Building the Places You Call Home

Are you looking to create a space where you can just sit down and get some work accomplished? You want it to be more than just a desk and a chair but maybe you don’t have the space or budget for a full blown office in your home. Let us help you figure out just how to utilize your space to have the home office you’re looking for.

Office/Guest room:

If you have the luxury of having a guest room in your house it can easily be transformed into an office/guest room. The guest room portion can consist of a day bed or pull out sofa with side tables and a TV on the wall or atop a dresser. Now the rest of the space can be used as an office.

Cloffice:

If you don’t have a guest room, perhaps you have an extra or underutilized closet. You can turn a closet into a cozy space to get work done. Don’t believe me? This cloffice was created out of a smaller linen closet and organization is the key to the space.  This cloffice was created by removing the doors and creating an office nook out of the closet space.

Color Choice:

Now that you’ve found a space for your home office, let’s paint it! The paint color you choose isn’t just for looks, it actually effects your productivity and mood. Neutrals such as brown, gray, tan don’t increase productivity on their own but can supplement an accent color like blue or green that reduces stress and increases relaxation. You don’t want to overwhelm your eyes or the space by painting all of the walls a red, yellow, orange, or white because these are reflective tones and can evoke negative emotions like anxiety and anger. You also don’t want to use dark colors for the main color choice because it can make the room feel small and make you feel tired. Optimal colors for your office could be a light gray/blue or tan with a blue or green accent wall. This way you have the feeling of lightness to keep you energized while include a stress reducing color and not overwhelming your eyes.

Organization:

Finding the right desk for your space and price point is a search you’ll just have to undertake. However, there are some great ways to update used/worn furniture to match the look and feel you’re going for in your office space. Inside of a boring and ugly filing cabinet, try revamping it with fabric! Choose  a fabric that matches your style, clean the cabinet and remove any handles/locks, paint mod podge or spray adhesive on the area you want your fabric to go, place your fabric, paint over with mod podge, and voila a chic cabinet! You can also use wall paper, scrapbook paper, book pages, or maps in lieu of fabric for the same results. Another way to revamp an ugly filing cabinet is by priming and spray painting it then using an interesting stencil to paint the design on. You can also use washi or duct tape to create striped patterns for very low cost. Lastly, this chest transformation into a filing unit is a great way to re-purpose furniture and have a beautiful and different look for your filing cabinet.

Wall Organization:

Create a simple but different dry erase board for your to do list/notes/messages by putting a piece of fabric inside of a picture frame! Dry erase markers will apply and erase easily on the glass. I know you may think I’m chalkboard paint obsessed after our last décor on a dime post, but there are really great ways to use it! This site, shows you a bunch of different ways you can use chalkboard paint from creating your own colored paint, to painting trays/frames to use as a bulletin board, to creating a chalk calendar on your wall. If you have an old drawer that you want to put to use, back it with cork board covered in fabric and hang it on the wall for a shabby chic look! This storage box blends in perfectly with your book shelf! Another great idea and space saver is this amazing command center