Small office tips using not one single piece of actual “office” furniture! Carving out a space in our mudroom/entryway/dining room for my office was not the easiest of tasks. Over the years my office has moved all over this house. It went from a dedicated room in the back of the house (which I hated – its now our awesome guest bedroom), to on a table in the living room (which was great but not sustainable) to finally finding its home here.
(Teaming up in our DIY Blog Hop this month, check out all of the office projects following my post. If you’re interested in joining us click here for more info!)
Oh for hind sight how I would have designed this house a little differently! But I truly believe that NO MATTER HOW MUCH TIME I SPENT ON IT I will always have regrets in some way or another now that I’m actually living here.
If I had known I would even have this space (which used to be a floor-less wood shed!) I think I would have enclosed part of it for a dedicated office and moved the coat closet. But when adding this space to the home became a reality I was already several months into renovating with a set plan I’d worked on for years.
Regardless, I still love the space as it is!
Probably not surprisingly there isn’t a single piece of office “furniture” that I’m using in my office. As far as small office tips goes I can’t recommend this lol but I’ve never had any problem making a piece “work” just because I love it and have it even though it may not always be ideal.
(You guys all know one of my favorite things is using what I have instead of buying new!)
My desk is an old kitchen table that I pulled out of a shed and refinished years ago.
My chair is an old banker’s chair my mom bought for me as a gift from a thrift store. (TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH IT!!!!) As you can see though, it is not the most comfortable lol nothing a couple of Walmart pillows didn’t fix though!
The bench beside my “desk” my grandparents’ made many years ago that I stenciled and created a tufted seat for.
The biggest point here of my small office tips required me to spend some money which isn’t at all what I EVER like to do. However, my kitchen table “desk” just does not provide a lot of surface area so removing a ton of cords helped so much!
So, I purchased a wireless mouse and keyboard, and a new monitor (a gift from my sweetheart Lodi) with built in speakers. (I also purchased a mat to protect my hardwood floors of course too!)
WOW how that improved everything for very little money!
I don’t do a lot of printing but, fortunately, my printer was already wifi ready so it got stashed beneath our entryway storage/plants table. Totally handy when I need it and totally out of sight and out of the way otherwise.
I hate having my desktop on the floor under my desk but, in this case, it worked out simply better that way. That, combined with the removing of all the other cords created some actual surface space for us.
My small office tips wouldn’t be complete without my admitting that I moved my desk around in this space about a thousand times lol
My worst problem was my east and west facing windows. I simply COULD NOT have my desk facing either or I would have such a bad glare that my computer was almost unusable for several hours on sunny days.
So my desk would either be facing our coat and shoe closet or, the obvious choice, into the dining room.
But I really wanted to break this long space up and, also, cover up the back of my monitor as much as I could.
Which left me the idea of giving us even more storage by using an old dresser as a room divider. My favorite of my small office tips: dressers DO NOT need to just be used for clothes of course! My grandparents’ bench provided all the “mud room” storage we needed while this dresser gave me all of the office storage we needed!
I also love that this dresser provides our perfect landing zone for my purse, our mail, keys, wallet etc.
Until the dresser came into play the landing zone had been the dining room table which drove me nuts.
One of my favorite small office tips (or any office really) is indirect lighting. It’s much easier on my eyes when I work for long periods of time having a soft lamp close by than the over head lights. (Check out how I transformed that lamp here.)
It also provides the perfect welcome home, we have that lamp on almost all of the time!
As with everything else in my office even our pen holder wasn’t made for its current job. The coffee cup I’m using as a pen holder my Mom purchased for me over 15 years ago and is one of my little keepsakes that I get to use and see every day ๐
We keep the pen holder stashed in a soft sided little “tray” by the lamp with a note pad. The tray also provides a great landing for incoming mail.
All in – with the elimination of cords, putting my desktop on the floor and adding some easier-on-the-eyes lighting my office is a comfortable space that works great for us!
I love all the vintage and repurposed items in your office. Usinig things that have a story and a previous life makes me happy, too! Fun “hopping” with you again, Tarah! Already brainstorming my lighting ideas for next month!
-Niky @ The House on Silverado
So fun hopping with you Niky, thanks so much for your comments about my little office!
I love how your office fits into this space! I agree with you there are always ways we would do our homes differently. I love your office here though and the color of your walls, the table you use as your desk and that great bankers chair your mom found!! All so great!!
Thank you Kristin, not everyone was on board when I picked that color but once it was up everyone loved it! Its my favorite color I’ve chosen in the home, great hopping with you!
I love how you utilize and repurpose every thing in your space! And you have some great ideas for creating a small, but functional, office space. It looks great!
Thank you so much Amy! Fun hopping with you!
Your vintage home is warm and cozy I always enjoy your makeovers. Carving out an office space can be a challenge in an older home I appreciate your tip about which way to face your desk to prevent computer screen glare.
Hugs,
Kippi
Thank you so much Kippi, older homes are challenging but I think their life and character is SO worth it! Love hopping with you!
What a great post, we all need these office tips! Thank you so much for sharing and wonderful hopping with you!
Thanks so much Chas, so much fun hopping with you!
Love your little office. I especially love the bench from your grandparents – that is wonderful. It is so nice that you were able to make this little space into such a usable space for you.
Thank you Amy!