Home Office Do-over

Last week’s post was so heavy I had to dive into something much lighter, like decor. With things in the world still the same and no end in sight, I can’t stay in that place of “feeling some sort of way” about it all, so what better way to deal with it than with something as pleasant as decorating… (deep, happy sigh). Yes!

The Reason for the Do-over

So having been in my not-so-new-anymore home for a year and a half at the time, (It’s been a year and 9 months now) I’d had some time to reflect on how I was “living” in it. While I absolutely loved my office, You can read about my decor choices HERE, I found that I was grabbing my laptop and working from the downstairs desk more often than not. I’d check emails or do some light internet research upstairs in the office, but I wasn’t hanging out in there. And for a few reasons… One, my internet was and is, spotty upstairs in the back of the house where the office is. Cox said there was nothing more they could do, and now Century Link is saying the same thing. Even with the highest speed possible, it’s always a crap shoot when I fire up the laptop, as to whether I’ll have consistent reception or not up there. Two, my surround sound is downstairs and in the master suite only. So I get no music in that office unless I play it through my phone or my computer. Three, I found I was going up and down the stairs to the kitchen a lot when I worked up there. Four, I wasn’t able to enjoy the outdoors and the amount of sunshine that my big beautiful, sliding glass doors provided downstairs. Working at the downstairs desk was simply more enjoyable than working from the upstairs office. And five, I’d just found out my family was coming for the holidays and I didn’t want my nephew to have to sleep on an air mattress in an open space somewhere in the house, when I had a room that wasn’t really being used. Here is the completed office in it’s first rendition…

It was October, and the decor in the office had only been completed for 5 months. And if you follow my blog, you know that I meticulously designed an office supplies and tools space in the closet of that room that now had to be re-purposed and the items re-placed. Weighing all my options and resources, I remembered that I wasn’t using all the cabinets and drawers in my kitchen. Once I figured out how to place everything, it was time to start moving everything. You can read about my closet office organization and see pics of what it once was HERE. It took me an entire afternoon but I was able to make it all work with the island drawers and cabinets (not shown) that are closest to the desk, which works out great.

Once the items were removed and re-placed, and the closet was cleared out, I switched out the two chairs that were at the downstairs desk, for the ones that were upstairs in the office. They were very similar, but the ones from upstairs were sturdier and were the same chairs already at the dining table. Then I had to decide on something to sleep on for that space. The room is extremely tiny. No, seriously. The walk-in closet in my last home was only a couple feet smaller than this room, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit a bed in there, and I wanted to keep the desk too. After perusing Amazon, I decided on a fancy futon. The link to it is HERE. Without making this post unnecessarily longer than it needs to be, after receiving the futon, I styled it with pillows and throws, as you’ll see in a moment, however, the room still needed something. There’s only so much you can fit in there, but I found a great leather bench, also on Amazon, and it works perfectly. I re-purposed an ottoman and added a mirror to the top of it. I don’t know, I had a vision and I really liked it. Ha! Here’s how the space looks now…

As you can see, nothing much changed on the back wall. I just turned the desk around and moved it closer to the window. I envision myself still using it to work on from time to time, once I find a cute little white leather or some kind of furry, backless secretary seating on rollers, that can be stowed under the table and still be decorative as well as functional. The area rug didn’t move, and I didn’t move the mirrors or the pictures on the left and right walls. Just adding the seating in the room made all the difference, along with little accessories like framed desk photos, coffee table books, candles, florals and other a few other thingamajigs 🙂

I love the room now! I call it my Glam room. While I haven’t “worked” out of it yet, I sometimes will grab a cup of chai and the latest book I’m reading, and chill out there, and I love it! Everything is bright and crisp and chrome-ish, haha! My nephew even said the futon was quite comfortable, so yay! What is that under the desk you ask…

Ok so I was originally trying to cover the wall plate because I hate to see them on walls when they aren’t the same color. I figured I’d house my beloved Veranda magazines there. I love Veranda more than any other decor publications, including Architectural Digest. Decor enthusiasts gasp here. But it’s true. I’ve been a subscriber since 2005 and I’ve kept every issue. I wanted a way to “house” or display them without looking like magazines sitting on the floor. I found these acrylic magazine holders at The Container Store, along with the acrylic computer stand that the holders are situated on. Remember, I didn’t want them sitting directly on the floor… I know, I’m a little extra, but you already know that 🙂

So glad I decided to go ahead and make this change. Now I have extra space for overnight guests, and a room I can chill in and still do some work in. It’s my favorite room in the house now. So tell me in the comments below, what rooms in your house are you debating with yourself whether to change them or not and why. I’d love to hear from you :-)xo