Home Office Remodel – Our Fixer Upper
From brown wood-paneled walls to my favorite hang out in the house. Check out our Home Office Remodel in our Fixer Upper.
When you work from home, you need an office that is functional, practical, inviting, and a place you don’t mind spending hours of your day. One of the perks of our fixer-upper was that there was already an office. It was ugly, but it was there. I knew I would be tackling this home office remodel sooner than later.
BEFORE HOME OFFICE REMODEL
This is the photo from the realtor of the office. It actually looks bright compared to what it looked like in real life. That carpet made me want to vomit. Oh and that awkward high closet shelf, because that made sense.
This picture was the move-in day. I am pretty sure it was at this point that I knew this would be the first room I painted.
DURING HOME OFFICE REMODEL
Within days of move in those wood-paneled walls got a coat of white paint. Valspar Signature Moonlit Snow to be exact.
The change with just painting the walls was incredible, but that carpet though. It took me a couple months, and a son with breathing problems, to decide that enough was enough. I started looking at flooring options for the office and finally settled on Vinyl Plank Flooring. This was new to me, but it looks like wood, goes down like laminate, and is waterproof and tough like vinyl. There is no special underlayment, no fancy tools. Just cut and snap. Plus, the price per square foot was pretty good too!
I actually tackled this project all by myself. Ripping out the carpet was EYE OPENING: the dirt, the grime, the smell. I swear to you that once the carpet is out of the master bedroom, I will never own a room with carpeting in it again. I hate it so much; there is a post coming all about the carpet experience. SERIOUSLY!
It took me about 8 hours, all by myself, to remove the carpet and padding, clean the subfloor and install the new vinyl tiles. Best decision I ever made. I used Shaw Matrix Asheville Pine Luxury Locking Vinyl Plank Flooring, and I still love every bit of it!
Because I put down the vinyl plank, I also purchase some baseboards that really helped finish off the room. I also picked up a new light fixture from Lowes and some faux wood blinds for the window.
AFTER HOME OFFICE REMODEL
All of the furniture in my office is from IKEA, because I “big puffy heart” Ikea. The only thing that isn’t IKEA is my office chair which I ordered from Walmart. My office also has three desk areas. One for me and 2 for kids because we homeschool, and I multitask. Usually, if I am working there is a kid working right alongside me.
My new favorite is this IKEA Alex Storage Cart for all of our craft supplies, and this IKEA Skadis Pegboard. Seriously, the best purchases!
The art corner of the room is my daughter’s mini gallery. She paints me gorgeous pictures for my birthday and mother’s day, so I wanted a place to show some of them off. This corner was perfect!
Oh, and it wouldn’t be complete without this floor pillow for Mr. Pudge to keep me company. If I am in the office, there is a 95% chance you will find him right here. I found this on clearance at Target. It is actually from the Heart & Home Collection at Target.
Also if Pudge is in the corner than Charcoal is probably curled up on my desk. It is pretty much the cutest thing ever. Mr. Charcoal is one of our favorite perks that came with the house.
Future Updates
A couple things that aren’t ideal in our home office remodel. That ceiling tile ceiling is going to have to go, but not today. We are eventually going to remodel this entire side of the house, so ripping it out now seems like a waste. Wood paneling (painted or not) is not my first choice of wall covering. When we remodel this side of the house, it will be replaced with drywall.
Right now this is a massive improvement over where this office was when we moved in. A few DIY projects later and this space is much more livable and user-friendly.
What we spent
- 2 Cans Valspar Paint $70
- Vinyl Plank Flooring about $300
- Light Fixture $99
- Baseboards $20
- Faux Wood Blinds $45
$534 for Cosmetic Room Changes
Furniture In Room
- Ikea Alex $99
- Ikea Kallax $69 (owned it already)
- Ikea Kallax Bracket for desktop $14
- Ikea Desktop $8
- Ikea table legs $8
- 2 Ikea Micke Desks $89 each (I owned them already)
- Ikea Micke Drawer Unit $59.99
- Ikea Skadis Pegboard $14.99
- Rolling Chair from Walmart $69
- Ikea Gunde Folding Chairs for Kids Desks $7.99 each
You can see all of “Our Fixer Upper” posts here on A Few Shortcuts in the HOME category.
