Tag: Office

The Playroom to Home Office Layout

I have a 27″ iMac on my desk with two external backup drives, a memory card reader, full keyboard with number pad, and a Wacom tablet. A cute little floating desk in the middle of the room isn’t practical. There are three possible placements for the desk in my new home office as I clear out the playroom: on the long wall by the closet door, near the windows, or in the nook by the door to the stairs (formerly painted with ~~blood splatters~~ whimsical polka dots).

I need storage for fabric and wallpaper samples, paint decks, and paperwork, and a place for the printer too. Since it’s a finished attic and the walls are sloped in much of the space, the long wall seems best suited to something like low bookshelves, filing cabinets, a sideboard, or cabinets. The closet can handle bulky items or overflow.

Placing the desk near the windows would be pretty to look at (and would photograph well), but it wouldn’t be the best for working. We put an air conditioner in the window during the summer because the third floor can get pretty hot, and I don’t want to work directly in front of the AC. I would also be concerned about screen glare. I’ll be adding either curtains or roman shades, but if I could leave them open most of the time, the natural light in the room is nice.

That leaves me with the nook by the door to the stairs, which is where I’ve been working for several months already while it was still setup as a playroom (on that little white desk that I had originally thought would be great for the kids’ art projects). I’ve already repainted the room and while I don’t love facing a blank sloping wall that doesn’t have the height for artwork, I like being near the door as opposed to having my back to it. To the right are the toy shelves, but once I get some storage setup, I can add lamps and style it up.

3D rendering, TA DA!

(I think I’ve made one of these for half of the rooms in our house now? They’re essential for playing with floor plans and getting a sense of scale.)

The furniture and rugs are placeholders. I wanted a solid layout as the first step because the space is tricky; now that I know what I need, I’ll focus on filling in the blanks. My desk will stay near the door. Storage goes on the longest wall where the kids’ toys are now. A comfy chair can be tucked under the eave by the radiator. And a small dining table is a flexible piece that can either function as a desk for an assistant (I do not have one right now, but I have in the past and may again) or as a place to spread out and go over projects and client work.

I haven’t had a space solely for my office in a long time — it has been a home office slash, as in /playroom, /bedroom, /guest room. And now I’m going to have this beautiful dedicated workspace! I’m getting pretty excited about it with a weird mix of guilt (taking over so much room) and pride (@*$% yeah, my business deserves it). I’m still working out the details, but I can’t wait to share more!

February 16, 2017
A Playroom / Office Switcheroo

There is a room on the first floor, behind the kitchen, that I’ve barely shown on the blog. It’s a former sleeping porch that was converted into what is technically counted as a bedroom (it has a closet), and we thought it would be a perfect office for me until we realized how cold it can get.

Just a couple of months after we moved in, Chicago experienced one of its coldest winters ever and when it had gotten to the point that I had to wear fingerless gloves to type, I said eff this, packed up and went to the third floor.

GUESS WHAT. The third floor was unbearably hot! I feel like I’m coming across as a Goldilocks here, but I’m talking major temperature extremes. It would be 45 degrees in that spare room, but 90 degrees upstairs. The problem was that the old furnace would struggle and struggle to heat the first floor, while the heat would rise, making the second floor comfortable but leaving the third floor roasting.

We fixed that issue pretty quickly with a new furnace for the house, and thermostatic valves for the radiators on the third floor. The house is evenly heated you guys! HOORAY!

Then I was pregnant with Calvin and incredibly uncomfortable. Time to move my desk again, this time into the bedroom. And actually, it was great while I was pregnant because I could quite literally roll out of bed and go to work.

It was fine for a while, but it’s silly that we have this huge house and I was working from the bedroom while other spaces were being underused. We kicked the desk out when I redid our bedroom for the One Room Challenge, and I was again upstairs.

We have this great playroom on the third floor. The kids played up there all the time when it was new, but now they prefer to spend time in their rooms or they bring toys downstairs. The playroom has shelves and bins full of toys! A dress-up closet! A play kitchen! Not a big enough draw, apparently.

There was a desk along one wall with red polka dots behind it, and art supplies in wall-mounted cubbies. I imagined the kids coloring and painting up there, and guess what. A big fat nope. They liked the easel, but not the desk.

I’ve bounced around from the spare room to the guest room, then the bedroom, and now I’m in the playroom — this time, at the desk in front of that red polka dot wall. And you know what? I like it. But I don’t like being surrounded by toys that the kids aren’t even playing with.

A while back, we had a big hole cut out in that wall to rewire the house, and it has since been fixed (with an access door in case we ever need to get in there again). On a whim, a few days ago, I primed over the polka dots. I haven’t cleared out the whole room, but I did clear that side and put a couple coats of fresh paint on. Now I’m thinking about how I want to set everything up — what can I reuse, and what do I need to add?

I’m thinking the house is getting a big switcheroo. Playroom → office. Spare room → playroom.

As it is now, the kids use the playroom on the third floor occasionally but I’m up there at my desk just about everyday. That spare room behind the kitchen is still a bit cold sometimes in the winter, but it has been far better since upgrading the heating system and I think it could be put to much better use now. The kids prefer playing downstairs anyway, and I long for a proper office. I’m excited! I’m daunted! I’m diving in!

January 19, 2017
Working on My Work Space

This post and giveaway are sponsored by GE reveal^®.

