So this spring I mentioned some updates I was working on in my home office. Well, as always, things are slow going (as anyone who has a life and a normal budget will probably understand, those overnight TV makeovers take months in real life heheheh). But, I recently made some progress and I am pretty excited! A few of my plans changed a bit since I last updated you.
Originally I was saving up to get a new desk and then I was going to move my old desk to the left wall and turn it into a console table. Well, somewhere along the way I decided what I really wanted wasn’t a new desk but I wanted to take out the wall to wall carpeting and put in hardwoods to match the rest of my house. I loved the new striped rug from Lulu and Georgia, but I was able to move it to my family room and it looks awesome there! The brown carpet had seen better days (i.e. four dogs in the past few years have added to the wear and tear). Hardwood is just so much cleaner than carpeting and it goes with everything!
Because my office is so tiny, I decided to take the plunge and get the hardwoods and keep my desk as a desk. I could not be more happy with that decision. The hardwood transformed the room in every way! I love it.
I still haven’t repainted the room. My intention is to repaint it either the same color or slightly deeper (the navy looks so good with the curtains and now with the lighter wood floors!), with a flat paint to minimize the textured walls which are not my favorite. Eggshell finish is great in the rest of my house, but for some reason these walls have a heavier texture and I think flat will be better in here.
I rearranged the room to have my desk on the left wall instead of in front of the window. I also moved a couple of pieces of furniture out (one went to our church and the other went upstairs to our TV room) and I added a couple of new pieces that better serve my needs. I’ll tell you more about the secretary and hutch tomorrow!
To the left of that piece, I found two flat file drawer units from IKEA (Alex Drawers) that were the perfect and affordable solution to flexible office storage. I have some plans to customize them a little bit and of course I’ll show you what I have planned soon.
Here is a pulled back view of the new arrangement. The Pottery Barn desk I’ve had since my old house is now on the left wall. Even though I really enjoyed being able to look out the window, I feel like this arrangement works better for me. I feel a little less on display to the neighborhood :) and I really wanted to be able to use the wall space above my desk for an inspiration board. By removing the tall cabinet that was originally on this wall, I now have more room for a light and bright inspiration board above the desk (which I don’t have yet.)
The little Target bench by the window floats around the room for extra seating or when I want to kick back and put my feet up.
So this is the desk where I’ve been sitting every single day talking to y’all, not only through the blog but now also in the lonely business of book writing where none of you can hear a word I am saying until the books come out. We’ll have a nice long chat then, okay?
:)
And because I know you all would like to remember how crazy this room was in the beginning (excuse the mess, eh hem), this was when it was in transition from swine to navy a few years back.
Finally, here’s a look at how the floors flow now between my office and the hall. I LOVE THAT! You can see Lily is hanging out trying to catch a breeze, it’s been really hot here lately! In case you’re wondering, my printer is on a stand to the right of that plant (I know everyone always likes to know where all the practical equipment is, and mine is just right out in the open).
Tomorrow I’ll talk a bit about the new secretary and hutch! PS. Here’s a little blast from the past. This is my desk in our old house when I first got it in 2008. This desk is still serving me well :) Note that the lamp on the desk is the exact same lamp that I now have on my new file drawers with an updated shade, ha! In a related note, the gold and crystal chandelier in my current office has traveled with me through many houses over the years. I really do keep using what I have for years whenever possible. The rug and cabinet are now in my daughter’s new townhouse. You can see the old house before and after budget office makeover post here!
For my FAQ about my Hickory floors, click here!
Sources (none of the items are sponsored, but some are affiliate links):
Wall Color: Rich Navy by Glidden
Floors: Natural Hickory by Mohawk (mine came from Lowe’s)
Curtains: Anthropologie (my color just sold out, but there is a new color which I love here)
Desk: Pottery Barn
Bench: Target (seems to be sold out sadly!)
Desk Chair: Restoration Hardware Martine Arm Chair (got this on a huge discount because of a flaw I could easily fix)
Corner Chair: World Market
Looks wonderful, Melissa! I still have to remove carpet from two bedrooms and we will be carpet free! Your posts are inspiring me to get on the ball about re-doing some things here in my home… many of which don’t require new items, just some hard work and re-purposing.
I am in LOVE with those curtains! It’s really coming together nicely – can’t wait to see the completed inspiration board!
Can’t say enough how great your office looks….It’s an “inspiration” fitting the name of your Blog to a “T”!
Thank you :-)
Your office is looking so suave! But I can see why you would switch to a flat paint. I use flat is all rooms other than the kitchen and bath and laundry rooms. My favorite thing about your room (other than the secretary) are the doodads hanging above the door! I LOVE hanging things above doors and windows! I had my husband install a shelf over each of our windows, the front door and above the huge bathroom mirror. As you can guess, I have a lot of little doodads, cherished things I enjoy seeing all the time. Hubby says blank walls are my enemy! LOL ;D))
Nice! The wooden flooring makes a lovely difference. That inspiration board will be fun to see. :-)
I love the navy! Can’t wait to see it in the flat finish and how the whole room turns out!
