My Home Office / Guest Bedroom Plans

I like beginning the year with a good tidy and cull, starting things fresh with a relatively organised space and good habits that keep our home life running that little bit smoother as the weeks progress.

About a month ago, I decided I could not put things off any longer in our study.  It had become so much of a dumping ground that the floor was barely visible and I'd taken to keeping its door shut most of the time to hide the mess.  It was an embarrassment, but something I nevertheless kept pushing aside to the bottom of my endless ‘to-dos’… a project hanging over my head, causing ‘metaphorical clutter’ as Gretchin Rubin describes in her book ‘The Happiness Project’.  And so, fed up with being unable to locate anything, something inside me snapped and one Sunday afternoon back in January, I stopped procrastinating and began to tackle my mammoth task. 

Since then, HUGE progress has been made.  Not only can I see our carpet once more, but furniture has been shifted around, heaps of no longer needed items have been tossed and our existing pieces are all set to be listed on Gumtree so that our combined home office and guest room transformation can shortly (fingers crossed) begin.  Over the past weekend, my focus was on the built in wardrobe in our study.  I emptied it out completely, found new homes for things such as winter jackets, Paul’s old motorsport suits, a picnic hamper, boxes of keepsakes and our Christmas tree and managed to pretty much halve the contents of what we had.

At the same time, nights have been spent pouring over interiors magazines for inspiration and browsing on Pinterest for ideas.  It's been a long process but finally, I have a vision for what is set to become our combined home office and guest room.

I'm picturing a light and bright room with a combination of white and natural timber furniture, bed linen in a myriad of blue and white prints, shelving for child friendly access to craft supplies, baskets for textural interest, a pin board to display all things inspirational and a low maintenance indoor plant to add a splash of greenery.  A filing cabinet will double as a bedside table for guests and artwork will be simple but thoughtfully chosen.

Progress is slow in our home, but it is finally happening…

Image #1 Red Brick  Image #2  Remodelista

Image #2 (clockwise from top-left)  

The Cane Factory & Upholstery Shop / Ikea Gregor Swivel Chair / Ikea Liatorp Desk / Bedding from abc Carpet & Home Paisley Collection

Image #3 Tinkerlab

Home Office Inspiration

When Sophie was born and our spare room was transformed into her nursery, we lost our 'dumping spot' - somewhere to pop things to be 'dealt with' and where I could hide things.  I remember when I was planning Sophie's nursery, I thought a lot about how we could somehow fit a spare bed into one of our rooms but there just didn't seem to be the space and so instead, we made do with a folder bed borrowed from my Mum for a few months.  Paul spent many a night on that folder bed in order to get a decent sleep in the early days when Sophie was a newborn and I was feeding three hourly through the night.  That folder bed served its purpose but has since been returned and we've now decided we need a spare bed.  Not so much for sleeping on, more so that I can have that 'spot' again where I can dump things out of sight.

So, we've thought long and hard about the only remaining room that could possibly accommodate such a piece... our study.  We've decided that slowly over time, we'll transform this room into a combined home office and guest room.  Much of this room is currently wasted.  A chair in the corner of the room has never been sat in.  Our filing cabinet is too big for what we need.  Our cupboard holds endless books and other items we no longer want or need.  The built in robe in this room with its single hanging rail and overhead shelf is 'dead space'.  We've decided we need to make better use of what we have available.

For years, I've kept inspiration folders, including ones for home offices and guest rooms, often wondering why I did so when our study was already furnished and a guest room was something we would probably not see in our household for some time to come. But now?  Now I can plan.  I can allow myself to imagine a new space with new furniture and a new colour scheme.  I can picture new handy with neatly organised craft supplies (I'm taking inspiration from Jane for this one).  I can dream of the inspiration board I will create with pretty pictures and quotes.

Here are a few images that are inspiring me so far...

To start with, we're decluttering this room.  We're selling furniture.  We're donating old books to charity.  We're freeing up space.  It's going to take time though... there's a lot of 'stuff' in this room.

Do you have a home office?  A guest room?  Are you happy with your space or if you had the chance, is there something you'd change?  

Original image sources:

#1 House To Home (photography by Rachael Smith)

#2 almostbunnies via unclutterer

#3 kikki.K