In the new house, we have a large living room off of the front of the house. Sometimes called a "formal living room" or a "sitting room". While I love the extra space, I've always thought they were kind of a waste. I've always found that they turn into little pretty places just for looks with dainty little chairs and fancy furniture that no one ever actually sits in. We had a similar space at our old house which we put another tv in and turned into sort of a "hidden" man room for Brad with all his game stuff since we didn't have a basement there. It still looked nice, but his "man" stuff sort of hid behind the scenes.
In the new house, Brad has an entire basement to man-out which I love for him (and believe me, he's loving it too). So he's all set. Most of our tv-watching and living is done down there. Plus on the main level of the house, we have our main big family room with larger, more comfortable furniture where we mainly hang out and watch tv.
So here, we were left with what I thought would be not the most functional space with the pretty white couch, two pretty chairs, a tufted ottoman, and some pretty accent pieces to put the room together with. I knew it would look good, but as far as being functional? Not so much. It's such a large space, I felt it was such a waste.
Lightbulb moment.... Combine it with my office! I've always loved offices with sitting areas and I noticed this room had a perfect wall for it. Right around the corner from the main entrance of the room so that when the desk gets
I also loved that it has french doors I can close off when I want some privacy. I love it so much!
I didn't purchase anything new for this room except the "Prada Marfa" print, ghost chair and small gold-foiled print on the desk. Funny how different everything looks in the new house, even though it's mostly the same stuff.
It's such a bright room, I wanted the space to feel fresh and bright too, but with some little eclectic touches. That's sort of my style everywhere else in the house anyway. But I knew in this space, since it's my personal office, I could get away with a few fun touches like the Prada sign which I'm obsessed with.
I love my Liatorp desk from Ikea. I've had it for 3 years now and I still love it just as much as when I first got it. It's genius because it doesn't look like a huge, clunky desk, yet has tons of storage.
In office spaces, I don't like to see a ton of personal, "office-y" things sitting out for everyone to see. Especially when an office is in a more common space of the house, like on the main living floor like mine. By personal "office-y" things, I mean things like personal files (bills, financial things, etc), computers, things like that. That's why this desk is so genius. The sides have space for all the electronic things you'd ever need to store, bills, even file organizers. The center drawer is awesome and holds tons of office supplies too. Keeps everything looking nice, neat, and organized, and best of all? Everything is convenient.
I keep other "craft" type stuff and our printer in a large storage console on the opposite side of the room which is really handy as well. Everything I need fits perfectly in here and I love it!
Here's a shot of the whole room so you can see the layout a bit better. The desk is around that corner on the left. The other part of the room isn't completely done and I'm still shuffling a lot of stuff around, but it's making progress!
Can you spot the puppy? ;)
And yes, by "puppy", I totally mean 80-lb pup at one of his favorite look-out points. He's become a crazy watch-dog since moving here. I swear, he thinks he's a Great Dane. Precious.
I hope you guys enjoyed this little peek into my new work space! Funny how productive a new space that is easy to work in makes you feel.Here's some more details and a little reference list of where things are from.
desk: Ikea Liatorp
ghost chair: found at a local sale
Prada Marfa sign: search Etsy
desk calendar: Tory Burch
gold foil quote print: ssprintshop.com
black and white frames: Target
clear lamp and black shade: Target
gold faux urchin: Target
tufted ottoman: Ballard outlet in Atlanta
2 side chairs: Sears.com
mirrored console table: Ballard outlet in Atlanta
3 sunburst mirrors: Ballard outlet in Atlanta
small gold side table: Home Goods
