Making Room For A Home Office

Today we’re joining Rebecca from Roses and Rolltops for the last instalment of the first part of her stunning home renovations. I’ve cheekily asked to go back when Rebecca has finished her next project, a brilliant kitchen project, and luckily our favourite renovator was only too happy to oblige. In the meantime let’s pop round to have a look round the hallway and light-flooded office.

I work from home so having an area that I can sit down and work at makes me feel more productive. In theory at least… in truth I end up drifting to the sofa with my laptop some of the time but I do try and work up here as much as I can. Before moving in our biggest priorities were to get the bedroom, bathroom and lounge sorted. This space just kind of happened by accident but I love how it doesn’t feel too officey whilst still blending into the landing as you come up the stairs, I have to admit that the furniture from Buy Direct Online looks amazing. .

In our last house you may remember that we had a loft room as an office. In this new house we didn’t want to sacrifice bedroom space so decided to use this little nook instead as all you really need is a desk with some storage around it and a couple of plug points! The previous owners had a built in office here with a door, we removed it straight away as it felt too enclosed and blocked a lot of light from the rest of the upstairs. It’s quite a long narrow space so whilst I would prefer to have the desk looking at the wall {working on a computer with bright sunlight through the window isn’t great}, there was only one way the desk would fit and that’s under the window. Being under the window is nice in a way though as I get cabin fever very quickly so being able to look up and out from my laptop is a perk especially through the big Georgian sash we were lucky to inherit.

Aesthetically I’ve tried to make it feel as bright and part of the hall as possible rather than a separate office. We’ve kept the walls light throughout {Farrow & Ball Wimborne White} and we’ve used antique wooden furniture to blend it in with the rest of our decor rather than choosing a typical office style desk and chair. The desk and chair are both vintage from Ben’s old family home. I’ve tried to incorporate some of my favourite things to perk me up whilst working, pretty stationery and used wire baskets to try and keep it tidy. We had bought these ikea picture ledges for our last house and not got round to using them so I was pleased to find a home here to display some photos and prints. The flamingo garland and prints brightens it all up and adds a little fun.

Until the snug/formal study is finished downstairs and the other bedrooms are finished up here, we’re lacking storage for things like a filing cabinet, wrapping paper, ribbons, stationery and cards. For now I’ve just used a couple of crates under the desk but next year once the rest of the house is finished we’ll have more cupboard space for bits like this I hope. I’m not exactly sure if I’ll use this space on a long term basis or whether when our snug room is finished I’ll set up camp in there but right now it’s a great use of the space.

The hallway downstairs really shows off the original features of the house with the sweeping staircase and quirky doors. You’ll laugh when I tell you that they had green carpets in here and swirly yellow patterned wallpaper when we got the keys. We stripped the staircase back and painted the panelling in Farrow & Ball Cornforth White. Then we had the original floorboards sanded and stained like in the lounge so it all flows together. We’re planning to add stair rods and a carpet runner on once we’ve finished the building works and then carpet the upstairs landing. We’ve put some old family wedding photos in a gallery on a wall above a wooden settle bench picked up from an antiques market. Our shoes are hidden underneath it although I’ve left my welly collection on display.

Until we return you can keep up to date with all Rebecca and Ben’s renovations over at Roses and Rolltops or follow Rebecca on instagram.

{STEAL REBECCA’S STYLE}