DIY: Home Office

Before KT joined the family, Jeff used her room as his office. I used a built in "planning center" as mine (which is smack dab in the middle of our hallway). To say space has become an issue is a serious understatement. We condensed Jeff's "office" into our guest bedroom, which in turn made less space for our guests. Jeff tried to sell me on the idea of this office/dining room combo a while back, but I couldn't buy it. I was determined to hide our "mess" in other areas of the house. But, over time I realized we just couldn't make it work and he brought up the subject again. I said, "let's just do it. before I change my mind." It's not like we use our dining room much anyway. I told my friend Calli that I'd document this thing from start-to-finish. But, I severely failed in that task. Basically picture the green wall with nothing in front of it. We still need to add things here and there, but you get the overall idea. Here's the (mostly finished) room, minus the table (as that area is a WRECK right now).

The office as it stands now. We bought the filing cabinets (four total) for $10/each off of craigslist. sanded, and spray painted them white. The tops of the desk are doors that we got from Lowe's. Sanded and stained. The shelves are from Ikea. Relatively inexpensive for as much space as we got, don't you think?

I realize now, after taking a picture and sharing with you, that not staining the underside of the door (desktop) may have been poor judgment, though in our defense, you'd never know if I wouldn't of shown you! :)

I added a small detail here by snipping out some scrapbook paper for a more decorative look with the filing cabinets. Thoughts?

You may of noticed the two tops are a different color. Ioriginally picked the mahogany to the right, but hated it the moment it dried. So Jeff stained the other desk this beautiful dark color. We will be replacing the desktop on the right, but Jeff wants to test the durability of these doors to make sure they don't sag over the next month. After that, we'll replace it.

My splurge items. We have two of them. I got them from West Elm... with gift cards I received over Christmas and that I had been holding on to for all this time! I love them. Sort of classic, but also industrial looking. See my reflection in the dome? :)

I love the functionality of this room now. In the past three weeks, we have used this room more times than the past three years of living in this house. I'd say it's a win overall.