I love our home, but I've never loved our "office/ den" area. When we moved in, it was painted a dark green, and I am just not a "dark" color person. If I had it my way, every piece of furniture in our house would be white, and all walls would be a muted neutral shade. But, we left the way color as- is.
A few years after moving in, I was browsing THIS blog, and I was so inspired by the desk creation that they built. I was inspired enough that I thought we needed to completely makeover our office space. We spend a lot of time on the computer between blogging and working from home. While we are doing this, we need a comfy floor space for Mackenna to play on. (This was lacking before.)
Two months after planning my vision for the room, our new space is complete! I am in love with how it came out, from the details of wired- in lighting and crown molding, to the new carpet, bookshelf and wall decor. I cannot say enough about just how HANDY Ben is. He worked very hard on the room for me, and I'm so thankful.
Before:
Adios hunter green!
Hello, Oxford Gray by Benjamin Moore.
The bookshelves are from IKEA, as well as the drawer inserts. The rest of the project (crown molding, shelving, and wainscoting) is from Lowes. We were resourceful with what materials we had on hand, and made the desk portion of the built- in with our old kitchen laminate countertop, and topped it with wainscoting for a finished look. The wainscoting has custom- cut plexi- glass on top, and in the future I hope to put Mackenna's art work between the desk and glass.
Viola!
When I was designing the office, I wanted it to have more of a "living room" feel than an office, so I added some soft touches like a dining room chair (vs. an office chair) and accented the bookshelf with pillows. I also found these gorgeous chevron print rugs that have a high pile and plush texture, since I know Mackenna will spend time playing with all of our toys on the floor space.
.... I learned these design tips from watching a little too much of the Nate Berkus show while on my maternity leave.
Some details about our new space that I love...
Wall files for all of our "every day" paperwork that used to sit in piles on the dsk.
Ben wired the lighting into the desk:
My favorite part of this project?
Our filing: BEFORE and AFTER!
The iMac was a must- have purchase for this project, since it allows the desk to be wireless.
Proud sponsors of this project: Bud Light and Nap time.
The space is Bailey- approved.
Both Ben & I are so pleased with how this room has come out. A space that used to be dark and cluttered is now bright, cheery, clean and organized. I still have some finishing touches and decorating that I'd like to do. And there is wall art I'd like to put up.. and maybe curtains in the future. But it is perfect for now. Thank you to iHeart organizing for the inspiration, and to Ben for making it happen :-)
