Dining Room Restyle Part 1: Home Office

I am so excited to share our dining room mini makeover! To make it last, I’m going to share it in a few parts. Let’s start with my home office.

You know, for most of my twenties I was very career-driven. I went to college with big dreams and clear goals. I knew what I wanted to be. I wasn’t one who changed her mind or her major. Ever.

After college I found a great company and continued on my path. Add a few kiddos in the picture and my career goals started to slow down. Add a blossoming hobby where people actually wanted to buy things we were making, a husband’s career change, then a blog, and then…I decided that my goals were different. I needed more time with my family. I wanted more time to pursue my passion.

This great company allowed me to change positions and work part-time… and here we are. The best decision I ever made. And I have the best corner office a girl could wish for. The absolute best. I am so lucky.

The before…

My New Corner Office

We had an electrician here recently quoting some more electrical upgrades. Old home = lack of outlets and knob & tube wiring. It’s been a slow work in progress for this old house. I overheard Corey point to this area and say “this is basically where she does everything.”

I love this idea (stolen from Emily A. Clark’s blog) of hanging pictures in the corner. It really frees up wall space and adds character to a small area.

This new paint color brightens the entire room. It’s from Valspar and if you’re curious, I talked about it here.

This space is our homework and craft station. I have always struggled with this little built-in. It houses a cold air return so it really doesn’t offer any storage. I’ve tried making it a window seat but it always seemed awkward. Storing my sewing machine and books works for now.

The built-in also cuts into the area below the window, so I had to pull one of the curtain panels up on the side. But I kinda like how it turned out.

I’m always amazed at how much impact curtains can have. More info on where I got them here. This was a much-needed upgrade to this room. I kept my bamboo shades – but here’s a little secret. I scrimped when I bought them… and they are too short to pull all the way down. I made it work since my new curtains add both privacy and filtered light.

I just found this cute plate at the thrift shop down the street. It is perfect for my little succulent garden. #thriftscorethursday

As I mentioned here, my room was largely inspired by our vintage globe collection.

I picked up this wall sconce from Lowe’s for under $40 to help save some desk space.

A few years ago my parents dug this chair out of their neighbor’s trash for me. Can you believe it?!? This chair is beautiful!! I had painted and distressed it already, so it just needed a fabric facelift to match the new color scheme.

This room already had 70s paneled walls and a drop in ceiling when we purchased the house. It’s a previous fix from a leaky upstairs bathroom and a major renovation if we were to tackle it ourselves. That’s why this is a work with what you have kind of DIY renovation. We’d love to replace the drop-ins with vintage looking ceiling tiles at the very least… definitely a future project for us. For now, it’s just something we have to live with.