Do you love an expensive home decor look but you can’t or don’t want to spend all the money? I’ll show you the hacks I used to build a super cozy corner in my office room that makes me smile every time I see it.
Plus I’ll give you all the items and prices I paid in a list at the end of this post.
Oh, just looking at that before picture makes me cringe! This is the first thing I see when I walk into my home office room. It’s actually a small bedroom in our house that I repurposed as an office shortly after the pandemic began. My husband and I were trying to share an office, but it just didn’t work out. I was on calls all day long, he wanted to focus and listen to his loud music (that I can’t stand by the way). The only logical decision was that one of us had to move out!
The pain of feeling alone
That Sunday when I moved my desk over to the spare bedroom I thought it was a great idea. I can finally talk as much and loud as I needed to on my Webex meetings. Monday came around, I spent the first few hours there … and I hated it!
I felt alone. The room felt and was cold. There was nothing pretty. And the background of my video was a blank wall that stared into my soul every time I looked at my own picture. I knew I had to change something, but it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do and how.
Finding joy in having alone-time
The more I thought about designing that empty room, the more I realized: This is _my_ room. I know I have a whole house where I’m responsible for making it pretty too, but this room had something special. I didn’t need to make it toddler proof. I didn’t have to make it functional for my husband and I didn’t have to think about guest coming over and using that space.
This was my room – and only mine. And when I close the door it will stay closed until I – and only I – open it again the next day.
Getting to work
Decorating with good vibes only
I hate spending too much money. I hate the feeling of being ripped off for something that I could have gotten for less. Yes, this might be a cheap mindset, but this actually allows me to save money and spend it on other things that I think are worth spending for. My goal was to transform the corner of my room, that I first see when I walk in into something beautiful. Something that makes me smile every time I walk in. Additionally this is the corner my camera is focusing on when I’m on a video call – so double win there!
But the idea doesn’t end here. I did not want to have any bad feeling or regrets about choosing the wrong items or spending too much money on it.
I made a plan. I wanted some shelves, some plants (almost the only plants in the house) and I wanted something that represents me.
Coming up with a plan
IKEA is only a few minutes away from our house so my first trip took me there to find shelves. I absolutely love IKEA, not only for their modest prices, but especially for the customization options on so many items.
I picked out 5 shelves from the IKEA Bergshult Collection with Granhult brackets.
I love the idea of having floating shelves that still have brackets so these were the perfect fit!.
I didn’t like the original silver color of the brackets. Silver was not in my color scheme, but gold was. And there’s almost no easier thing than just taking a can of Gold Spraypaint from Home Depot and changing the color of my new Granhults.
Material needed
- IKEA Bergshult and Granhult brackets
- Gold Spray Paint
- Sherwin Williams Sample of Greenblack
Hanging shelves with a plan
I am a very visual person (would you have guessed that ;)), so I like to have a visual plan as well.
I took some random painters tape we had lying around and cut it to the exact length of the shelves. I then put them on the wall to show where shelves should go.
This is a super easy hack and way better than finding out that you hate the layout when you’ve already drilled all the holes.
I also marked the size of two frames on there because I was working on some art for myself that I knew I wanted to put there.
As an additional check I turned on my camera for my video conferences and made sure my background looks good and even.
I ended up switching the left side to two shelves only, but didn’t take a picture anymore (shame on me)
Painting my walls - in BLACK!
All white walls made the old room look terribly cold an uninviting. Don’t you think?
I decided to switch it up completely. I always wanted to have a black wall. When I was a teenager my mom luckily said no, but now, this was my house and my room *muahaha*.
I went to a Sherwin Williams store and found a color I liked called Greenblack. Funny story – when I asked for a sample of the color the sales person has never heard of it before. For a second a doubt crossed my mind “oh, that’s not a popular color, am I making a mistake?”. But I was so excited that I bought it anyways and it was a great decision!
Material needed
- Sample Color of Sherwin Williams Greenblack
- Paint supplies from Home Depot
Decorating the shelves
This for me was the most fun part!
I printed and framed two prints of my abstract blush pink and gold art I created to go on the black wall. I also framed two smaller prints I had lying around from a test print.
I found these beautiful black-gold-pink and white-gold-pink planter sets on Amazon that were perfect for this wall. A friend gave me two seedlings of Pothos plants which I added in there for some life. Then of course some more obligatory decorative items in gold.
I will list the materials and Items at the end.
Splurging on a loveseat
I had spent so little money so far and wanted something cozy to rest on in between meetings or when reading. I found this beautiful blush pink loveseat on Wayfair that I just couldn’t get out of my head.
This is by far the biggest purchase I made for that room, but I figured – even if I don’t want it anymore I can probably sell it on Facebook Marketplace and make back a bit of money.
It took a while for the loveseat to arrive, but the wait was so worth it! I am in love with the soft curve it makes, the light blush pink color and it’s comfortable to sit on.
Plus – the legs were already golden, so I didn’t have to bring out the spray can anymore 🙂
Material needed
Blush Pink Loveseat from Wayfair
Adding a tree for even more life
During a not so restful night where my poor teething toddler was up way too long I decided to also get a tree for that nook to bring in even more of the green color.
While I’m normally not a fan of artificial plants I decided that this is the best way to go here as I wanted the plant to be in a dark corner. And the room never gets direct sunlight to begin with.
I found a Japanese Fruticosa Tree on Amazon that was different than the other plants because it had a cute little twist in it.
I could have found cheaper options on Marketplace but loved this one so much that the others just didn’t seem appealing anymore
Material needed
The end result of my home office transformation
I am absolutely and madly in love with it. And I made it happen – every time I walk into the room, I smile. Now that’s what I call a WIN!
I think it definitely looks very high end – but for the small budget of just and a bit of elbow grease and creativity
Full List of Materials / Items used
Disclosure: Below Links from Amazon are affiliate links where I will make a small commission when you get those products. There is no additional cost or disadvantage to you. But you will support my blog 🙂
Here are all the materials and items I bought:
- 5 IKEA Shelves Bergshult with Granhult Brackets – 100$
- Gold Spray Paint – 8$
- Sherwin Williams Greenblack – Sample Size – 9$
- Paint supplies – 26$
- IKEA Frames
(2x Ribba 12x16in, 2x Ribba 8×10) – 24$ - Abstract Blush Pink and Gold Wall Art – 3$ for printing my art
- Planter Pots from Amazon – 54$
(Black-Gold-Pink Planter Pots and White-Gold-Pink Planter Pots) - Plant seedlings from a friend – FREE
- Decorative 3D Printed Infinity Cube from Etsy – 15$
- Decorative Giraffe from IKEA – 6$
- other decorative items I found lying around without purpose – FREE 🙂
- Loveseat from Wayfair – 750$
- Pillowcases from Amazon ~ 30$
18×18 Inch Black Gold Pillow Case and 12×20 Inch Black Gold Pillow Case - Pillow Inserts from Amazon ~ 17$
- Artificial Tree from Amazon ~ 140$
A pretty home office needs a clean desk!
Read how I transformed all the clutter from my desk into an eye catcher.
This IKEA DIY Hack is super simple, doesn’t take long and is absolutely affordable.
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