155 Ways To Work From Home.
Room: Home office
Budget: > £500
Timescale: 3 weeks design and 1 week implementation.
We’ve all been at home a long time now, and working from home has become the new normal. Some of you will be back into the office part time but still working from home too, whilst some of us have set up or expanded businesses and side hustles. Whilst I know it’s not the case for everyone, for some, the kitchen table still reigns supreme and for others, that under-used, over-filled back bedroom has been given a new title - The Home Office.
As I sit here, writing this with a strong cup of Yorkshire tea and a recently opened packet of Jaffa Cakes, I find myself in the very lucky position of being able to work from my own home office. Whilst the Jaffa cakes won’t even make it to the end of this blog post, the feeling of satisfaction in having a designated space will last long after I’ve closed the door on my working day.
Literally - shut the laptop down, close the office door, run away screaming.
It hasn’t always been this way though, in fact, I spent most of the pandemic working from my sofa. I also moved house at this time and so my new back bedroom became what was effectively a storage facility for months on end.
Eventually, I decided enough was enough. My lower back was crying out for a proper chair and the “room of doom” back bedroom was slowly becoming less storage and more landfill.
So I got to work on designing myself a brand new home office. By watching Emily in Paris.
I took away 2 sources of inspiration from watching it:
Sylvie
Sylvie’s office
Keep it French and classy - it became my plan.
The Billy Bookcase in a previous life.
I knew I was going to have neutral walls although I did toy with the idea of a black graphic wallpaper or mural and on a late night Pinterest binge, I settled on the idea of a floor to ceiling mirror. I also had 3 billy bookcases that had once lived a previous life in my kitchen but now were going to become built-ins.
Had I ever built anything in before? No. Was that going to stop me? Also no.
I could have cracked on with this but I decided it was best to plan it out first - and phew! I’m glad I did, I saved myself a fortune on wallpaper.
The reasons for changing my mind on the graphic wallpaper were simple. Once I had drawn it up, it felt too overwhelming in the space and I didn’t think it needed it.
I present, Armpit Hair. I do like it as an art piece though.
The other reason was that I visited the Guggenheim in Bilbao in January and one of the art installations looked just like what I had in mind. Until I read the description of the piece, entitled “Armpit Hair” and I just wasn’t sure that I wanted it on my walls.
Next I spent some time sourcing other items. I was on a budget so I was keen to use as much as I could of what I already had but I did need a desk, a window treatment and that big ol’mirror.
The desk was a bit of a sticking point for me. I didn’t really know what kind I wanted. I did look at a couple of wooden ones (Meghan Markle has a particularly good wooden desk) but then I reverted back to googling Emily in Paris and decided on a glass desk with gold legs.
Spray Job
However, that didn’t seem to exist within my budget. So what’s a girl to do?
That’s right, buy a silver Habitat desk in the sale and spray it.
The curtains I found in Ikea and I fell in love with a rust coloured velvet pair. And because I’m resourceful, I bought a whole load of stick on mirrors for my mirrored wall.
Once I was happy with my design, my colours and my furniture, I could no longer put off the inevitable. I had to clear the Room of Doom.
And by clear, I mean, move it all into the other bedroom.
Once I had an empty space the first thing I did was work out how the devil I was going to build in these bookcases, which was no easy task.
There are lots of ways to do this but the way I went about it was by building a frame around the top of the ceiling and sides of the bookcases by screwing strips of 2x1 to the ceiling and walls.
Bookcase planning - this took a while!
I had measured out the sizes of the bookcases and all the gaps so I knew it would fit my wall. I had to fit in 2 single Billy bookcases (at 400mm width), a double bookcase (800mm) and 2 Lack shelves (800mm), so the frame helped space it evenly.
Once the frame was in and everything was screwed together tightly it was time to MDF it.
I used one large piece of 6mm thick MDF and got it cut down mostly to size at the local builders merchant (B&Q will also do this). Any final cuts I made with a good old hand saw and used an electric jigsaw to cut out an archway for the centre portion. I then attached all the MDF using a nail gun.
Finally, I found more inspiration in the most unlikely of places. BBC1’s “The Apprentice”. One of the contestants owned a bar called “Imperial Haus”, and whilst I did see the nightmare ‘party pod’ that this contestant designed, I was a fan of her bar’s decor. In particular she had used corbels under the shelves behind the bar, and I had a couple of bookends from Homesense lying around as you do. So I screwed them on as well.
Once I had finished all the assembly parts, it came to the easy task of filling the holes and caulking the sides for a smooth finish. Now I was ready for painting.
As with every other room in my house, the 3 remaining walls were transformed from light blue to cream - Timeless by Dulux is my colour of choice. For the bookcases I chose Chalky Finish Furniture paint in “Hessian”. As this was furniture paint, and I was feeling lazy, I didn’t sand down the bookcases. It took a couple of coats but actually went on pretty smoothly and covered well.
Once it was all painted, it was time to fit some cornicing and ceiling rose for a little bit of interest and a little bit more of that French feeling.
The last thing to do before dressing the room was to stick up those pesky mirrors.
I had of course measured carefully, and using Ikea LOTS mirrors, it turned out I needed 21 mirrors to create a 900 x 2100mm mirror on the wall. This left just a small gap at the top and bottom and exactly 800mm on either side. I love it when a plan comes together. I stuck them all to the wall with minimal fuss remembering to stick a couple of small nails in between 2 of the mirrors where I would then hang a frame and a picture light. The picture light in question was a plug in, so it didn’t need any additional wiring. Phew.
Time to fill those bookshelves!
It was time for the styling now. Desk in, curtains up, bookshelves filled.
Whilst there’s still some bits to finish (isn’t there always?), and I’m saving up for a new floor, I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It feels like my inspiration image and I love working in here.
Finally, I’ll leave you with some tips for if you’re still working from home:
1. If you’re going to redecorate - it’s not too late to do so, even if you’re used to working at home now. Do it, but plan it and source it carefully before you start. It’ll take so much stress away and you can get back to work quickly.
2. Don’t forget to add things around you that are beautiful, whether it's a plant, a candle or a picture of your dog. Having something nice to look at, makes us feel good especially when we are a bit stressed. Honestly, it’s so simple.
3. Tidy up. Whether you’re in an office, your bedroom or your sofa, don’t forget to clear away at the end of the day. A messy busy space in the corner doesn’t help you switch off, it just reminds you that work is still there.
We may be still working from home, but it’s so easy to get complacent with our working space. So take some time to review it and ask, is your space working for you?
