DESIGN
BEFORE AND AFTER OF THIS GORGEOUS BUDGET FRIENDLY HOME OFFICE TRANSFORMATION
Jessica and Jeremy converted this spare bedroom into a beautiful home office and all on a budget! They replaced floors with an inexpensive but durable option, painted walls in a beautiful two-tone paint and with a little creativity repurposed furniture to create a modern office space with high style.
Project Brief
Name: Home office makeover
About us: We are a couple that both work from home full time and often have Zoom meetings that we host or attend. In addition to our day jobs we have lots of creative hobbies that we enjoy during the off-work hours.
What do we need?: An organized space for two. We don’t mind the open space idea and want something that works well within our home décor but doesn’t look like just a temporary converted space. We don’t need this spare bedroom, we need a long term solution for working at home.
Why do we need it?: Prior to COVID we both have worked from home periodically, but now it is a permanent situation for both of us. This space is where we will spend most of our time during the day, so it needs to be great!
Our vision for the project: On a tight budget maximize design and function of our home office.
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OUR STRATEGY
It’s a large room so we will divide the space into his and hers, creating two work zones. Along the side of the room we will use the existing bookshelf to create open storage and the closet for additional supply storage for all their hobbies. They do large format printing so there is lots of paper rolls and supplies to organize. Lastly to keep costs down we will try to repurpose existing furniture where possible and purchase stylish pieces at a budget friendly price,
01
VISION BOARD
This space was already being used as an office, so our first discussion was around what was working for the couple and what wasn’t. Next we sat down and talked through design. Our approach is all about building a deep empathy with the people you’re designing for; generating tons of ideas; building a bunch of prototypes; sharing what you’ve made with the people you’re designing for; and eventually putting our innovative new solution out in the world.
02
DESIGN
We built off of the color palette being used in the home. Best part is the paint is already purchased and we know it will create a seamless look in the home. We wanted the space to feel warm and inviting but also creative and inspiring. We chose a cow print rug to add texture and glass desks to bring in shine and durability, bonus feature is they already owned two matching desks in a fun bean shape. Lastly we made sure the design was sophisticated as the couple are both in senior leadership roles so we wanted the space to reflect their success and to be sure that the background of their Zoom calls had a professional look.
03
BUILD
This is a DIY project! We removed all the flooring, repaired the sub-floor then replaced all the floorboards. Repaired and painted every wall in the room and the door. Installed a large paper organization system in the closet and replaced the light fixture. Then we brought back in all the furniture that we were going to re-purpose and started assembling the room.
04
Décor
We used white accents to create contrast against the darker walls and a deep wine red for many of the flowers and candles. This gave a mood to the space where sometimes an office can feel stark and vacant of emotion. We used creative art to decorate walls and counter space to remind them to think creatively while adding personal touches like her graduation cap from her MBA program and their Masters degrees on the wall to remind them of their accomplishments.
05
TIME AND MONEY
From start to finish this project was complete in 18 days. WOW! The budget ended up being a bit more than expected when we ripped up the floors and had to repair the sub-floor but still under the max. See the bottom of this post for a break-down of costs.
IN THE BEGINNING
They had already cleared out the room (mostly) but where still using it for work. We relocated the functioning part of the office to another area in the home and removed all the remaining items we could out into the front room.
LET’S ADD COLOR
What I love about this color palette is how it changes in different light from a soft grey to a moody rich blueish grey at night. All of these colors have a warm undertone so that it complements the home and the old world style but brings in a modern element with the grey tones.
ALL SORTED
This was probably my favorite part of the project. The rolls of paper on the left are about 4′ in length, so we used wooden dowels and open u brackets to create a paper system that could be easily accessed and by closing the closet doors would be out of view when not needed. Definitely a challenge but once we put our minds to figuring it out, the solution was easy.
LUXURY FLOORING AT A BARGAIN PRICE
The homeowners had already purchased the flooring at Costco for a basement project, so we were thrilled at the opportunity to use the material in the office. We loved how easy it was to work with and the finished product had texture, pattern and warmth that perfectly grounded the design. Luxury vinyl planks for the win!
THE FINAL PRODUCT
To achieve an office that is both affordable and stylish takes a little time and the ability to get in there and get your hands dirty. This office consists of tons of simple DIY projects and savvy shopping for online dupes of high end pieces. However, when merged together it looks like a space that you’d see in magazines or on Pinterest that cost a fortune. It took a lot of hard work, planning and searching for the perfect products, but we are thrilled with how this home office makeover turned out!
Changing paint color can make such an amazing transformation. I love what you have chosen, it’s beautiful!
FAN COMMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
PRICING
Every project is different but to get an idea of what a project like this might cost here is our break-down:
- Design and build (labor): $5,700
- Paint: $50
- Organization Systems: $100
- Flooring: $1,000
Decor ~ $950
- Office Chair (white)
- Floating Shelves
- Cow Print Rug
- Desk Mats
- Circle Sand Art Piece for Wall Décor
- Owl Ceramic Planter Pots
These are items that were reused, but here is a link to where you can find something similar:
We remodeled our spare bedroom into a budget friendly, high design and very functional home office for two. We did all the labor ourselves and found ways to repurpose our existing furniture to stay on budget! Would love to help you on a project in your home or office space.