We really needed a home office and our house didn’t have one… so like many of you in my fix…. what do you do… but turn a formal room that is used very little, into that much needed space.
What we have done so far:
Purchased a desk on sale a few years ago at Arhaus. Fortunately, the back side of the desk was finished off so the thought of facing it out worked perfect. Next, we bought 2 tall bookcases at Target and shelf baskets for organization (I think from Walmart). One day we might need to switch it back to a dining area, but for now it meets our needs.
I don’t really have a before….here is before as it gets…
Before:
After…..
I really don’t want our space to look like a dining room turned into an office….
so I still have a few things to work on:
1. The tray ceiling makes it seem more dining roomish to me.
2. Chandelier has to go.
3. does wainscoting half way up the wall…. look dining roomish to you?
Possible solutions:
1. Remove the chandelier all together and install can lighting ( that won’t happen)
2 Remove current light and install a drum shade closer to the ceiling.
3. Totally remove the light and put beadboard wall paper up in the tray (* see note at bottom of the page) which covers the light fixture hole 🙂 This is one of my favorite ideas.
4. Remove the chandelier, add beadboard wall paper and change light fixture to a drum shade.
5. Box out some trim molding above the wainscoting and paint the whole wall white so it all looks like a paneled wall.
*note
see this picture… it’s a piece that hangs down over our kitchen island. We worked on beadbord wall papering this small area…. yesterday.
my husband, who has never wall papered before said he will never ever, never, he said “EVER wall paper again…and don’t ask him 🙂
Hehe.. it actually got comical…I have to admit it was very stressful. The paper did not want to stick. I guess that means “No” to doing my entire kitchen ceiling or even my tray ceiling in my former dining room. My mom will help me 🙂 she’s good at things like that. My husband and I were laughing after the wall papering event and I said… “I think it would be a good prerequisite to marrige for a couple to go in a blank room and remodel it together, including hanging wall paper on the ceiling…. if they can get through that, they can get through anything.”
LOVE this! There are too many nice things I could say about this room, it looks so inviting and seems like it would be the perfect place to work. I love the curtains too, super cute!
Thank you, I sit there often blogging and thinking, thinking about blogging 🙂
Hey Rene, Wade would rather have a colonoscopy than wallpaper. We’ve done it several times over the years and this last time was the grand finale. It’s not pretty! I love your office but you already know that.
xo
LeAnn
LeAnn…you are funny!! This is the first time Doug and I have done it together and I guess it’s the last 🙂
Another great room! The only changes I would make, other than the chandy, would be to add an area rug and another chair (perhaps a slipper chair) for guests; then, it won’t look like a dining room at all – not that it does now.
I love your office….you created a great space! I would keep the beadboard wainscot…i love the cottage look anywhere.
I’m really not so bothered by the chandy either…….it’s hard to visualize in the photo, but it looks like maybe if you center the desk under the chandy, then you could still keep the desk lamp too. Possibly add some dangling crystals to the chandy? IF you choose a pendant chandy, then for sure nix the pendant desk lamp…..too many pendants. But I think having a different form/style of the chandy mixed w/the pendant desk lamp works.
Adding a rug & a mirror on the right wall would be nice too…..just IMO!
I removed a wallpaper border yrs ago and swore I would never do wallpaper work (myself) again…..leave it to the wallpaper experts I always say!
I recently had grasscloth wallpapered in our bookshelves ….looks great….but we had it done by our sweet carpenter that thought he could wallpaper too (i thought i’d save money and not call my pricey installer…..so i had my contractor do it very cheap)….its starting to peel and is not a great job….so i’m about to remove and paint instead!
Wallpapering I have learned is truly a craft and best done by the experts!
Yours looks great though….I love that beadboard paper product!!
Your last paragraph was too funny, loved it……..
Thank you for all the great tips you guys!!! Love the different ideas! I just learned a new term…chandy…. I never knew that before 🙂
I wanted to add… Right now I can’t center the desk becuse my computer screen cord and all the other cords will only let me go so far. 🙂 There is probaby an easy solution for that, I would like to center it…but what to do with my cord issue?
Your office looks wonderful! I love how it flows right off of the living room.
Thank you Alea!
Oooo. I love this. Gonna have to work on how our kitchen table has inadvertently become a massive Mac work space. Sometimes you just gotta give in …
Thanks Susie… 🙂
Could you possibly tell me where you got those beautiful curtains?!
Beautiful redesign! Thank you so much.
I purchased the curtains at Pottery Barn several years ago. They were very nice quality and I loved them, but unfortunately they aren’t available anymore unless you can find them on EBay- I forget the name….maybe Greek Key?