I’m excited to share our office makeover with you all! Since we moved into out new place, we’ve had this extra room mostly empty. We needed a place for Michael to work, as he works from home full-time, as well as a place for me to do blog work. We also need this room to space to double as a guest room. It’s not a large room, but I knew if I was strategic I could make this space multi-functional.
Today I’m going to share the office portion of this room. The opposite wall will eventually have a murphy bed, allowing it to double as a guest room as well.
The key to this space is Michael and I needed a room that we could not only both work in, but that we both enjoyed the style of. Michael and I moved in together right after I graduated high school, so I never had an apartment of my own. Since the start, we’ve had to learn how to successfully style a space that didn’t feel too feminine or too masculine. Instead, we’ve learned how to merge both our styles together.
I partnered up with Raymour and Flanigan for today’s post, and have received the mentioned products from their store free of charge. Michael and I turned to Raymour and Flanigan for this office makeover for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they had a large variety of styles and price points, so we knew we’d be able to see a variety of pieces. Next, we wanted to be able to go into a real storeroom to see all the furniture before we got it. Nowadays we have all gotten so used to buying everything online without even seeing it. But, for bigger purchases, I like being able to go into a store to see the quality and real life version of the pieces. Lastly, we wanted something that would come delivered to us, with no assembly required. Not to mention, Raymour and Flanigan delivers 7 days a week.
The first piece we needed to decide on before anything else was our desks. Because this was going to be a “his & hers” office, we wanted to find two matching desks that would span the width of the far wall. I actually OBSESSED over this portion of the redesign. When I get something into my mind about the way I want it to be, I literally obsess over it an unhealthy amount. We found the Warwick Writing Desk from Raymour and Flanigan and both immediately fell in love with the design. After measuring the length of the wall, I realized that 2 Warwick Writing Desks side-by-side just might be the perfect fit…and they were! I may be justifying my problem here…but my over-obsessing totally paid off.
The next thing we did was grab the other bigger pieces like an office chair. I wanted a chair that had the comfort and features of a typical office chair but didn’t look like it belonged in a cubicle. The Kasari Office Chair was the perfect match because the browns and grays matched the writing desks, but it was still comfortable and adjustable.
Next was to decide on a rug. Because the pieces we had purchased so far was feeling a little dark, it was really important to me to bring some lightness back into the space. The room has amazing natural light, including two skylights, so I didn’t want to darken the space too much. At the last minute, I saw the Amore Cream Area Rug and fell in love. I’ve been considering buying a second one I love it so much. The quality it top notch, it’s super soft and plushy, and the color is just right.
Finally, it was time to grab some accent pieces. We found a set of three glass jars on at the Raymour and Flanigan showroom and learned they were the floor models and out of stock. I was bummed, they were just right! Luckily our helpful showroom associate took the extra time to find their in-store decorator to ask if she could sell them to us and the decorator agreed!
The room didn’t have any built-in lighting so we also needed to find some lights. Michael fell in love with the table lamp you see on the desk now. While it was a little dark for my taste, the Edison bulb style matched the industrial theme of the desks. Plus, this office was all about compromise when it came to merging both of our styles, so so he chose the table lamp and I chose the floor lamp. Now that it’s all together I think he made a perfect choice. I went for the Menlo Lane Lamp, which works perfectly behind our new Dax Accent Chair.
For the walls, we started with a big statement piece, this City Bridge Canvas of the Brooklyn Bridge. Michael and I both love that city – it is where we got engaged after all. We knew looking at it every day would make it happy. I also love having one large piece to work with on a big wall like this one. It anchors the space and then makes it easier to fill in around it.
We found two wooden shelves on clearance at our local HomeGoods and couldn’t believe our luck on how well they matched our new Warwick Writing Desks. We filled in with artwork and pieces we already owned, like this poster from our trip to the Breeder’s Cup a few years ago. I planted some cactus in two of the glass jars from Raymour and Flanigan and brought in a few other plants to add some life and color to the room.
I even finally found a spot to put my wedding bouquet on display. For some reason, I couldn’t part with my bouquet after the wedding. It’s probably the most impractical thing to keep from a wedding and someday I’ll probably have to part with it. But for now, it fits perfectly on my new desk as a reminder of (literally) the best day of my life.
I’m so so so pleased with the way this room came together. I’ll still putz around it for another few weeks rearranging the bottom shelves of the desk, making the most organizational space of the baskets, etc. But, overall I think it came out just as we envisioned. Michael is over the moon to finally have a proper workspace and I’m glad I have a spot I can do work as well (besides the couch that it)
Watch the Makeover in Action!
Thanks again to Raymour and Flanigan for working together with us on this room. Everything I had to say about them was 100% my own opinions because we truly love the pieces we got!
Shop our pieces:
Warwick Writing Desk
Kasari Office Chair
Amore Cream Area Rug
Menlo Lane Lamp
City Bridge Canvas
Dax Accent Chair