Quick and easy office makeover reveal!

Quick and easy office makeover reveal!

• 4.30.2020

The office/spare room on our second floor has been through a lot. When we first moved in it literally had two built-in platform beds and a train track platform on the walls. Then we got that out and got it cleaned out enough to be used as a sewing room, but it was never pretty. Then it was kind of a guest room and was used a few times, and then we put the desks back but there was still plenty of random stuff stored in there, nothing pretty.

Now with the health crisis, I've been working from home for my day job from there (this is week 7!) and was really motivated to get it looking good (enough)!!

This is not a high-end designer makeover. It's real people normal stuff, not spending any money or installing any new architectural wall treatments or whatever... but just these small changes and decor have made it SO much better to work in this room!

Simple home office makeover

I also love to share the "befores" with you... (full before tour here.) We had our work cut out for us!

White paint does wonders, but this room was so plain and sad without a purpose or cohesive decor.

I did a blog post right after we moved in (August 2018) about my plans in here, when we were thinking we'd make it into a nice office right away. Well, we didn't. So in some ways this room update has taken almost 2 years, but in others it just took us a couple weekends!

The big changes we've done here and there, and finished up recently, were:

• Remove beds, train track, bulletin boards, and broken blinds; patch holes.
• Change out light fixture for this funky one (similar/similar); fix ceiling paint around it
• Add curtain rod/clips and blackout curtains (critical for using it as a guest room, and for the summer months because this room faces west and it get so hot here in the afternoon!)
• Decor! Bought desktop and drawers from IKEA, but the rest of it we assembled from stuff we already had.

The desk works really well. It's two IKEA Alex drawer units with an IKEA top. You can choose the size; we went with this larger desk top but didn't fill the wall all the way. We also have a small IKEA desk top and standing desk-adjustable height legs that Jason uses on the wall on the right. We used to put them against the back wall next to each other but it was too tight with the sectional behind--no room to sit.

We recently moved the podcast mic up here as well. Now this space is works for 1) my day job, 2) recording the Your Home Story podcast, 3) sewing, 4) Jason's school stuff/organization/studying for the board exam. One office, getting lots of use!

Oh, the sectional... so functional, so funny-looking. As you can see it blocks the window a bit (it's pulled out enough that the curtains still operate)...

And it blocks the closet doors. There's nothing in that closet, but still kind of a bummer!

We inherited this sectional and it's not our style, but it is so functional. It's ancient IKEA and pulls out to be a queen-size bed, but I sit in the back corner of it with the throw blanket for several hours/day while I work. I love to move around and have different positions/options, especially with my recent knee pain. I can stretch out with my Surface and get cozy in the cold mornings.

I also sit in this chair (it's from TJ Maxx, similar here) a good part of the day, and go downstairs to eat lunch (safe cause it's during baby naptime).

This rug made possibly the biggest difference in here--it's almost 8'x10' and used to be in our bedroom. It's printed to look like a vintage rug and is super easy to keep clean, but also adds great texture and color. We had a smaller one in here for a bit and it really didn't have the same impact!! Go big on rugs!

The sewing machine is not always set up here; this office is still a flex space. I was working on a sewing project last weekend and will again next weekend, so I left this set up but put away the ironing board and iron (in the hall closet just outside this room). Usually this side of the desk is empty, though Jason sometimes uses it when he wants to sit.

The art above the desk is a huge piece that my brother-in-law painted for us at our first house. It's the same shade of grey we used on some accent walls there and you can see it front and center in that home tour (very different style than I have now!).

There you have it. It's not high-end and there are no custom built-ins or statement wall sconces or anything, and it probably could use some more plants/styling, but making it functional and prettier (rug! art!) has made working from home so much more enjoyable.