***This New House” Series on MomFavorites.com is sponsored by Unpakt. Search our story on Twitter/Facebook with the #thisnewhouse hashtag!**
WAHM. Yep, I’m a WHAM, an acronym I knew nothing about until I became a mother. And now that I am one, I still think it’s rather confusing. Work-at-home mom. Isn’t every mom a work-at-home mom? Yeah, I dunno who came up with that little catch-phrase, but to clear up the air… I’m a WAHM in the sense that I get paid to work from my home office.
It’s an opportunity that is sometimes a privilege and wonderful, and sometimes makes me resent my husband and other work-at-office folk who get to do things like pee by themselves, work without feeling guilty when the dryer dings, and get to talk with colleagues who can string more than two words together at a time. Alas, such is life.
Since I do spend most of my day in my home office, I’ve done my best to create a room that makes me happy. For me this means: bright, organized, clean, inspiring and be within close proximity to the coffee pot. One reason why I fell in love with our new house when we were looking is that the office room was almost exactly the same as it was in our home at the time. This thrilled me, as I really did love our office set up with desks, working table, and printer/filing space.
Sadly, we knew we were going to have to leave behind our built-in cabinets behind, so we had to be creative with storage ideas, but other than that, the only things that we needed to do when we moved was put on the finishing touches for my new work space.
See? Fairly similar, right? In fact sometimes when I’m working in my new office, I get confused about which house I’m in. Usually, that’s a sign I need more coffee. 😉 I could almost always use more coffee… But I wander. Let me show you around my office, and while although I sometimes am not excited to work, I actually do love working in my office!
First, although not necessarily “in” my office, let me introduce you to one of my favorite pieces of art in the house:
Isn’t this lovely? I found Diane’s work on Etsy. I think I like her floral work the best, but I love her abstract landscapes too:
So, yes… I love seeing Diane Mulder’s art on my “commute” to work from the kitchen to my office. Beats traffic, right?
Now let’s chat workspace. As I said, the room dimensions and layout of my new office are almost exactly the same as the old one, which is perfect for our desk/workspace that we owned. Several years ago, we got our desk and built ins from IKEA, and although they don’t carry the same line any longer, they carry similar product, which I highly recommend. The only thing I would suggest: Hire someone to assemble everything if you by an entire room’s worth of product. Life is too short and marriage to fragile to attempt to put IKEA furniture together on your own.
Since we couldn’t bring our cabinetry along with us and we couldn’t replace it, I leaned on the expertise of my professional organizer, Sarah Sooklal of Nestle + Bloom to help me figure out what to do with the wall above my workspace. She came up with this DIY message board which I love. It’s a perfect way for me to stay organized, gives me a place to display my sons’ masterpieces, and looks great too. You’ll want to check out her blog where she outlines how to do this step by step, but also be sure to enter her giveaway at the end of this blog post to win 2 FREE hours of her professional organization services.
The other little guy I had to leave behind was my wall file organizer. I wasn’t terribly sad that we weren’t allowed to take our IKEA file holder when we moved. It wasn’t exceptionally attractive. But, I love it’s replacement: These adorable wall pockets made by Moore Magnets, serve two purposes: They’re magnetic and are great for file and mail storage. Plus, they’re available in sooo many cute fabrics. Love what you see? Be sure to check out our Moore Magnet giveaway at the end of the posts, but all Mom Favorite readers are invited to 15% off through the end of the month using the code Favorites15.
In order to get a little more storage, we purchased a new cabinet from IKEA and added some Way Basics storage cubes for smaller items like my camera, all my charging cords, and odds and ends:
The Way Basics storage cubes are fantastic. Not only are they made from recycled paper, they are so easy to assemble (no tools required), and are surprisingly durable. Trust me. My kids have put them through the ringer! We have them throughout our house, in various rooms. You’ll get a peek at more of that later on in the series, but for now, feel free to use this promo code, WBB2S13, for 15% off your purchase!
Yes, I like my office. And one of my favorite things about it is seeing my boys smile down at me throughout the day! Wouldn’t that make you happy to go to work too?
So first let me share my not-so-humble brag about how I captured that image myself! Yep, I’m patting myself on the back right now. Next, let me tell you that it was so easy to get that awesome photo on canvas… where it clearly deserved to be! 🙂 Easy Canvas Prints is an affordable way to turn your great family shots into keepsakes and art. You can even convert your Instagram photos into canvas art! We’re giving away one free 8×10 canvas to a Mom Favorites reader at the end of the post, but I’m also sharing this special little secret: Sign up for Easy Canvas Prints mailing list via emailing community@easycanvasprints.com with the subject line: Tell Justin to Add Me To The Mailing List. That’ll get you a 60% off Easy Canvas Print discount!!!
Finally, I think that the window treatments in this room do a great job in tying the casual and modern theme together in this room. These curtains are from the Etsy shop, Kohinoor, where you can find hundreds of fabric options in customizable length and widths for your window treatments. In addition, the shop boasts coordinating table linens to complete a room’s look.
And now… dear readers, I must leave you. ‘Cause this momma’s gotta work. Fortunately, this office does have one major improvement from my other office:
Ahem… Someone needs to take out the trash!
Don’t forget… you get points for our #ThisNewHouse grand prize every time you enter one of our giveaways. Claim your points to win a $500 Visa gift card here: https://forksandfolly.com/2013/08/this-new-house-home-base/
Enter the Nestle and Bloom Giveaway here:
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*I did not receive compensation for any of the elements of the This New House Series. I was provided with product and/or services to review and will only be sharing those with the audience that I fully support. All opinions are always my own!*
I love your home office!!! The colors, pictures and just everything about the way you have organized it makes me want one just like it!! You def. have a knack for decorating and are very talented!!! Goodness, I wish I was this good:)
The new home office looks cosier and crisper. Good thing you’ve chosen a light cream/beige shade with this one. Plus, the windows and doors allow more natural light to come in.
It’s great having a cheater room where you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Design worked great in both houses!