Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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A Budget-Friendly Home Office Makeover

When Jennifer sent over some pictures of her sitting nook turned office we just had to share the goods. Here’s her letter:

Hey YHLers. I’m totally hooked on your blog and wanted to share my recent home office makeover. It went from a non-functional sitting room (it actually did function as a laundry dumping ground which was not very pleasing to the eyes, and really served no other purpose) to an extremely functional home office space. A lot of the major stuff was already owned, such as the chandelier and the desk (moved from another room in the house). We just dressed things up a bit by creating a homemade bulletin board, craft storage using a magnetic board and spice tins, a large photo collage wall calendar, wallpapering the desk and adding some other pops of pink to keep things feeling fun and fresh. The paint color on the walls is Behr’s Ultra Primer/Paint combo in Frozen Pond. You can check out the step by step process here on my blog, where I spilled all the details of getting from point A to completion. Now that the room is so functional, we find ourselves spending a ton of time there, and it also forces us to hang up our laundry, where it belongs! I hope you enjoy. Thanks again for being so inspirational! – Jennifer

Here’s Jennifer’s formerly unused seating nook before the big office upgrade:

Jennifer RR Pic1

And here’s her new office after the budget-friendly makeover:

Jennifer RR Pic2

Jennifer Office Pic3

Jennifer RR Pic3

Didn’t Jennifer do a great job of turning a laundry-collecting chair into a fully functional office packed with storage space and style? We love everything from the high-hung floating shelf and those great magnetic spice tins to the crisp white hanging vases that hold pens and markers. And isn’t the teardrop chandelier charming too? Great job Jennifer! What do you guys think? Any favorite details? Is there anyone else out there who’s ready to give a wasted corner in their house a big office makeover?

Comments

  1. Emily says

    This looks awesome!! I love Jen’s blog. She has awesome, inexpensive organizing ideas! It’s worth your time to check out her blog!

    Reply

  3. jennifer F says

    so cute…and functional. I wish my office was that clean and organized :-) What did u end up doing with that chair? I am in desperate search for a chaise for my bedroom and yours looks similar to what I’m looking for.

    Reply

  4. Jen Z. says

    great makeover! {clapping} I can’t wait to makeover our mess of a home office. Great inspiration Jennifer! :-D

    Reply

  7. Chelsea says

    So cute! She did a great job, and everything is super-organized! She has a wonderful blog – I keep reading it hoping that oneday some of her organizational skills might rub off on me! :) Fab job, Jen!

    Reply

  10. Lisa says

    I love it! I need to do that to my office.

    Any tips for making an office space that’s both male and female friendly? We have a baby on the way, so the “Man Cave” is going to serve as an office for both of us. I can’t say I’m too thrilled with the Man Cave look — I’d love something like Jennifer’s room — but I know he won’t go for anything too girly.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Just use gender neutral colors you can both agree on (chocolate and slate blue, or even a light gray-blue and a steely gray) when it comes to the accessories (in the place of anything pink). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  15. Stephanie says

    Hey There!!

    I have been studying the floating shelves that you have used in your dining area from IKEA. What I can’t figure out is what style they are? If you would please let me know, that would be great. Also, if you happen to know the size (lengh and width) that would be even better!

    I am looking to replicate this look in my eat in kitchen. I have a huge wall and I need to fill it with something stylish that won’t break the bank!!

    Thanks for your help!

    Stephanie

    Reply

  18. Katie says

    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I love the hanging white vases, the flowers above them, the pink spice tins and the pink J! So cute and functional!

    Reply

  19. Tawna says

    awesome!

    can you remind me where those awesome white pop-out flower things are from? I swear I remember you doing a giveaway on them awhile back….

    thanks!

    Reply

  21. Sarah says

    Love it!! I love the fact that she used some stuff that I’ve seen in the kitchen section of IKEA – definitely thinking outside the box!!

    Reply

  23. JoDi says

    IHeart Jennifer’s new office!! And her blog! Great stuff. My favorite parts are definitely her personalized bulletin board and the rail with the hanging pots! Now I have another blog to add to my reader!

