Step into our Home Office

I am so excited to finally welcome you into my favorite space in our little condo – our home office. This room has the best lighting in our rental and I knew from the moment Rob and I stepped inside our first home that this room would be designated as our office. As you will soon discover, this space is somewhat unconventional because the room is so much more than just an office. It also serves as a photography studio, meeting room, project workshop and dressing room for my fashion posts. After 10 months of condo living, I’m proud to say that the details are finally all in place.

Are you ready for that tour? Come on in, I’ll show you around.

One of the reasons that it has taken 10 months for Rob and I to fully furnish this space is because we completed every bit of it on a budget. Many of the items in this room are things I had already owned for several years or repurposed wedding accessories. We had to save up to purchase most of the furniture and additional detail pieces. The new items are vintage finds from local retailers or great steals that I found at Home Goods. I scoured around on the internet discovered several similar items to some unique pieces in our office and I included affiliate links throughout the post for easy shopping.

You may recall that I shared a few photos of our little white cabinet and how we styled it earlier this fall.

This was the first corner of our office that felt complete. And for several months, it remained the only corner of the office that felt complete. While everything else was a work in progress, I could admire this area and feel contentment.

The wall art was a wedding gift from my wonderful friend, Melanie. Right now, as Rob and I move around from rental to rental as we save up for our “forever home,” it serves as a poignant reminder about what really matters in our marriage.

The wooden box was a centerpiece item I purchased for the wedding – the mums are silk. The stapler was an old hand-me-down that I inherited in my classroom. I hated it in that brightly colored space, but it’s perfect for my neutral decor. And of course, what office would be complete without a set of Ticonderoga pencils?

I also have a dresser and accessory station in our office. I admit, it’s a unique home office setup, but it perfectly suits our needs. The dresser is a convenient way to store most of our office supplies and computer accessories. It also houses my thermal laminator and Silhouette Cameo. (Those big drawers are perfect for storing awkward items when you have limited shelf space.)

I shoot all of my Stitch Fix photos in the office and I have learned from trial and error that it doesn’t work for my accessories to be stored in the bedroom. I can get along just fine with my shoes and clothes tucked away in my bedroom closet; but I change necklaces, bracelets, watches and earrings so often during my fashion photo shoots that I find that it is best to just keep those items in the office.

The jewelry tray belonged to my grandmother and it perfectly holds all of my watches and bracelets.

The most recent addition to our home office was a simple necklace rack. I found an artist on Etsy that crafts these so I placed a custom order to coordinate with the office. I have so many necklaces that they were beginning to take over the top of my dresser. This simple rack was exactly what I needed to keep the necklaces untangled and they double as a decoration.

The dresser itself was a Salvation Army find that I painted several years ago. The original coat of stain is slowly making it’s way through the paint and forming yellow spots all over it, which means it will need a fresh coat of paint and distressing at some point. Fortunately, still looks nice from a distance.

The radio was Rob’s wedding gift to me. It has Bluetooth capabilities and I often play music in the often while I work. The trinket dish is from Michaels, of all places!

We have a full size mirror in the office that is essential to the fashion photos I share on the blog. I have spent countless hours with my camera in-hand while standing in front of that mirror and it was a great bargain find at Home Goods.

Beside the large mirror is an eclectic gallery wall of sorts. It contains a vintage window, some smaller hand-me-down mirrors, a framed wedding photo and a few frames with burlap pockets from Michaels. Rob and I tuck documents and papers in the pockets that we aren’t ready to file but we don’t want to lose.

When I realized I would be sharing the office with Rob, I knew we needed a more creative workspace than a couple of desks. I needed the room to have open space and I knew a table would be the better solution. I spent MONTHS searching for the perfect table that was large enough to accommodate the obvious tasks involving our laptops, but was also large enough for me to spread out sample resources in development for my TpT shop or craft projects for the blogs.

We visited The Lamb’s Tail antique shop in Armada, Michigan around this time last year while we were hunting for wedding accent pieces. Since then, we have become regular customers. They crafted a custom farm table for us. We selected the size, colors and leg style. This is one of those items that I know we will have for a long, long time. The antique window frames that are scattered throughout our office are also from The Lamb’s Tail.

The chairs are from TJ Maxx, but you can find very similar chairs here.

Tucked away in the corner is a small antique typewriter stand. We keep an old fashioned pencil sharpener, some pens and a few coasters on the stand. A few vintage-style boxes store magazines, and charging cables for our laptops.

With two blogs to run, it’s essential that Rob and I stay organized. We use the wall opposite the gallery to manage our content calendar. Blog post ideas and upcoming events for the year ahead are posted on clipboards. I walk over to study or add to our calendar every single day. It’s amazing the impact that a couple of clipboards and Command hooks can make in a room.

Our home office is absolutely my favorite room in the condo and I am in love with how it finally turned out. But you should know that I wasn’t always convinced that sharing an office with Rob was a good idea. Rob and I recently sat down to talk about how our dual home office came to be.

We hope you enjoy this very candid video :)