Eight weeks of living and breathing this home office and here we are.
Let’s be clear it’s closer to six weeks since it took me two weeks to come to grips with the fact that I signed up for the One Room Challenge and was being forced (haha, fine, forced due to my own decisions) to work on my home office – the room I’ve been talking about since mid-2020. I spend far too much time in here so I was clearly avoiding spending any extra time I had working IN my office yet again. But, I am so beyond grateful that I took the leap and signed up to do this. I work best when I’m on a deadline and have something tangible to work towards. Needless to say, this One Room Challenge was exactly what I needed for my home office.
PS – I have a cost breakdown and sources list here.
In Love With My New Home Office
I had so much inspiration for this home office – different elements and styles from different pictures. Eventually, I knew the direction I wanted to go in and had to turn-off the inspiration – so to speak. I was nervous. What if I started to use too many elements from the inspiration photos I was drawing from? This room would turn into a hodge-podge-y mess. But just going with my gut could result in a worse than hodge-podge-y mess!!!!!
I eventually convinced myself that either way, the worst that could happen with my home office is that I would hate it and would need to sign up for the spring one room challenge for the exact same space.
In that moment, I made a decision and I opted to fly by the seat of my pants. Create a vision thats 100% my own. I am so glad. This home office is my exactly what I drew brought to life. There are several amazing parts of this process but I do think the best part for me is the fact that my daughter watched it transform before her eyes. She wanted to help and be part of every moment of it – she was amazed at every stage. I only hope exposing her to all of these projects teaches her she can truly take on anything she puts her mind to.
What’s Missing and Gone Wrong in My Home Office
Absolutely no project runs smoothly and this one is included in that. I had a lot of challenges to overcome and problem solving to navigate. However, my biggest hiccups as part of this home office renovation were things that are out of my control.
See that cute boucle chair in the corner above?! It was purchased to be my desk chair. The dimensions indicate its 19″ high to the seat – lies it’s 16″ and therefore VERY short to be my desk chair. I still love the chair so I’ve turned it into a little corner for office visitors (mostly Sloane LOL).
I’m also waiting for a beautiful new rug to arrive for this space – classic me, picking things that are back ordered. Once it’s here I will post it on Instagram.
All of My One Room Challenge Home Office Projects
Several projects took place in this home office renovation:
- DIY Cabinet Base
- Ikea Ivar Hack (yep, the lower cabinets are Ikea Ivar cabinets that I had to trim down to fit the space)
- Shiplap (old tutorial, not related to the office but the same method I used)
- DIY Desk Top
- DIY Bookshelves
The Distance This Home Office Has Come
When I write it out, it’s a lot. It’s an incredible transformation. If you need a reminder, we started here with the home office and it only got worse at Week 1 of the one room challenge.
Each element in here was curated with detail and care. I also learned a great deal during this project. I do know that never have I ever transformed a room quite as drastically as I transformed this home office. It was my biggest one yet and I’m beyond thrilled for how it turned out.
Thanks to all of the incredible people (you included!) who have been cheering me on throughout this whole process. I’m already thinking of what room I’ll be doing for the spring one room challenge!
There are SO many amazing rooms that have been transformed – go have a look on the One Room Challenge Blog.
Ikea, the number one place for very affordable furniture that also happens to be very customizable.
The office reno is still a work in progress. A work in progress, meaning it is progressing in my hea
My garage is still a hot mess going into week three but what can I say except for.... life! I am sta
Comments
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Samantha
Thank you so much, Brooke! I am in love with it!
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Samantha
Thank you so much, Alison! I just had a look at yours – its stunning! I can’t seem to comment directly on your blog though. Perhaps I’m doing something wrong?
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Amber
The built-in is incredible! It adds such a strong focal point and seems like such a pleasant place to work. The comfortable corner chair is so nice too, even if it’s a result of bad info on a product listing. I’d say it’s a happy accident! You did such a beautiful job creating this space.
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Samantha
Amber, this is such a lovely and thoughtful comment. Thank you so much! I agree, the chair is a happy accident. My daughter has dubbed it her “cozy chair” so in the office it stays!
