New Year's Resolution: Get Organized & Be Productive! Step One: Inspiring Home Office

Hello Friends!  I apologize for the long hiatus in my blog entries.  It has been a busy holiday season, and a lot has happened since I last wrote.  For one, I’m pregnant! That’s right, Bryson and I will be expecting our first child (a boy!!) at the very end of May. While this is thrilling for so many reasons, (oh yes, and overwhelming and nerve wracking too, of course) perhaps one of the most immediately satisfying is from a design perspective. I officially have a new and very adorable project to keep me busy – a nursery!  I could not be more excited to dig in and create a “happy nest” for my little guy… a stimulating, cozy, and personalized place for him to come home to this spring.  This is no small task, and I’ve already spent many a sleepless night mulling over all the details.  More entries later on this, rest assured.  But first, I’m also trying to tackle another dilemma – do I have room for a home office?  As you can see from the title, one of my new year's resolutions is to have a truly productive and organized year.  Hard to have that without a productive and organized space from which to get motivated and be brilliant, right?  Right.

Particularly now with the little one about to be taking up one of our former guest rooms (and threatening to add chaos to life as we know it), I definitely don't have an extra room I can devote entirely to an office space.  So my challenge has been to figure out if a home office can seamlessly fit into the confines of my current set up.  I’ve been very inspired by a number of nifty, space saving solutions to creating a functional “work station” and I wanted to share them here.

In a closet?  Now, talk about clever.  There’s nothing like setting up shop in an abandoned closet. After your work is complete you can tuck everything back inside and shut the door.  Love this!  And wallpaper and paint combo truly works wonders on making the space feel like a room.  

Under the stairs?  Obviously, the right kind of staircase is critical here, but what a great use of otherwise dead space.  I think it’d be very fun to pay the bills in this little cozy nook.

Kitchen corner?  Many kitchens come with a built in desk which makes sense since we spend so much time there, but it's also hard to avoid clutter since it’s such a high traffic area.  By putting this office nook off to the corner, it doesn’t invade the kitchen or breakfast nook, and feels like a cheery place to make the week's grocery list.

A shed of one’s own?  How adorable is this!  Seriously makes me want to get one of those unfinished wood sheds at Home Depot, paint it, put some French doors on the front, maybe a little flag out front, a doormat, and oh yes, an office inside.  For those of us who feel like they need to get out of the house in order to get any work done, this could be a nice option with a perfect commute to the back yard?

Have some extra wall space?  Forget the clunky freestanding desk… by adhering this wall mount desk unit directly to the wall, all you need is a chair and some free space in the corner of any room. 

Of course, I also fantasize about large, full room offices too.  The spaces above just breathe productivity and organization.  Talk about all the gift wrapping, thank you note writing, sewing, and crafting you could get done in these bad boys?!  Maybe some other time, Lauren.  First things first.

Right now, we’re thinking our best set up would be the sunroom area in between our formal living room and master bedroom, otherwise known as Winston’s room.   

Poor Winston, not only is a baby coming to steal all his attention – he’s also going to loose his room!  If you remember we created an accent wall in this room a while back.  Besides a bookshelf, a chair, and Winston’s bed – the room is empty and ripe for the taking.  It’s full of windows and gets tons of natural light – which I think is key to creating an inspiring work station.  Hoping to do some reorganizing soon, but just wanted to share my path to inspiration in case you too are trying to find a “work nook” of your own.