home office reveal.

I honestly never really thought I’d be writing this post. Having my very own office always seemed like a luxury that would probably never be realized – similar to what I thought about a dedicated playroom. At best, I thought I might eventually get a built-in desk in a future kitchen or a corner of the bedroom like our last house. Which was fine, I’ve just always wanted a dedicated space to work in that I could call my own. I didn’t need anything extravagant or fancy. And then we bought this home.

This space is located at the front of our house, just off the entryway and has a shared open wall with our dining room. It was probably meant as a formal living room in the original design plans, but with a family room off the kitchen, a playroom upstairs and G’s office/theatre room on the third floor, it was clear from the beginning that we’d have plenty of ‘living’ area without it. I actually briefly considered making it into a formal library and turning one of the guest rooms upstairs into my office, but in the end practicality won out. This way, we can always have at least one guest room and I won’t have to up and move my workspace to make room for a new nursery when and if we have another baby. Also, it’s just nice to have this open space on the main floor be the area I spend a lot of time in. The large window oversees our front yard and driveway, I can easily get to the door if someone rings and its connected to the kitchen so it’s nothing but a thing to pop in and out while cooking or baking!

When it came to designing this room, my goal was to make whatever desk I chose the focal point. I’ve always loved when desks face outward rather than towards the wall. I think it just opens up the space and fosters more creativity. I also knew that I would need a pretty sizable amount of storage, but wanted whatever bookshelves or cupboards I chose to also serve as decoration. Since my office is one of the first things you see when you come into our home, I wanted to make sure everything came together cohesively and wasn’t an eye sore. I think I achieved that with these glass paneled bookshelves. It’s actually 4 of the BILLY bookshelves from IKEA with the OXBERG glass doors attached to the front. I love the way they turned out and how the bold black offsets my white desk. I’m still on the hunt for the right desk chair, so if any of you have any suggestions, I’m all ears!

One of my favorite things in my office is this double month acrylic calendar on the wall opposite my desk. I use it to plan out blog posts and projects and, especially as a visual person, I love how easy it is to use and see while I’m working or writing!

The last thing I want to touch on is this rug. I’ve shared it before on Instagram and every time I do, I get a ton of questions / interest surrounding it. I absolutely love it. It’s low and thin, yet soft and comfortable on your feet. It’s the perfect rug for an office because you can easily move a chair across it, and it’s for that reason that I went ahead and got the same rug in a different pattern for our dining room. What’s even better is that it’s one of the cheapest options I came across! With its neutral colors and subtle patterns it really goes with just about everything. In fact, as we were furnishing and decorating our master bedroom, I actually decided to go with the same one as the dining room! If that doesn’t speak to how good it is – we have it in THREE of the rooms in our home – I don’t know what does 😉

shop my office.