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Samantha
Thank you so very much! I swoon over it daily!!
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Samantha
The green is my favourite part! Thank you so much!!
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Linda hewett
Adore your green paint color and can’t find what you used in your comments – can you share?!
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Samantha
Absolutely! It’s Benjamin Moore – Ashwood Moss
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Nicole Q-Schmitz
I really like that bouclé chair in the corner – it could also be a nice break spot 🙂
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Samantha
That’s exactly what it’s been a perfect break spot and a zone for my daughter to hangout!
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Molly
Love this! What color is the green?
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Samantha
Thank you so much! It is Benjamin Moore – Ashwood Moss
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Lauren
This is absolutely amazing! My husband and I are about to use your post ot build our own so thank you! I had one quick question. What lamps did you go with and did you wire them in through the wall to the switch?
Thank you!
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Samantha
Oh I’m so happy to hear this!!! I didn’t wire anything in – I used rechargeable light bulbs (you just need to pop them into a lamp that is plugged in to charge them!). Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/3BZqNFQ
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Ken
How do you charge your laptop, phone etc? It looks like you’ve covered up the outlet behind the right lower cabinet?
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Samantha
Great question – I used a jigsaw and made a cut-out in the back of my Ivar cabinet so the outlet was accessible. Then I cut a small hole using a hole saw in the side of the cabinet so cords could get through. I used the hole saw again and put a hole in the desk close to where my monitor sits – that way I could run the cord pretty seamlessly from my charging needs into the cabinet. Hopefully that helps!
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Ken
Cool, thank you. Did you cut those holes after taking these photos? I don’t see any holes in the desk surface.
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Samantha
They are hidden – I have one hole behind the basket on the left under the bookshelf and one behind the vase on the right before you get to the bookshelf. You can kind of see one in the second to last picture on this post here: https://signedsamantha.com/easy-diy-desk/?preview_id=30061&preview_nonce=cfa5692723&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=30068. I got some grommets to cover them as well. I’ll work on a post for you this week to show it better!
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Amanda
What are the dimensions of your room? We have a 10×16 front room that sides our stairs and we want to do this on the 10foot wall but we don’t know how to put the furniture in front of it!
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Samantha
Great question – so the built-in portion is along a 10 ft wall. The rest of the room isn’t huge – maybe 10/11 ft (remaining at the edge of the built-ins). That’s why I opted for a round rug and a little sitting nook at the other end of the room. Depending on your space’s function, you could do another little desk in the middle of the room and some visitor chairs to make it feel more full! Then you kind of have two desk spaces, if needed for paperwork etc. I wanted to do that in my space but it’s not quite large enough.
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Susan Carr
This is stunning. Can I ask what wood and/or stain is used on the shelving and desktop? We are currently remodeling, and we want to incorporate some wood. I would love to grab a sample of this and see how it looks with my color scheme of black, white and emerald. Thank you!
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Samantha
Thank you so much, Susan! The wood was a pretty inexpensive SPF and the stain was a combination of Varathane Flagstone followed by Briar Smoke. I hope it works out for you!
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Danielle
This is beautiful! I see the color the desk and shiplap are. What color are the other walls? It goes so well together!
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Samantha
Thank you so much, Danielle! The other walls are Benjamin Moore – Decorators White!
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Latoyia Shanta
Beautiful!! What stain is that?
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Samantha
Thanks so much, Latoyia! I used Varathane Flagstone followed by Briar Smoke
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Christine Yannuzzi
Love it! Where did you get the blanket hanging over the chair?
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Samantha
Thanks so much! The blanket is an Amazon find! I can’t seem to find it anymore but it’s a faux Hermes blanket!
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Lindsey
Hi Samantha –
May you please share the link for your new office chair. I was trying to look on your amazon/LTK but could not find it.
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Kat
Are there any tutorials for the DIY bookshelves. I would love to try this out in our office/spare room
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Samantha
There sure is! Here you go: https://signedsamantha.com/diy-built-in-bookshelf/ I hope it works for you!!
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Ashley
Dying to know where you got the ceiling light fixture (white and gold one)
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Brooke
Your room turned out so good, it’s gorgeous!