Oct 14

My Updated Home Office: The Reveal

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I’m so excited to finally show you my new and improved home office situation. With photos from my sweet friend Heidi Lau, you can also see more of this bad boy over on The Haven List.

As mentioned (here!), when I was faced with transforming our former guest bedroom into a guest-bedroom-meets-home office, I was met with a few challenges… First and foremost, my goal was to create a calm and quiet space. A retreat, of sorts, to escape to. One that would allow Justin or I to catch up on a good night’s sleep when needed. And one that encouraged creativity, for when I do eventually get back to work full time. It meant that I needed to incorporate a cozy place to occasionally sleep, without it feeling like a bedroom.

In addition, because we are beginning to outgrow this home and don’t plan on being here for too much longer, we knew we didn’t want to sink a ton of money into it. While I originally had major plans, complete with custom built-ins and window benches, in the end we decided that the investment didn’t make sense financially. We decided, instead, to work with what we had on hand, and only purchased a handful of essential furniture items that could move with us when we do.

Invest in quality items and pieces that truly spark joy wherever possible. My home office is proof that that they will stand the test of time.

We invested in a stunning daybed that will likely become Ivy’s big girl bed down the line. But for now it is pulling double duty as a cozy spot to work from, as well as a great place for one of us to catch a solid night’s sleep when our girl has kept us up for a few days in a row. In addition, the under-bed storage houses all of my fabric samples, which are neatly tucked away and organized. Form and function – my favourite.

We also picked up a cheap and cheerful bookcase from Ikea that houses all of my design books, some meaningful mementos from our wedding day, and most of my sample library.

We reused my desk (which is still one of my favourite pieces in our home, and one that I get asked about all the time around here), both chairs, the pendant light, our rug (it was originally in our dining room but has since been switched out for a more forgiving – dining room rug, which you can see here), and table lamps (which were our nightstand lamps when we lived in our condo).

The one thing, however, that I always insist on investing in is custom window treatments (you can read about why here!). This was the last room in our home that we tackled, and I was not sad to see the last of the venetian blinds go. I’ve had my eye on Barn & Willow for some time now (I just loved their branding and how everything is done simply and virtually), so I gave them a try and I’m so thrilled with the results. We went with the Hemp shade in the organic fabric and the moment they went up the space felt pulled together and complete, like a well-tailored suit.

The one thing that I always insist on investing in is custom window treatments.

In order to really bring everything together, and freshen up all of our existing items, I also invested in some of the finishing touches, figuring I could easily bring them with me and move them around our home(s) as we go. We’ve been focusing on growing our real art collection over the years, and it’s been really nice to finally have some of my favourite pieces proudly on display. We also got our hands on some heirloom quality bedding from Annie Selke, which makes for the most luxurious sleep.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with how everything came together. And it just further solidified my notion of investing in quality items, and pieces that truly spark joy, wherever possible as this home office right here is proof that that they will stand the test of time.