When we decided to relocate to North Carolina I knew I had to quit my job.  I really enjoy my day job and I was bummed about that part of the move.  When I gave my notice, to my surprise they asked if I would keep my job and work remotely from my new home.  I was so happy!  I could keep my job that I enjoyed, while working in my sweats!  Getting my home office decorated became high priority for me.  I was going to be spending 8 hours a day in one room of my house, it needed to be beautiful!

Labor Day weekend I got really ambitious and decided to tackle 3 rooms in the house, we had company coming in later that week and I really wanted to have some rooms finished.  My office, the laundry room and the boy’s bathroom were on the list.  You guys know I am all for redecorating on a budget, I like to cut corners whenever I can.  I use what I have, I repurpose, make my own artwork, refinish an old yard sale piece of furniture…whatever I can do to save a buck!  Even when I shop new, I like to get the best deal.  Sometimes there will be splurges and that’s ok too!  When it came to my office it was a nice balance.

Whenever I am taking on a redecorating project I need something as inspiration.  I usually find item that acts as a catalyst for my entire design vision.  For my office it was some placemats from Target.  That’s right, placemats…for an office.  On one of my many Target jaunts, I saw these placemats with the most beautiful kaleidoscope pattern in Navy, Turquoise, Sage Green and Ivory.  It hit me this was my office inspiration.  I didn’t know what the heck I would do with it but I bought one and went on with my day.

I decided I could make them into pillows.  I would buy some plain fabric for the back and stuff them with some pillow filling.  I was showing my grandmother and she realized the placemat already had a plain back.  She’s a genius, I tell ya!  She used a seam ripper and took apart one side of the placemat.  She stuffed it with an old pillow that was laying around the house and hand stitched it back up.  BOOM!  Placemat turned cute little pillow in less than 20 minutes.  I went back to Target and got 2 more placemats.  Y’all, I got 3 placemats for $4 each, 3 pillows for $12!!  Winning!  This may be one of my all-time favorite DIY moments for sure.

I wanted a nice pop of color so I decided on doing a navy accent wall.  I went with Sherwin Williams, Indigo Batik.  As a nice neutral compliment to the blue I used Sherwin Williams, Snowbound for all of the other walls.  My walls were painted and my pillow inspiration was set and I knew I was ready to design the rest of the room.

I’ve always wanted an ivory couch…not exactly conducive to having kids.  I decided to pull the trigger on an ivory loveseat I saw on Wayfair.  I made it off limits to the kids, 18 months later and it’s still pearly white and I’m still in love with it.  I also found a great deal on some grey accent chairs on Wayfair and I absolutely love them.

Now that I had my big pieces I could start putting the room together.  I started by checking to see what I could use from the “maybe I’ll use this one day” bin that’s hanging around in the garage.  I found an old broken wood carved picture frame, and a bright yellow metal lantern.  I knew I could use these.  A little spray paint and voila!  Free décor accents for my new office!

I knew I wanted a small coffee table in front of the loveseat.  It’s a small room so it needed to be the perfect piece.  I ended up finding a broken bench at Home Goods.  It was the perfect light sage green grey color.  I took it to the register and they discounted it to $30 off from $60.  Little did they know I have a pretty handy husband!  He was able to fix it with one hidden screw and a little wood glue in 5 minutes.  Winning, again!  I got a few succulents from the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market and made a little succulent garden in an old bowl I had laying around the house.

I am always perusing my Offerup and Letgo Apps.  I saw some ugly red nesting tables and I thought I had the perfect spot for them in the corner of my office by the window where plants would thrive.  I purchased them for $30, gave them a light sanding, some spray paint and Voila!

The space turned out beautiful.  I absolutely love working in my office every day.  All the little touches make this room so bright and inviting.  Not a bad place to spend my 8 hours of work, especially with my cute sidekick!

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