The Office Makeover That Changed My Daily Life

Have an extra bedroom in your home? How do you use it? Is it a catch all that you just put random things into to get them out of the way? Is it a place in which you quickly hide the mess from the main living area when you’re expecting guests? Or, is it a perfectly made up room for the visitors that you regularly have, or the ones that you never get. The latter, being an inefficient use of space. We opted to do an office makeover.

When My husband and I began family planning, we planned for two girls, we were blessed to get them. Our home came with 4 bedrooms, we welcomed the extra space. We didn’t quite have a plan for it though. It mainly just sat as an empty room that slowly began to hold some extras, though not much.

Eventually it became a space that Chris would work in when he wasn’t at the office (real office). It was never anything fancy. We kept our telescope in that room as well as our elliptical machine. Fortunately, he was able use this under-occupied space to steal away to get some stuff done when he wasn’t at his actual office.

I didn’t really capture many photos of this space because nothing about it was really photo worthy. With the space not being used full-time, there was really no reason to give it much credence. As you might recall, I had been a full-time parent. He was the one that went out to work everyday.

It was time for me to get in gear and map out my next steps to keep our family running. I needed a space to think and work! It was time that I turn this space into a functional place to make things happen. And of course it needs to be pretty!

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Here is a view of the room shortly after removing all of the work PCs and extras that he had been using.

We hadn’t even finished painting the door. That goes to show how much of an underutilized space this was.

This desk was an old desk that I loved. It was old fashioned and solid; needed a little TLC. I got it from a rummage sale called Bargain Box. Bargain Box was a wonderful event held by the Junior League of Columbus, an organization that I was a part of for many years. I had to quit suddenly when Chris was taken. It was time for the desk to go.

Then it was time to paint. I chose Edgecomb Gray to brighten the room a bit and began deciding between curtain styles. Ultimately chose the left.

Next up, I needed a desk. Amazon to the rescue

I didn’t quite have a plan for this office makeover; meaning I didn’t do a mood board of textures and decor. I just sort of wing it. After assembling the desk I had to decide what style of chair I needed for the room. I liked the idea of having color in the room, so I chose this one:

That little cutie above is always willing to help. Though I loved the pink fabric and rose gold color, it wasn’t the most comfortable chair. And I didn’t know whether or not I loved the look. My sister thought it looked old fashioned, like something out of a 70s show… I kinda see it to.

So I swapped it for a white leather option:

Aaaaand that’s a bit washed out, how about this:

I like the white for sure. And even though the pink chair might be giving off 70s vibes, I think it’s a perfect colorful option for anyone who might want to hang out…and be slightly uncomfortable.

Next up, a cabinet and shelves. I wasn’t sure what to do on this front. It’s entirely overwhelming when you recognize that you are drowning in unorganized scattered paper clutter. It shows up on foyer tables, on countertops after having come in from the garage, and even in my night stand. For now, I decided on a 3 tiered cabinet system. The bottom cabinet that you see in the pic started off good and then began to fall apart. It had a weird button like mechanism that kept becoming unsnapped, causing the files to collapse. Mind you, I did purchase the absolute cheapest cabinet that I could find.

Lesson learned I guess. I swapped it out for the one on top, not expensive either, but better than the first one. So far it’s working fine, I can tell though that I might have to upgrade to a four tier sooner than later.

I really miss doing this stuff with husband. I am fortunate to have my sweet girls who are willing whenever I call on them. This is my oldest holding the shelf for me so that I could get an estimate of where we should place it.

After getting the shelves up, I eventually added some decor and books. Regarding the rest of the walls, I really have no idea what I’m going to do with them ultimately. But for one wall I did in fact have an idea. I had a planner not too long ago that I absolutely loved because it had such bold colorful monthly pages.

Those pages had encouraging statements on them. I knew one day when that year had passed that I would find a way to use those pages. I discovered these acrylic picture frames that were perfect for this little project.

Once I had each frame completed, I hung them up. Love the way it looks.

Every time that I walk int his room I feel inspired. I have to give credit to my husband who was always making things happen. Updating our home was something that we loved doing together. He was so optimistic. I know that I’m going to make things happen because of what he taught me in the many year that we were together. He’d be so proud of what I’ve done with this room, and all that I’ve learned because of him.

A Refreshing Change

This space is more than just an office space. It’s the space that I retreat to at the beginning of the day and in the evening. It makes me feel pretty! And alive. That might sound odd to you, but I believe that every person should have a space that makes them feel like they are winning. Having lost my husband, my daughters father, I have a lot of days that make me feel like I’ve simply lost, in all the ways. But this space, where he spent a lot of his time before he was taken, is now the space that our sweet girls come to tell me about their day! They love the uncomfortable pink chair😊 It’s perfect. One will navigate to the chair and the other will either be on the exercise ball or on the elliptical. It’s perfect for us.