I’m so excited to participate in the One Room Challenge this fall. Over the next six weeks, I’ll be renovating and designing one room along with many other designers and bloggers as part of this community event. I considered a few different rooms – great room, home office, and garage. Thanks to your input, I decided to do… my home office!
I work from home for my full-time job so I spend HOURS in my home office every day. However, it is also the room that ends up being a default storage / extended mud room / mail room / craft room / aka clutter central because we don’t have a big mud room and it’s right in between our garage entrance and kitchen. It’s currently filled with a LOT of random things for future projects and/or don’t yet have a permanent home elsewhere in the house.
I’ve struggled with keeping other areas of my house clutter-free because every storage space feels connected – and this room feels like the root cause of many issues. SO, while I’d love to focus on designing my great room, it’s not a high priority right now because this office space and lack of storage/organization impacts my whole family’s day to day life and is in need of major help!
The “Before” Photos
The first photo below is the embarrassing state of affairs this morning before I tidied and the rest are a clearer picture of the blank slate. (PS – a friend once asked me if I staged a giant mess just to make the after seem that much better — LOL NOPE this is just real life!!).
The Mood Board
I really love to mix styles so the vibe I’m going for is a mix of bright white with a touch of moody; modern black/white design elements paired with classic furniture that will last for years; and a contrasting masculine/feminine touches (leather, touches of pink, and brass). Right now, it’s pretty much a blank slate so here’s what I’m planning to do:
- White board and batten about 2/3 up the wall
- Dark faux grasscloth wallpaper (painting technique) around the top
- “Built-in” corner bookcase using IKEA Billy bookcases + trim (I’m also considering building from scratch with plywood for more durability since kids will be using this a lot)
- Some new furnishings, rug, and decor (keeping existing desk to keep budget down)
Inspo Photos
I drew inspiration from so many places… here are a few of my favorites:
The Plan
This is what I’m hoping to accomplish over the next six weeks:
- Week 1: Project reveal and plan
- Week 2: IKEA bookcase assembly and installation
- Week 3: Trimming out bookcases
- Week 4: Walls – moulding and painting
- Week 5: Furniture, decor, and other final touches
- Week 6: Final reveal!
So, what do you think? Are you excited to follow along? I’ll be sharing detailed progress on my Instagram feed and stories so I hope you follow along there! And go check out the other projects happening as part of the One Room Challenge!
This will be fun! I’m taking on my office/workroom, too! I am excited to have good company on this journey. Cheers!
Yesss! Excited to tackle this together!
Looks beautiful and I cannot wait to see the finished room! I love following you!
Thank you so much!! I’m so honored and appreciate your kind words so much!
I can’t wait to see how this turns out! I also work from home full-time, and my office ends up as the dumping ground too.. it’s not even near our entry way so I have no excuse LOL. Love the mood board for this space, it’s for sure going to make me want to makeover my office.
Thanks!! I’m hoping this will transform the space and tame the clutter once and for all – if I can do it anybody can!!