Plans for My Home Office

I work from home two days each week, plus a handful of hours here and there as the need arises. We have a small room off of our kitchen that was used by the previous owners (my husband’s aunt and uncle!) as the dining room. However, it’s a bit small for our current dining room furniture and for my eventual-someday-dining room plans. In an effort to better use our space, we decided turn our never-used front living room into the dining room, and we’re now going to use the small original dining room for an office.

My jumping-off point for the space was this beautiful rug from RugsUSA. It’s the Bosphorus Faded Star Petal Emblem Rug. I am obsessed with it. While it’s predominately a lovely, inky blue, it has has hits of pink and gold in it. The pattern is interesting and intricate without being overwhelming. I was worried that an office has the potential to be boring (desks! papers! books about maintaining an innovative spirit!) and this rug was an easy way to address that concern.

I also have already purchased the light below and the sideboard. The light is the allen + roth Earling Semi-Flush Mount. It’s nice looking and not too expensive. I wanted to go with something that puts off good overhead light, but that could conceivably work if we ever convert the room back to a dining room. (Seems unlikely, but you never know.  The sideboard is Target’s Coles Transitional Faux Croc Leather Buffet in glossy white. I wanted something with some closed off storage for my husband and I to store our work bags on the weekends. I also wanted some open shelving for books and a few toys for the kids because they’ll inevitably want to be in there any time I’m trying to concentrate.

So what does that leave?

First, we have the ubiquitous and yet still highly-desirable Serena and Lily Riviera Side Chair. You can’t open a browser without finding a blogger raving about these. I can’t help it – I like it too. At $228 a pop, they’re not a practical choice for us to use in our dining room or breakfast nook where we would need 4 or 8 of them. One seems kind of manageable though! It’s probably not going to be as comfortable as a padded office chair, but in this case I’m choosing form over function.

Next is the Nielson Desk from Grandin Road. To be honest, I had planned to go with all white furniture in here, but it started feeling a bit too stark and some natural wood tones will warm things up. I adore this desk in the photos. It’s a beautiful tone and I love the subtle curve of the desk. At $499, I’m not convinced I’ll go for it though. I’m keeping an eye out for something similar at a lower price point for now.

The cognac arm chair is from Article. I’m hesitant to buy a chair without sitting in it first, but it has excellent reviews. It’s also a timeless design and cognac leather will never go out of style, so it could move from room to room. I think my husband will like this chair too, and so while it might not be an immediate purchase, I may stand firm on this one. It’s not a pale pink slipper chair and I think he will appreciate that, too!

Finally, I’m planning to include at least one piece from Beth Winterburn in the office. I’ve written about her work before and I’m still fixated on it. She doesn’t currently have anything listed on her site but I follow (stalk?) her on Instagram and she’s still working, so I’m hoping this means a new collection is launching soon.

I’m generally pleased with the direction this room is headed in. It’s cohesive with the only other finished room in the house (our family room, which is on the other side of the kitchen). I will likely add some shelving somewhere in the space to house a few necessities for working from home, but it won’t be too over the top.

Until this plan comes to fruition, you’ll find me working from my kitchen table, surrounded by Gerber Puffs and stacks of junk mail.