In 2021 when our current house was in its early stages of construction, I knew that once we moved in, decorating each space would go a long way toward making our home feel warm, inviting, and ultimately – us. We had a general plan for the furnishings we would purchase first (those that would add function), like our sofa and dining set; however, we did not know when we would be able to transform the rest of the rooms. As you can imagine, purchasing a new house can be overwhelming. For us, it was essential to understand our new expenses and lifestyle before pulling the trigger on any decorative elements.
Thankfully, throughout construction, we had weekly access to the building site, and I was able to take measurements to create a preliminary plan for each room. I made one of the first E-designs for my husband’s home office – you can read more about it here. The pandemic changed how he worked, and he started requiring a separate and quiet space to conduct virtual meetings and phone calls.
This home office was meant to be our very first project, and in a way, it was! The very first furniture pieces for the house were purchased for this room, but that is where it all stopped. For over a year, this space lacked any warmth and beauty. It had white walls, no storage options, and did not have any softness of any kind.
When we began to update the bedrooms earlier this spring, implementing this office’s design plan was a priority. I added this beautiful grass cloth peel-and-stick wallpaper to add texture (faux!) to the office walls and layered this vintage-inspired rug from Amber Lewis’ collaboration with Loloi. Those two simple changes went a long way towards transforming the ambiance of this room, which is now a space where the hubs feels most productive.
Eventually, this home office will have built-in bookcases on either side of the sofa (a faux leather option we love). Still, until then, it was essential to find a way to organize the books, supplies, and equipment my husband had accumulated over the years as part of his work. IKEA is always my go-to for affordable storage solutions that can be customized to my needs, so when I found this AURDAL system on their website, I wanted to give it a go. On the site, it is advertised as a system to organize wardrobes, but with the right combination, it can work just as well for any other items that require sorting.
I opted for this combination but tweaked it to include shelves rather than a clothing bar as it utilized every inch of this wide closet, and the units are only 15 inches deep, allowing the drawers to open fully.
I love how this first phase turned out, and it is now filled with everything he uses daily, nicely hidden behind closed doors. We are currently working on other rooms, so it will be a little while before Phase II of the design plan for this office can begin, but until then, I am happy to have created yet another functional space in our home that did not break the budget.
Thank you for reading the updates on our home projects! Let us know what you think and if you have tried peel-and-stick wallpaper yet. Stay tuned for more at #LPIHomestead.
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