Redo Your Home Office on a Dime
Who says designing a new space has to be expensive? This entire home office redo, including wall paint, DIY materials, furniture, and accessories came in under $250.
My social media consultant, who works from home, recently redecorated her home office. What was once the room where everything got dumped, where the computer was located, and where decorating (after seven years of living in the house) still hadn’t happened, is now the space she decided to make her own.
Always up for a challenge, she decided the only piece of furniture she would spend a significant amount of money on was a new desk. Everything else would have to come from around her home or be a cheap purchase. Upcycling has always been her money-saving weapon of choice, so spending money on spray paint is always a giant “yes” for her.
If you are planning on setting up a home office or redecorating your current home workspace, read on for some money-saving tips.
Shop for a Bargain
This bargain-hunting gal always shops for a steal, and finding the right desk at the right price was no exception. You can do the same. Decide on the style and size of the desk you want and then search the internet for amazing deals. After finding her adorable white desk on Target.com, she waited for the desk to go on sale (at 20% off), found an additional promo code online for another 15% savings, and then paid with her RedCard which garnered her an additional 5% off and free shipping! All in all, she paid less than $75 for her brand new, super-cute desk. Her secret? “It’s all in the timing and having a little patience.”
Give Ugly Pieces a Second Chance
There are four upcycled pieces in her office: the filing cabinet/end table, the bookshelf, the desk lamp, and her desk chair.
Needing some filing space but not wanting a metal cabinet in her very feminine office, she grabbed a little sandpaper, some spray paint, and new hardware to bring this piece back to life. What started as a dark, scratched, worn piece became transformed into something fresh and clean. If you are new to the refinishing DIY project, I’ve got the step-by-step instructions on how to repaint furniture here.
The next piece of furniture to get a facelift was the desk chair. Wanting to ditch the typical wheeled office chair for something more stylish and comfortable, she snagged this classic chair at her local resale shop for eight dollars. This sturdy, well-built chair had all the basic feminine lines she was looking for, but it needed some new paint and fabric. Choosing to go bold, she painted the wooden chair a pretty coral color and found a vintage bird print to recover the seat.
Reupholstering a chair pad like this is easy. Turn the chair over and remove the screws holding the seat to the chair. Find a fabric you like and using a staple gun, simply staple the new fabric right over the old. Pull fabric taut before stapling. Remember, you can always remove a few staples if you didn’t get it quite right. Reattach the seat pad to the newly painted chair and voila! You’ve got a lovely new desk chair.
The cute lamp project is truly a vintage piece. The lamp was originally a wedding gift to her parents 62 years ago! She painted the neck and base portions that were worn metal and added the lampshade—a Target clearance find and the inspiration piece for the entire room. Not only does this lamp add a feminine flair to the room but it also carries wonderful memories with it. Check your basement, attic, or local second-hand shop for a cool vintage lamp that has unique character.
The final furniture upcycle project was the bookshelf. This shelf had a very large crack on the back panel. Other than that the piece functioned just fine. Using a $4 roll of wrapping paper that married well with her overall design theme, she used double-sided tape, a ruler, and an X-Acto knife to line the back wall of this shelf. The paper covers the ugly crack completely and gives a one-of-a-kind design to her functional shelf.
Add Inexpensive Accessories to Complete the Look
The pen holder is the lone leftover from a set of wedding gift wine glasses. The paper clip holder was originally a votive candle holder. The vintage floral piece of art was found at a thrift store for $4. The dark, ugly frame got a shot of the same coral paint leftover from the chair project. The pretty tray on the end table was a $5 clearance find at Home Goods. Picture frames were swept away from other rooms in the house and a few plants made their way into the space as well. Bottom line? Shop your own home first before you spend money elsewhere and ALWAYS check the clearance at your favorite stores.
This entire home office redo, including wall paint, DIY materials, furniture, and accessories came in under $250. Who says designing a new space has to be expensive?