Do you love before and afters as much as me? New haircut – I want to see the before and after. Lost some weight? Show me the before and after. Celebrity with a new nose? Let me compare. Room makeover? My fav! Most definitely show me the before and after. So when I decided to spruce up my home office I thought I’d share it on my blog with, you guessed it, some before and after. Now this post is just the before – I know, sorry to disappoint – but it’s the before AND my inspiration for the after. Products and pieces I’m looking to buy or that will be similar to what I’d like to buy.
I don’t know about you but my office tends to be a dumping ground. It’s where anything that doesn’t have a home goes to die. I’ve photographed in many many homes and I know I’m not alone in this. But it’s a new year and something about January sends me into decorate mode. My office is right off my main floor hallway. It has double pocket doors and I can see into the kitchen and hear everything going on on the main floor (sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad). It’s 8.5′ x 9.5′. Was originally supposed to be the laundry room when we were building but I thought it was too big so we made it into an office and it’s a perfect size for me. It has one long horizontal and therefore no direct light coming in which is great for when I’m editing but also makes the room a little dark. (For the purpose of this post and pretty pictures I did increase the exposure on the pics, it’s a bit darker than what you see). So a smaller room on the dark side needs a little cheer and right now it’s SO PLAIN. All white. White (well very very light grey) walls, white desk, white cabinets. I want to add some colour, texture, storage and greenery.

Okay I lied. There’s a bit of colour. My kids like me to hang their artwork up here. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep it or not. I may move the artwork line to another spot in the house after I add my own colour.

I also have this half chalkboard wall for the kids in here. If they’re in my office with me they like to draw on the chalkboard while I work. Will probably keep this. I don’t like the plugs in the middle of the wall with all the cords running from it but I don’t want my desk facing that wall and it also doesn’t fit. I may put a little ottoman or bench for the kids there to hide it. If you have an idea please share!

This cabinet holds all of my packaging materials. I’m thinking a snake plant in the corner (which apparently doesn’t need a lot of light which is good) and the wall is still up for debate. I have a gold rope mirror you’ll see in a below picture that could go there along with some other artwork. The corner could do with a bookshelf as I need some extra storage space and I think the height would add a little something.

That printer, what an eyesore, but I don’t think I can do anything about that except maybe put it on the floor beside the desk. I’d love some wall sconces here and a picture rail to display photos and artwork.

There’s the rope mirror. But as you can see this corner is used for nothing productive. This is where a bookshelf will go OR possibly a small armchair. If I do an armchair then I’ll do string shelving over the cabinets.

Looking into my office from the hallway. I already have runners in my hallway that are a mix of blues, grey and a bit of orange so whatever rug I put in my office will have to coordinate with that as I almost never have my doors closed. The ceiling light is nothing special but it’s also not offensive. In the spirit of keeping to a budget I’ll most likely keep it.

Hanging Basket | Wall Sconce | Snake Plant | Painting | Feather Plate | Seagrass Basket | Fabric Armchair | Clock | Cowhide Rug | Rope Mirror | Bookshelf | Storage Basket
I put together this little inspiration board. It’s not everything I want to do but it helps to see things placed together. For more products and pieces I like and some room inspiration check out my Pinterest Board. I’m excited to show you the after and now that I’ve posted this blog it sort of forces me into doing it in a reasonable amount of time, yikes!
So what do you think? Any ideas for me? Have you seen any cool office accessories you think I’d like? Please share!