DIY Network

Southwestern Office Southwestern Office From "Weekend Decorating" episode WDC-311

Figure A

Even if you're not in the office, it doesn't necessarily mean you don't need an office, as host Nancy Golden discovered after moving into her new home. Her husband needed someplace where he could catch up on work; the solution to the problem was to create a space that could function as an office and also serve as a guest room when the need arose. The challenge then became turning a small 11x13 sitting-room space into a workable room that also coordinates with the rest of the house (figure A).

advertisement

	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E

The room takes on the strong rustic feel and warm, inviting tones of the Southwest with glazed butcher paper on the walls. For a modern yet rustic folk touch, a painted branch trellis hangs from the ceiling (figure B). Faux pony hide adds cowboy flair to iron shelving, and new window treatments, furniture and accessories complete the Southwestern look (figure C).

• This makeover is considered an intermediate solid-level 3, due to butcher paper treatment on the walls and the construction of the trellis.

• The project took 13 hours to complete, with a helper, over the course of two days.

• The cost to renovate the room was $700.
  

  Following a computerized room plan, Golden places the sofa in front of the windows so that it's the first thing seen when entering the room (figure D). The desk is placed perpendicular to the wall; this not only prevents it from being a focal point in the room, but it also follows the principles of feng shui design, which states that one should never work with his back to the door (figure E). A chair placed along the opposite wall offers additional seating.

  Prep work was required before beginning the room transformation. The branches for the log trellis were purchased from a florist; they could be pruned from trees if you have access to a forested property. They were painted in a variety of colors already used in the house. The floor, ceiling and windows were measured and butcher paper was purchased and torn into large pieces for the wall treatment.

  Wall Treatment

  Project time: 3 hours.

  Materials (wall treatment)
  Drop cloth
  Wallpaper paste
  Butcher paper
  Paint tray and roller
  Wallpaper brush
  Ladder
  Protective gloves
  Utility knife

  Steps

  1. The walls in the room have an orange peel texture, a common treatment used in the Southwest to cover mistakes in the drywall. The butcher paper will give the walls the look of leather hide, a look that continues the home's rustic Southwestern theme.

  2. Crafts stores sell butcher paper in a variety of weights; choose one that isn't as heavy as a grocery bag, since the heavier the paper, the longer it will take to dry. And make sure it isn't a thin tissue weight because it won't give the heavy effect needed for the walls. This room required six rolls of paper, at a total cost of $14.

  3. When tearing the paper, keep a factory edge on sheets that will run along the ceiling, molding and window edges, so you won't have to do any trimming.
  

  Figure F

  4. Put down a drop cloth, roll wallpaper paste on a small section of the wall, then lay a piece of wrinkled paper over the paste and brush it out with the wallpaper brush as if it were a decoupage project. When brushing it out to make sure it sticks to the wall, leave most of the wrinkles in the paper (figure F).

  5. If edges of the paper stick up, don't worry about them at this stage, since other pieces of paper can cover the edges. Don't worry about air bubbles at this point either: they'll probably disappear as they dry.

  6. Alternate the direction of the pieces as you layer them on the wall to prevent a fish-scale look. Also, don't oversaturate the paper with wallpaper paste or the paper will be difficult to handle.

  7. If you find some air bubbles remaining after the paper has dried on the wall, slit the edge of the bubble with a utility knife and smooth the edges back together.

  8. If you do have to trim edges around moldings or the ceiling, wait until the paper is dry: it will cut much more smoothly.

  Time spent so far: 3 hours.
  

  
  

  RESOURCES :
  

  Tomboy Tools
  Tomboy Tools, Inc.
  Website: www.tomboys.com
  

  Smith+Noble window treatments
  Smith and Noble
  Website: www.smithandnoble.com
  

  Devine paint
  Color: Devine Cayenne™
  Devine Color
  Web: devinecolor.com
  E-mail: info@devinecolor.com
  

  
  

  GUESTS :
  

  Richard Lehner
  Construction Innovators
  10710 Coward Mill Rd.
  Knoxville, TN 37931
  Phone: 865-560-1970
  Website: www.constructioninnovators.com
  

  Jan Haag
  Design professional
  

  Tena Hill
  Interior designer
  

  Kari Openshaw
  Allied ASID Designer
  

  ALSO IN THIS EPISODE:
  	Southwestern Office
  	Branch Trellis
  	Wall Covering, Part 2
  	Finishing Touches