well there you have it! I love all these ideas and will definitely be doing a couple of them (I am looking at you BH&G stacking vintage tins!) If you have any great ideas that I haven’t shared yet, please shoot me an email! tara (at) marketingartfully.com
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