I’ve been making over four spaces in my home over the course of four weeks, using just $100 from Target and GE reveal^® LED light bulbs. I’ve also had a total of $4000 in Target gift cards and plenty of GE reveal^® lighting to give away so that each week, 10 readers win everything they need for their own #100reveal makeovers! The rules and information are at the bottom of this post, so be sure to enter.

This week, I’m working on my work space. I had some difficulty while pregnant with my third baby but I still had to work at my computer, so to limit my going up and down stairs, Brandon helped set up my desk in our bedroom. It was supposed to be a temporary solution, but Calvin is five months old already and I’m still working from the same spot! It was a bit of surprise, how much I would love working here.

Since I see my desk all the time, I figured it was about time I spruced it up a bit. The task lighting needed to be addressed, and I knew I could pick up a handful of things from Target with my $100 makeover budget that would help my cluttered desktop and drawer.

You can see how I put everything to use and the difference that GE reveal^® bulbs made in this week’s #100reveal video.

The drawer needed a lot of help. I know some people are OK with an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mess, but that kind of thing drives me crazy! I’m far from being neat all the time, but I do like my drawers, cabinets, and closets to be tidy. I picked up a jewelry organizer that fit perfectly inside the desk and separated everything into compartments.

Just about everything that was in the drawer was put back, the only exception being the printer ink refills which went in one of the nesting boxes I picked up at Target.

The room is flooded with beautiful light during the day, but it was less lovely when the sun went down. We rely on lamps in the bedroom rather than overhead lighting, but the bulbs cast a yellow tint that turned our blue/gray walls green. Switching them to GE reveal^® LED bulbs kept the colors true and the room instantly looked better.

I can get pretty hungry throughout the day since I’m nursing, so I’ve been keeping chocolate covered almonds at my desk (yum!). The container isn’t so nice to look at though, so I tucked it inside another of the nesting boxes I picked up. I keep water nearby too, and the occasional cup of coffee.

My desk wasn’t terrible before, but it’s much better now with a little organization and a lighting upgrade.

Giveaway

Do you have a desk or home office in need of some updating? Comment below about creating your perfect work space with GE reveal^® and a $100 gift card to Target, mentioning #100reveal for your chance to win!

There will be ten winners drawn. See the complete rules for more information, and good luck!

I’m so excited to be a GE reveal^® #100reveal sponsored blogger. Opinions are my own, projects have been chosen by me, and additional products used in the project were selected by me and provided by GE reveal^®.

March 3, 2015
The Victorian House: Kitchen, Bathroom, Office, and Back Porch #1

Here’s the rest of our new house’s first floor! Think of this as ‘The First Floor: The Wallpapered Edition.’ (There will be more upstairs, too.)

You’ve seen a glimpse of the kitchen already. Here she is, in all her glory.

Tin ceiling! Not original, but period-appropriate.

The stove is not vented. It’s wood burning on the left, gas on the right. We immediately blew out the pilot light five minutes into owning the house, and had to run to a neighbor for matches. Then it happened again, and again (but at least we had the matches to relight it). Good times!

Here you can see the house’s back stairs on the left, and the bathroom on the right.

The bathroom has a small-scale geometric wallpaper above white beadboard.

The bathroom upstairs on the second floor only has a tub. The kids take baths, but Brandon and I usually shower, so this may be our primary bathroom.

Here’s the room that will become my office. It slopes down considerably, but when we had our home inspection, I also brought in a structural engineer to assess this room and a few other spots. His verdict: it’s an old house with some quirks, but it is structurally sound. (In fact, he placed it in the top 10% of homes he has seen and was impressed by its good condition.)

It leads to a little porch (and I do mean little) that can only be accessed from the room. Such a great spot!

You’ve seen the entire first floor now, between today’s photos and the ones in yesterday’s post. Tomorrow, we head upstairs!

August 27, 2013
Speckled Blooms Curtains in My Office

Well, I went and ordered those Speckled Blooms curtains so I could see them in person. They’re pretty. They also don’t go with my rug (which I knew), so now I’ll have to decide which I like better.

If I keep them, I’ll sell the zigzag rug. Then I’ll either bring in the white Orleans rug from the nursery (depending on what we do in August’s room when we get rid of his crib), or I’ll pick up something white and fluffy for the office. Maybe just a little sheepskin for under my chair?

The curtains are pretty girly, but it is my office, so I’m not too worried about that. I don’t know if I’m in love with them though. If I were to really implement everything from my reimagined office design board, they would be beautiful. Without the lovely wood tones from the card catalog dressers (or maybe an awesome vintage credenza), and the added interest of the brass and bright red, they’re falling a little flat.

February 7, 2013
Shelving it
Every day (or nearly), I sit in my home office across from my Expedit shelves. Truthfully, I’m kind of over them.

More truthfully though? They probably wouldn’t bother me so much if I could just keep the rest of my office neat. (It’s a mess in here right now.) Still, I do a lot of mental redecorating that revolves around those shelves. Here’s what I’d pick if I could wave a magic wand.

*Poof!* New shelves that didn’t cost anything or take any time to put together, that magically styled themselves, and fit perfectly in the room!
1. Whitewashed Wood + Metal Shelves
2. Emerson Shelf
  p.s. There’s more rustic industrial style in my post on Babble.
3. Slim Étagère
4. Lap Shelving System
Also, I pretend that if I had any of those bookshelves, that my stuff would somehow be condensed and look like this. Because it’s super practical to arrange one’s books with the spines facing in.

I assume the baskets and bowls shown are there to store the necessary pixie dust to make this configuration practical.
October 16, 2012