Beautiful! Where is the throw blanket from? Thanks!
The floors are fabulous. Your office looks amazing, I like the new arrangement too.
What an incredible transformation, Melissa! The hardwood was an awesome call – the space looks 10x bigger! Beautiful! XX jana
Looks great!!! What is the size of the room ? Love your choices.
Susan
Hi Susan, I think it is 11 x 11, if that. Tiny. :-)
Thank you Susan! The room is about 11×11.
The new arrangement looks great! We had our desk in front of the window too and noticed all of the neighbors stared at us as they were walking by. We moved it just a couple of feet away and they don’t even see us anymore. I have the same desk, but in white. It’s great for the storage, but it’s so long it makes it difficult to arrange in a small room. It looks great this way though!
Oh, that magnificent light streaming through those windows!
;-}
I have handkerchief linen sheers in front of my two tall windows which give me some privacy but since the windows face due east, there’s extreme glare during the morning. Originally I had the monitor sitting to the left on my 4′ desk/table and it wasn’t too bad but finally moved it to the left onto a matching 3′ desk/table to the left of the 4′ desk and directly in front of one of the windows and I end up having to put up a screen of some sort. My D’office (someone else coined that term for a dining room turned office and I think it’s brilliant) is also part of a very open LR/DR off a foyer so I only have two walls that corner to work with. Problem has been to try to get enough surface work space to my right (I’m right-handed). Just looking at what you’ve done suddenly sparked an idea I’d never thought of before. Not sure how to implement it but I’ll be doing some graph paper drawings and thinking and more looking. Love the new floor! That’s my other critical issue but I’m having to deal with new flooring for foyer to hallway right and LR/D’office with path between to kitchen (as well as bedrooms/baths) – mixed pink tile and green beige carpet now – won’t be hardwood for numerous reasons but will be expensive and still “down the road”. As usual, your blog is so true to it’s name!
One reason I am a faithful follower of your blog is for this very reason – how you can take a seemingly perfect room and have the vision to make it better! When you mentioned you were going to make changes in that room earlier in the year, I thought, WHAT?? Now I see – and it shows your talent. My new DIL has that talent and I hope to pick her brain when I am finally ready to decorate a house with hardwood floors!!! (We gotta quit having major life events, heh.)
Love your floors. I have brazilian redwood in my dining, kitchen, family room open space but think it would be too much to continue into the living room. I wonder if doing the living room floor in a different hardwood in a complementary shade would work? Perhaps your hickory in one of the darker stains. Any thoughts about whether to mix different hardwood flooring? (Might be an idea for a future post.)
Aw, well thanks Barbara! I just enjoy the creative possibilities :-) … and yes, major life events do take their toll so go easy on yourself! :-)
I love your make-overs! So cool.
ah, those floors! I love them to distraction and the play of light floor against your dark walls is wonderful, great job! I would love to extend our wood floors throughout the house and get rid of the 10 year old carpet. we really blew it not splurging for all wood to begin with, I’m sure it would be more economical in the end. the wood has held up beautifully in our kitchen [the most abused room in the house], so logic says it should last forever in the bedrooms and my office. have I convinced myself yet? :-)
Ha, yes, I wish my whole house had come with hardwoods everywhere but alas, they did not. I am very pleased that I splurged on the office. Believe me, I cringed when they gave me the quote for the office, but now I can say for sure they were worth it to me. Such a difference. Thanks!
I adore that little square window in that room!!!
Love Love Love this Melissa!!! WOW! Love the paint color and the drapes. Everything for that matter. It’s so classic yet fresh. Hugs to a job well done! xoxo
Your office is coming along so lovely! I am so happy to hear you are not changing the wall color for something lighter, at least. The dark blue is so rich and really makes the white moldings, like that around the little window stand out so beautiful!
Thanks, I agree. It’s such a great mood for my office I want to keep it!
It looks beautiful, Melissa! I can’t wait until we can replace the carpets in our upstairs. We’ve done two levels and it’s so much more practical! I’m always looking for ideas for my home office/sewing room and you’ve given me quite a few!
I love the navy walls and the light floors! I had painted my son’s room navy and I loved it too. Now he has taupe walls and a dark red ceiling. He seems to like it. Can’t wait until I have an actual office!
I would love to have this in my home office! Being so stressed and all when working, I think having this kind of decoration and furniture will wipe all those away. Am fond of hanging pictures of my loved ones, too. Inspiration board is awesome!
http://abodefineliving.com/
Oh my!!! What a transformation! That’s probably one of the best home offices I’ve seen by far. And it’s doable, making it all the better!