Budget Friendly Home Office – Before And After

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This budget friendly office makeover has turned out better than I could have imagined. I love this room now and have been spending so much time in there.

I spent $500 on the main pieces for this home office, including the rug, desk, chair, shelves and chandelier. I did go over budget on the decor, but I love everything I put in here. As much as I’d like to be a minimalist, I just can’t seem to do it!

Budget Friendly Home Office: Before

This room is part of our dining room. When you walk through the doorway, there’s the dining table to the right and this nook to the left.

It started off as a play area for our kids. They’ve gotten older now and what toys they have left can be stored in their rooms.

Since this space was being used less by the kids, and I needed a space to work from, it only made sense to turn it in to an office.

When I first took over this room, I didn’t have much furniture in here and absolutely no decor.

There was this old desk I had painted and covered the top with walnut contact paper. I was using a fold out table as a workspace and had covered that in contact paper as well.

The cabinet that we ripped out of our hallway bathroom months ago was sitting in the corner. I had planned on re-purposing it at some point.

Aside from that cabinet, there was no storage. All of my crafting supplies were strewn across the floor in Dollar Tree sacks or piled up in corners of the room. It was a mess.

When quarantine hit our household and I was suddenly home all day, I decided it was time to finally makeover my office.

Office Walls And Ceiling

I had painted the walls dark gray a couple of years ago and hated it, so I repainted them a year ago.

This time I went with Sherwin Williams Gray Screen. It’s a really light, cool gray.

I am currently repainting my house again so we will see what color is next!

There’s awful popcorn ceiling throughout our house. This is the first room I scraped the ceiling in. It went so smoothly that I’ll definitely be doing every room as I work my way through them all. That tutorial will be coming soon

The light fixture in here has never had a cover, and the intake vent is old, gross and dented up so those will have to go as well.

I have to do the dining room side later, so here you can see where the two sides meet. It looks so gross!

Home Office Furniture

When you start a room makeover, it’s best to begin with the larger items first.

They are the foundation of your space and everything else is built around it.

Office Rug

A rug can really tie a space together as well as help to create a smooth transition from one room to the next.

I wanted to carry on the green, pink and yellow that I’ve used throughout my house.

This rug from Rugs USA accomplishes that while also adding pops of new color to this office for a fun and bold look.

Office Desk

You want to make sure you always measure the space you’re working with to see if the furniture you want will fit.

Since I will be using this room to do my crafting, filming and editing, I needed a large desk that could double as a work table.

I wanted to keep my walkway on both sides of the desk and behind it. I also wanted a modern look that’s open underneath without any storage or drawers.

This desk from Wayfair checked all of those things off of my list.

Office Shelves

Before ordering shelves, it’s a good idea to know what you need out of them. I had gone through all of my crafting supplies and tools and figured out what storage bins I needed to use to fit everything neatly.

These white wire shelves from Wayfair were perfect. They were the exact depth I needed to fit the bins I wanted. The shelves are adjustable and they’re tall.

I also like the fact that they are open on the sides and back, which allows the light through and continues the open modern look.

Office Chair And Ottoman

I’m not a fan of the traditional office chair style and knew that wasn’t an option for this office makeover.

With a white desk and shelves, I wanted to add in some natural elements with a few rattan pieces throughout the space.

I bought this rattan chair from Target. And even though I didn’t need the ottoman, I wanted the matching set. I figured I can use it as a plant stand for now.

Someday if I decide to move things around, I’ll be glad I bought them both. Also, I have a shopping problem and couldn’t say no. (The ottoman is hidden behind the desk in this pic, sorry!)

Repurposed Cabinet

This is the same cabinet I had ripped out of the bathroom and was storing in the office, using as storage, until I could figure out what to do with it.

When I picked out the shelves I knew exactly how much space I had in between them for a cabinet. I found a couple online that would work but they were either taller than I would prefer or were an inch or two narrower.

Then it dawned on me to measure this old one. It ended up being the exact width I wanted, and I had a way to make it the right height as well. It also didn’t cost much to, helping to keep my home office budget friendly.

After a good scrub down, the cabinet was ready for a couple of coats of primer before painting it.

It took 4 coats of Sherwin Williams Shamrock to get the coverage I needed, but that’s expected with a vibrant color like this.

I then applied 3 coats of polycrylic to give it a nice hard shell.

Lastly, I added these gold cabinet pulls and hairpin feet. The feet give it the added height I wanted for the final piece plus it adds a modern touch.

I love the way this cabinet turned out. It’s the first piece added to this office makeover to help create a focal point in the center of the room.

Office organization

Before moving on to decorating, I wanted to get all of my storage situated.

I sorted through all of my crafting supplies, smaller tools and renovation materials and organized them by category.

My interior paints, stains and primers all fit in the green cabinet. Everything else fit in the bins and crates on the shelves.

I made sure the bins I ordered were close to the same height as each other.

I also played around with the measurements to make sure they would fit together in different combinations on the shelves.

