The seasons of our lives and change and with that, the way we live in our homes changes, too. Watch as I transform this multipurpose room with beautiful home office decor to create a practical and useful working space for myself.
Home Office Beginnings
3 years ago, when we moved into the Yellow Cottage, I knew we wouldn’t use our formal dining room as a dining room. First, we aren’t formal at all. We use paper plates for every meal and for special occasions, we use fancy paper plates. That’s how we roll. Second, I had a large table custom made for our eat-in kitchen/dining room and it’s only 5 steps from the refrigerator. Convenience is key!
Finally, I have 4 school-aged kids who I wanted to give a place for them to do their homework. I had these grand dreams to give them a homework room, including visions of all of them peacefully growing their minds in the perfectly laid out room! Desk space for all!
After painstakingly designing, purchasing and setting up the homework room, my children never bought in! Womp! Womp! It became a trash heap of paper, half completed art projects, lego filled drawers and not a single space to put a laptop on the desk.
I had a desk colocated with their mess and absolutely hated spending any time in this hot mess of a room! Not to mention, this room is one of the first rooms people see when they enter our house. Totally unacceptable! Definitely time to make this a true home office!
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Home Office Decor Dreams for Me
In August, I decided I was going to reclaim this space as my own home office. I began selling desks; relocating bookcases; and acquiring furniture to make this space my own. As is true with just about any project I tackle, there were furniture pieces that arrived damaged and lots of back to the drawing board trying to find storage pieces that were both affordable and aesthetically pleasing.
I spent a weekend painting the office walls Sherwin Williams Peppercorn. I honestly didn’t know if I would like the dark walls, but I absolutely love them! This room gets a ton of natural light during the day from the 4 east facing windows on the front of the house.
Since I already had 3 IKEA desks, I decided to sell one, move one to my son’s room (I actually sold that one recently) and then kept one to use as my own! Between you and me, I positioned it in the center of the room facing out so that I could watch TV while I’m working. I’m lazy at my core and if I’m home alone, which is a really appealing idea in the midst of our current Stay At Home order, I do like the noise.
Sleek Home Office Decor Storage Pieces
One of my real needs was hidden storage! I like to keep supplies for School Memory Boxes, Sunday Basket Workshops and other organizing supplies within reach, but out of sight! I actually made sure I would have room to put a printer inside this console table behind my desk! The day we did professional pictures for our MLS listing, it was a great place to hide random visual clutter! Our secret!
As the home office began to come together, a rug was a necessity! Am I the only one who stresses over rugs? Most are so expensive and it’s often hard for me to tell on my laptop screen what the colors really look like. And I had to find a way for the rug in this room to somewhat coordinate with the rug in my living room because the two rooms are open to each other. Woo! I’m a hot mess!
I ordered this rug in a square, for something a little different and at first, I thought it was a little small, but since I didn’t want to deal with shipping it back to Amazon, I kept it. It works! The fact that the picture on the Amazon ad shows it paired with a blush pink chair and pillows swayed my decision – not gonna lie!
Space to Reflect
When I’m on my A-game, I like to get up a little earlier than my family to read and have some quiet time. My A-game has been traded for about the D-game these days, but I’m working on getting back to A!
All of that to say, I wanted to create a little nook to sit and read and get ready for what’s on the day’s agenda. Cue this little mid-mod chair from the Walmarts, my little footrest and this Hektar floor lamp from IKEA! It’s the perfect little retreat spot!
The final piece to the home office decor was the addition of this midcentury modern book case! If I remember correctly, this was the second bookshelf I tried because the original one came damaged or missing a part. It never fails when I’m doing a project that there’s not a little hiccup or two. It’s how the cookie crumbles, but the crumbles still taste like cookies! The convenience of being able to pick this up at my local Target made it a no-brainer substitution.
I’m so grateful I tackled this project and reclaimed this space as my own. This home office decor is on point! The kids are creeping back in now that they’re remote learning, but I keep pushing them back out!
Does your home office decor need a little updating?
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I am trying to work on this so advice is welcome thanks.
Sure! Maybe I’ll work on an essentials for a home office type post!
Wow! Beautifully done! I am terrible at designing and getting things to look as nice and as organized at this. It looks so neat and beautiful but also very functional! Great job!
I love it! I reclaimed a room that was a catch all for everything no one knew where to put. It looked like a trash heap. I redid the whole room and I love it. It’s my happy place. And, I, like you…..like the noise of the TV. 🙂
Yay for reclaimed spaces! It’s so nice to have all of my business stuff in one place!
Oh my goodness, I love this space so much! You did such a beautiful job! I aspire greatly to have space like this – right now it isn’t possible with my kids at home, but at some point I will get there.
I totally get it! I have 2 of my kids sitting in my office with me now doing school work.
Keeping your office space organized is so important. When my husband lets his get out of control nothing gets accomplished.
I love what you did here–both times actually! What beautiful design!
Both looks were awesome!! You have a talent for design!
I am not much of a formal dining kind of person either! This looks great!
What a great space! I hope to have a bonus room one day that I can make into my own little sanctuary. I’m always looking for hidden storage spaces too.
Thanks, Eva! After establishing this as my space, I think it’s always going to be a priority no matter where we live.
WOW! This looks amazing! Lots of room and an inspiring place to work!
Thanks Holly! I’m loving it.
Such great ideas…. I’m always trying to get my kids out of my office too!
Thanks! The kids just can’t stay away. They’re like little magnets and like to come sit in my chair.
Hidden storage is my jam! Everything looks awesome!
Thanks! Yes – we can’t let everyone see all of our junk!
Very cute space! It’s so fun decorating a personal office, but it can be a little overwhelming as well. I love your ideas 🙂
Thanks! It was a fun project and very gratifying!
It’s so awesome to have an inspiring space to work in! Love it!
I love it! I spend lots of time sitting at this desk these days.
I’m so jealous of both setups! I just sit on the couch and work off of the coffee table 😂
I used to do a lot of work sitting on my bed. This is a much better setup.
This looks amazing!! You did a fantastic job. I love the colors and the design. Thanks for sharing. This makes me want to redo my office space!
Your office looks great. I’m at an old desk, very old — with a card table for storage. Time to upgrade.
This looks amazing! I might have to think of something for our “play” room because right now it’s just a hot mess.
I commend you: I don’t have that artistic eye. I see rooms as they are, and have trouble seeing anything else. I’m envious of those like you who can envision something entirely different.
I am in the middle of purging/organizing my home office/homeschool room this week. I also like having the clutter put out of sight, and am struggling with how to make everything hidden but easily accessible. I feel like I have too many “categories’ of things, or too many projects that I’m in the middle of. I’m also trying to work with what I already have on hand as far as storage solutions since everything is closed, plus I just don’t want to be spending any money right now. I love how your office space turned out, it looks great!
Love the color & great job! Although as I’m writing this on earth day, maybe forgo the paperplates 🙂
LOL! That’s a good point! Maybe we’ll use real plates today! We do recycle everything we can.
Not only did you do a lovely job, but what an awesome room to have as your project/craft space!
Love your organization! I can’t wait to make our office space a place that is more functional.
What a pretty and functional space! I love how your office turned out.
Thanks!
Beautiful! I LOVE it! I hope to have my own office space too someday in the near future. I’m not as talented at making an area look as pretty though…great job!!!