A creative but simple way to carve out a home office for you, space no bar. As a matter of fact, it can be well achieved in a room as small as 110 sqft. and all you need is a wall and a bit of creativity to make your home office come alive.
Welcome to Trumatter, ladies and gentlemen and this post will be super helpful for you if you live in a small space, freelance from home and like your work essentials around you. Though I have spoken lengths on how we managed to squeeze in 2 workspaces in our bedroom, I am often asked how. What are the hacks to make it look synchronized and not cluttered? What shade of paint I used and what paints are they? How do I keep it clean and organized? So I thought I’ll show you all from its Gondowana stage so it’s easier to look into the nitty-gritty.
Do I really need a home office?
Now, I didn’t have a home office planned for the longest time because I had a full-time job and I could write a few blogs a month from my bed alright. Things started to escalate when I started working on the wallpapers. I needed a desk.
BUT, and a big but here, I did not want a computer table. I hate computer tables so something classic needed to do the job for me.
Again, major but, and self questions- Will I even sit in there or I am romanticizing about a home office? What if I invest tons in a desk set up and then don’t end up using it? What then? How about a temporary set up first? After mulling on for what seemed like months, I went out and grabbed a used desk for 700 INR. You can see all about this HERE
I painted it a lovely shade of sea-foam and kept it in our living room for the time being.
Once it was there, I started using it more and more and got completely used to the workspace, I moved it inside. Used up the corner between Rohan’s desk and the windows and set up a tiny little home office- We still use one single chair because most of the time our work hours don’t collide. If it does, we bring in a chair from the hall to accommodate and it saves us tons of space.
Break up with Seafoam
Now, when I moved the table in, in my bedroom, the seafoam was kind of standing out. It’s a small space so little details add up. I decided to give the table a second coat of paint in the same shade of white as the walls and Rohan’s table so it looks like one unit. We didn’t want any visual distractions here. We wanted the eyes to float around and not get stuck on an odd seafoam.
As for the paint- I used Asian Paints Royale BR White/Plain white. It is made for walls but looks like chalk paint on furniture. The finish is matte, dries super quick, easy to wipe and clean and stays white without getting yellow forever.
More dilemma. More solution
Got the set up done and added our Dopati Wallpaper on the wall to create a break. But (yes, yet again) I wanted some storage too and no way I was bringing in another piece of furniture in this room.
I could fit the shelves in on top, as I have now, but because of the wallpaper pattern, it would end up looking busy.
So I opened the wallpaper, moved the shelf in to the front, added a name plate and hung a minimal painting that will create a visual and space break but without making it look busy. Keeping the base colour same helps achieve cohesion
For lights, I added fairy lights as opposed to a traditional lamp and kept the desk clutter free and simple. A pitcher full of moringa and a few books in muted shades to add some colour to an otherwise white space.
But how do I store stuff?
As for the storage, I used up Rohan’s desk a bit and stored my bits and bobs (not boobs) in pretty boxes and stacked them. Now here’s what you should be picking up. Use boxes to store. Firstly, they help deal with clutter and small items that often stray (they have their own mind) and secondly keeps dust off. Very important to invest in good sturdy boxes.
Oh, while the two below are from Alicia Souza and Belleven Home, the one on top is actually from Google which I wallpapered. You can see the tutorial here.
The topmost box holds my painting and craft supplies. The blue one paper clips, strings, and pins. The one in beige holds all paper- painting, wrapping, and postcards.
The shelf above stores the diaries that I need often, a few books I keep going back to and a candle I love smelling in the evenings.
A very useful thing to consider here is, your home office shouldn’t just be all work. It must have elements of ‘play’ that inspires you! For me, a few flowers, twinkly lights, plants and a candle or two do it. You do you and figure out what inspires you. Add a few of those in and around your home office.
How do you clean stuff man? Is it a home or a studio?
It’s home. I wish I had a studio too but it’s home and things get dirty. White tables get dust and grease from my creams and get dirty at spots. There are also coffee stains, paint, and chips. As for the stains and grease, I empty my desk every month and clean it with Collins or a similar window cleaner. Sometimes I use a lightly soapy cloth and wipe and then wipe it dry. Let dry and then arrange your essentials. I also clean my table every week with a plain duster. Point is, I clean. You know what happens if you don’t brush your teeth every day right?
Haha, sorry! But understand that elbow grease is an important part of anything good. Use it well.
Well, that’s it! There you have it. A fully functional home office that’s good for your productivity, soul and most importantly spine. And take a look at the whole set and you’ll never quite gauge that it’s all under 110 sqft.
Rukmini