    Reply

  26. Cassie Allen says

    I pretty much am mad jealous of this little office! I’m a work from home mom and I basically have a utility desk and…well, that’s it. Way to go! Awesome! :)

    Reply

  28. MichelleS says

    I Love it!!!! It’s so cute and functional, it’s just awesome!! I’m totally using this when we move in to our next place. Well something similar to this. The desk I’m getting does have some more stuff on top so idk if the floating shelf would work but the really cute cork board and floating vases of pens are totally going into use! Awesome!!!

    Reply

  32. Ruth says

    Great use of space. I like the looks of the desk. I have been trying to figure out how to refigure my home office and this gave me an idea.

    Reply

  34. Jennifer says

    Hello amazing friends!

    First, THANK YOU YHL for your feature! I am smitten over the responses and comments! I couldn’t be more grateful!

    To answer everyone’s question regarding the desk, it truly is an amazing desk, I am not gonna lie. My husband and his dad took a vision I had of a large workspace with a tons of storage space and a smidge of style, and built the desk custom. They used mdf to build two base cabinets along with a separate piece as the top. I then painted it white, later adding the wallpaper for additional pizzazz. It was actually built a couple of years ago, however, the budget was small, we saved a ton building it custom for us vs buying something new. It has been in multiple places in our abode as our spaces evolved, however, it couldn’t feel more at home and fit more perfectly in the new home office nook.

    Thanks again everyone!

    xoxo,
    Jen

    Reply

  38. HollowSquirrel says

    I want to give my messy office this type of makeover — and I think we already have the right blue on the walls! LOVE the pens that are out of toddler’s reach!

    BE02
    4000

    See what I mean?

    Reply

  40. Tina says

    That looks great-it even inspires me to clean my office space today. I turned our ‘dining area’ into my office a couple of years ago. Right now, its a big mess!

    Reply

  41. Joshua says

    I tell ya….you guys are my role models :)

    I love your entire house….. + the nursery….oh man is that not amazing, you guys are the most amazing decorators and I just love your style. Kudos on the way under budget…hope you have a great little bit of time left of being pregnant that you have…and a great delivery :)

    Reply

  44. Angela says

    I love how you used and personalized the magnetic containers and the magnet board to get things off the desktop, but still have them close at hand. My desk doesn’t have any storage space so I have been looking for a way to store paper clips, staples, and all of those other little necessities and this is perfect. Your new space is lovely and thank you for sharing your before and after!

    Reply

  45. katie says

    those pen/pencil holders are SO cute. i’m obsessed with ANY kind of organizing tools and especially when they add the overall design of the room. I can’t wait to redo / create our office!

    Reply

  46. Pamela says

    Holly, I didn’t see info on Jen’s chandelier on the supplied link, but the Washington Post is featuring one that looks very similar in today’s (Thursday, April 22) “House Calls.” It’s a crystal teardrop mini pendant from http://www.lightinguniverse.com.

    Sherry, you guys would be perfect as guest decorator for “House Calls.” I know they use local Washington area decorators, but they have done a feature on online decorating services (you were mentioned back in the pre-“younghouselove” days) and you are certainly accessible for anyone.

    Reply

  47. Becky says

    OK, it looks amazing!
    But one question….what did they do with the chaise lounge? We’ve been looking for a comfy one for awhile!
    ;)

    Reply

  48. Jen says

    Hi Becky!

    We actually moved the lounge chaise to another location in our home {http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2009/12/office-makeover-part-1.html}. But it desperately needs to be recovered! Another project to add to the list!

    Happy hunting for your lounge chaise!

    Oh, and to answer about the mini chandelier, I found our chandelier from HomeDepot.com originally, however, I haven’t seen it on there recently, but I did find the same one here: http://www.lightinguniverse.com/mini-pendants_439.html?psku=819910&af=1525

    Jen

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Leah,

      If you scroll back through the comments or click over to Jennifer’s blog you can see where she got those pen/pencil holders. We believe they’re from Ikea. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

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