A temporary solution I am LOVING: picture light in an office space!

A temporary solution I am LOVING: picture light in an office space!

• 1.31.2019

Maybe it's because of our recent Your Home Story podcast episode all about office spaces... I recently got motivated to solve a problem at my desk/office space (a corner of our dining room) and it's not done yet, but I LOVE it! I wanted to share since I got some follow-up questions when I shared on my Instagram.


This post contains affiliate links.

My "office" space is pretty embarrassing right now. CORDS, black on black/dark wood that shows all the dust, index card taped over the power button cause Otto loves to pull himself up and stand at the computer tower...

And this is when it's clean! But, it's very functional for me right now when I want to be able to work in the center of the action--cooking dinner, maximizing naptime, etc. I am cool with my desk being in this corner of our dining room and it's actually very unobtrusive when we have guests over in the dining or living room.

However, one part of it was NOT functional: It's dark in this corner! The big window means the rest of the room is light, and I don't want to turn the chandelier on because it'll make this room even more visible from the street.

So, I thought about putting a sconce above the desk. A pretty little moment like this. But, I've been really struggling with sconces in this house and haven't found the right balance of traditional and contemporary. Also, with my computer below it, a sconce would sort of float awkwardly, too high.

Instead... enter the picture light. This one is $36, comes with the lightbulbs, and plugs in (so I didn't have to try the Magic Light Trick or commit too much on the location). I love the antique brass of this one and it matches our chandelier in this room.

I put it up, it lit up my desk corner, it was great!! The cord has a switch on it and I plugged it into the desk, which has power outlets at the back.

I loved the light from it so much!! However it looked pretty sad without a picture under it. I found this one and hung it from picture wire (very easy to move and temporary) but I think it is way too small.

You'll also notice the cord sticking out of the picture light awkwardly. The picture light is meant to be screwed into the picture frame, not the wall! Oops. Slash I don't have a picture yet but wanted the light, so it has to be this way for now. (You can also see an extra hole because when I drilled there it went between lath pieces, so I had to move the whole thing up to get into lath and anchor it.)

I am planning to finish up and reveal the dining room next month, so I better find some bigger art before then!

If you've been looking for an elegant sconce solution and could also hang some art on a wall, check out this picture light! I love mine!