This allowed me to keep the same distance between each shelf and organize the bins in a way that was varied and symmetrical.

Unique Office Artwork

Before starting this home office makeover I had been eyeing this set of prints by Evie S. This office gave me the perfect place for them.

The artist describes these prints as “found and foraged” on an Autumn, Summer, Fall and Winter day in my home state of Oklahoma.

They are beautiful and truly capture the tone of each season here.

I installed the prints in to gold frames that included matting, then hung them in order above the green cabinet.

This is the second piece of the focal point I’m creating in the center of this office.

Office lighting

When I was filming tutorials in this room I always had trouble with the lighting.

The ceiling light was ugly, harsh and the bulbs gave off a warm glow that didn’t film well.

My LED lights helped but didn’t solve the problem.

So I got creative and added a lot of light to this space. I won’t have lighting issues anymore!

Office Chandelier

To add a mid century modern flare to this office, I bought this Mid-Century Modern sputnik chandelier.

It holds 6 lights vs. the 3 lights in the fixture that was here before.

I went for the vintage look daylight globe shaped bulbs. They look modern and give off a natural cool glow.

The Chandelier is the third and final piece of the focal point I wanted to create in the center of the room.

This office has a lot of character but there’s no denying that the center of the room draws your eyes in and upward, which was exactly the point.

Customized Pendant Lights

The chandelier puts off a lot of light, but I wanted to add more lighting above the shelves as well.

The Color Cord company has an option to customize your own pendant light down to the last detail.

I chose this bold green cord with a pink geometric bulb cage and added on a more modern looking attachment to hang them from the ceiling.

They add a fun pop of color above the shelves and will give me the extra lighting needed to film in this office.

Office Desk Lamp

When I saw this lamp on Target’s website I knew I had to fit it in to this office makeover. And every desk needs a lamp, right?!

I love the pink shade with the yellow geometric design, and the rattan fits in nicely with the chair and ottoman.

Replacing The Intake Vent

I’m not going over the full details here, but wanted to share the huge difference this made in my office.

We have to have an intake vent here. Since it wasn’t installed properly by the previous home owners, we couldn’t just replace the cover.

My spouse made a box for the new intake vent and attached it to the ceiling. I caulked around the edges with painters caulk then painted it to match the ceiling.

With the new bright white vent cover and the box, it blends right in to the ceiling. You can really change a space with these types of updates.

Home Office Decor

When looking at decor for this home office makeover, I kept in mind what the end goal was for this room.

I want it to be cozy, practical and to maintain the colorful modern boho vibe that I love.

Unfortunately, this is where I went over budget. BUT I’m not being too hard on myself over that.

Decorating The Green Cabinet

For the cabinet, I wanted to add a few pieces to the top without blocking the view of the artwork above it. So I stuck with a few smaller/shorter items.

On the left side I placed this vintage hand painted Mexican bowl. On the right there’s a vintage woven basket with lid. I found them both on FB Marketplace.

I picked up the eye clock and crystal at World Market.

The pencil holder is there out of necessity and I plan on replacing it, just haven’t found anything interesting yet.

Throws, Pillows And A Seat Cushion

I added a cushion, throw and pillow to the office chair. This helps soften the feel of the rattan chair, add to the overall cozy feel as well as give more texture to the room.

Staying within my color scheme, I ordered the yellow chenille throw and blush pink faux fur throw from Target.

The yellow velvet pillow, green velvet pillow and white faux fur cushion are both from World Market.

For now, the yellow throw and pillow are being used on the chair.

I’m keeping the others in this rattan basket from World Market, but will swap them out and interchange them.

Isn’t the basket beautiful?! Another reason for buying too many throws and pillows, it gave me an excuse to need storage for them!

Office Desk Decor

Since I’m using the desk as a work table as well, I wanted a minimal amount of decor that could easily be moved out of the way if I needed.

The blush pink and marble globe from World Market fit the style of this office makeover perfectly and compliments the lamp that’s on the opposite corner.

I picked up this parlor palm at a local nursery, as well as the string of pearls and string of bananas that you’ll see later on top of the shelves.

Everything that’s on the desk could easily be moved to the shelves while I’m crafting and put back afterwards.

Office Wall Organizer

This gold wire wall organizer from World Market functions as decor and storage for this office.

It goes well with the overall aesthetic and the bins hold most of the office supplies that would otherwise end up on the desk.

There’s enough to space in the bins to also store my planner stickers, washi tape and scrapbook scissors.

Extreme DIY Budget Friendly Home Office After

This office has been the biggest room makeover that I’ve completed so far, aside from my bonus daughters dorm room makeover.

I want to go back now and finish the rooms I’ve started, and start the rooms that have been left untouched. So look forward to that coming your way soon!

Here’s a gallery of the after pictures, until next time!

Thank you for following me!

Lisa Hofeling January 6, 2022 Reply

Very cool! Nice work. Love your blog.
1. Cherie February 10, 2022 Reply
  
  Thank you so much!