An office in the home should be more than a place you work in – it should be a place you LOVE to be in, as well.

My own home office was a bit stuffy when I first set it up after moving in to my house. The walls were all white, my file cabinets were an “office” gray, I had very little “color” or decor items in it, and there was a homely shelf unit sitting in plain view. Dull, dull, dull.

(Don’t even ask why I stuck a leg coming out of my desk!)

Since I knew I was going to spend a better part of my day in this space, it became important for me to spiff it up a bit.

First thing was to decide what color scheme I wanted in the room. I was going to go with peach tones, purple, and (heaven help me) turquoise.

I then started with painting the walls the two shades I selected (to add dimension and variety to the wall space). While the paint brush was still in my hands, I painted the file cabinets as well!

After several room re-arrangements on paper, I found the arrangement I liked best, and brought in the furniture pieces to situate in their new spot. So far, so good.

The next thing was to get a nice purple cover for my futon to brighten things up, of which was the largest piece of furniture in the room (and my dog’s place of rest).

I complemented that with purple shear curtains to decorate the windows, but  left the blinds there for functionality so I could close out sun glare.

I even made purple velvet curtains over my file cabinets (inside closet area) to hide the stuff on the shelves above it where I stored office supplies and do-dads – all of which were very organized into storage containers and drawer units, of course.

I started purchasing a few other decorative items that served a dual purpose – functionality and decor. For instance, instead of just an ordinary office file holder, I found a decorative rod iron wall rack for my action files. I found a shiny turquoise bulletin board too, which made me so very happy! And turquoise magazine holders, shelf boxes for “stuff”, and of course a turquoise mouse pad.

Because I tend to go a little crazy on the decoration part of this project, I went with floral arrangements in colorful vases, some plant life here and there, a turquoise water fountain, and several other items that give me a “feel good” feeling while hanging out in this space.

My home office is an evolving area, and has gone through a few minor decorative changes here and there. But overall, it has remained a place that makes me happy in it. And that’s what really matters.

Here is a picture of the first phase after the office makeover:

And, here is what’s been done since:

 

It doesn’t matter if other people like it or not – what matters is that I like it. And, that my dog likes it.

Now, one of these days I’ll get me a new desk!