I'm a little late, but I've decided to join the One Room Challenge as a guest participant! I will be working to create a home office. If you've never heard of the One Room Challenge it's hosted by Linda Weinstein every spring and fall and has 20 Featured Designers that makeover rooms over the course of six weeks. But anyone can participate as a guest with the same goal in mind. I participated as a guest back in the fall of 2014, so this will be my second time participating.
(The beautifully styled shelf in my design board is by Sherry Hart)
I've had the idea to create a home office since last year, and with my husband working from home more now, it's more needed than ever. If you remember, I built a desk back in the spring for additional workspace, but it ended up becoming my son's desk. We moved another desk upstairs to an empty bedroom for hubby. But the lighting wasn't great and the room was bare, so he ends up working at the dining room table when he is at home. But that's right next to the kitchen, so we end up tiptoeing around during calls which is hard to do when you're working in a kitchen. So getting him moved to a space off the beaten path is important.
But even before this current need arose, I've wanted to turn this space into a home office. It has served as a guest room for several years, but all of that has been moved upstairs.
Last year, I was dreaming of adding built-in bookcases to our living room, and was thinking of where I could re-use my existing bookcases, and considered making an office in this room. So while it may temporarily serve as a work-from-home office, I'm really looking forward to working in this space too. But enough of the backstory, let's talk plans and projects!
The DIY Projects
Install Vertical Shiplap
I have been wanting to add shiplap SOMEWHERE in my home for years (like since before Fixer Upper was a show, lol), so I will be adding vertical shiplap to the back wall you see when you enter the room. The room was blue when we moved, but I painted the walls SW Alabaster and the doors SW Iron Ore. I still love the combo, so it will stay and the shiplap will be painted Alabaster as well.
DIY Bookcase Hack
The shiplap wall will serve as a backdrop to what I consider the biggest project for the room...hacking some Target bookcases into built-ins. I had been brainstorming, sketching, and creating cut lists for some custom built-ins from scratch for several weeks. But the price for materials alone was getting to be more than I wanted to spend. So I scaled back to just using these existing bookcases and leftover lumber I have on hand to add to them to make them taller and then trimming them out to appear built-in. May the caulk and trim be with me.
Paint Windows Black
When I painted this room a couple of years ago, I skipped painting the windows because they are a pain to paint. But I've since learned about window film, which makes it easier, so I will be continuing the black/white theme and painting the window mullions SW Iron Ore.
Wire and Install Bookcase Sconces
I found some black/gold sconces online to add to the bookcases, but they're meant to be hardwired. So, I'm planning to wire them with a plug-in cord and run the cord along the inside of the bookcase down to the outlet below.
Build Fancy X Desk/Table
I plan to build a desk that's sort of a mash up between the Fancy X Farmhouse table and Farmhouse desk by Ana White. I want something shorter but wider than the desk I built in the spring, but I will probably go with a similar stain color.
Replace Ceiling Fixture
Below is a picture of the room when we first moved in. It's been painted and new flooring added, but the but the 1980s fan and light have yet to go. While I'm changing that out, I'll update the light switch and all of the outlets from the original almond colored ones.
Add Wall Art
My go-to art is always bird prints! As of right now, I plan to reuse the existing bird prints I have in the space. But I may look for some art prints to download from Etsy. I also have a large chalkboard that I may bring down to use in the space as is, or maybe turn it into a pinboard.
As you can see, some ideas are fleshed out, and some things will be decided along the way. And there's still seating to decide upon. Ultimately, it will be nice to see these ideas come to fruition and gain the much needed functionality, and this was just the extra motivation I needed to get going. Are you following along with the One Room Challenge already? Or thinking about joining? Let me know!
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